Run Silent, Run Deep (CLASSICS OF NAVAL LITERATURE)

Based loosely on Edward L. Beach's actual experiences in WWII, this is the best example of a submarine warfare novel I've ever had the pleasure to read. Captain Beach was a master of the military thriller before the term had even been invented. If you've read Run Silent Run Deep, it's probably time to read it again. If you've never read it, you're in for a treat! Jeff Edwards, Author of "Torpedo: A Surface Warfare Thriller"

This is the best example of WWII undersea adventure ever written. More compelling and believable than anything I have ever read, the writing takes the reader into the minds, souls, and terror of the crew of a submarine at war. You will come to understand them, the function of a conventional submarine and the perils and terrors of warfare.Predating the Tom Clancy novels and later offerings in this genre, Captain Beach fills each page with excitement, humanity and the apprehension of battle only a warrior can depict accurately.A must read for undersea warfare buffs, you will learn much about the tactics of current day submariners and glean where many of today's writers of this category of literature originated their styles and interest in undersea warfare.From beginning to climatic end, this is a must read.

This thriller was hard to put down; I read it in record time. Captain (then Commander) Beach grabs the reader's attention early in the novel and holds it tight right up to the end. One is almost sorry that the book is over, and I plan to look for the sequels and Captain Beach's other work.It even has a love interest, but a rather demure, reserved, discreet, indirect, and tepid one by the standards of 1990s popular culture.The climax is shocking.It hadn't occurred to me, but other reviewers' speculation seems apt that Tom Clancy probably read this book before he wrote Hunt for Red October. It's hard to imagine a such a pleasant gentleman, then an officer on active service, not yet forty years old, with a wife and children, banging out such a compelling yarn in his spare time. One has to admire him.I regret having waited 45 years to read this book, though I think I remember my parents reading it much sooner. If you have an interest in the Navy, in submarines, in WWII's Pacific war, or just a spellbinding war story, then you should read and enjoy Run Silent Run Deep.

"Run Silent, Run Deep" is the first in a series of novel by Edward L. Beach concerning Captain Richardson and his crew, and their exploits through the ages of naval warfare. This book starts at the begging of World War Two, with the training of Richardson's crew, and takes the reader up to the defeat of an infamous Japanese destroyer commander nicknamed Bungo Pete. Any potential reader of this book should note that the only resembleance to the movie of the same title is the names of the ships and charactors. This, in my opinion, is because Hollywood was not ready, in the pre-Vietnam era, to end a movie the way this book ended. Beach's writing style probably influenced Tom Clancy, in that there is a lot of technical discussion, as well as strong charactorization and motivation. When one reads the early part of the book, when Richardson and co. are training up, one feels that one could get on a Gato class submarine and help the fire control party fire torpedos. But, the best part is the end, which I won't give away. As Richardson hears of his friends and people he has trained dying at the hands of Bungo Pete, it can only lead to his actions in the final battle. Read it and see.