Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine

Great read. As the only prior reviewer who failed to give it five stars noted , it is written in a very straightforward style. Most of the discussions regarding emotions are off the boat. It is not Tom Clancey but rather an account of real heros, fighting an extremely dangerous war, 8,000 miles from home and often hundreds of miles from any friendly ship. I found the book captivating but it does require the reader to put himself into the account rather than having the book reach out to the reader with pages of descriptions of fear soaked sweat dripping from frightened sailors. It is a book about the true meaning of being a warrior at sea, combat leadership, life aboard one of the best attack submarines, wartime love and the emotional conflicts and the technology of the era. The book is also about the endurance of the men who sailed on the submarines. Although the author does not dwell on the issue, due to the importance of their effort the subs were only allowed to remain in port for the few weeks it took to attend to the most critical reparis and replenishment. Then they returned to a very dangerous mission which began almost as they left port. It's also a reminder of how much the strategy of submarine warfare has changed as our WW2 subs had very limited range and speed while submerged. The author's story of their premature entry into Tokyo was great. He only devotes a few words in the afterword to cover the balance of his distinguished military career which had seemed doomed by their prank trip to Tokyo.

This memoir is particularly well-written. It accomplishes the expected by displaying day-to-day life on a US submarine in WWII, but it does more by really capturing the voice of an innocent young man who still has a lot to learn about the world. Calvert went on to quite a distinguished career in the Navy, but this book never hints at that, instead it paints a portrait of a very specific period of time in the author's life and doesn't bog the reader down with too much 20/20 hindsight and reflections, instead relaying the feeling of being in your early 20s and being involved in one of the highest-stakes contests ever fought in human history. If you like memoirs, history, or WWII, this is a very well-told story that will appeal to you.

Silent Service was a true page turner for me and I found it difficult to put down in the two days I spent with it. Admiral Calvert does an excellent job in conveying the realities of life aboard a WWII attack submarine; the boring day-to-day routines, various navigational methods, the extraordinarily complex relationship between the submarine and it's crew, the adrenaline charged excitement of an attack, the terrors of a depth charging and the courage of the men who went into this exhausting, claustrophobic, unforgiving world with it's ever present threat of a ghastly death (twenty-five percent of American WWII submariners never returned from their last mission). Calvert's prose is engaging, informative and lucid; The book is divided chronologically into fourteen chapters of roughly twenty pages per, each addressing an aspect of his wartime experiences; from the USS Jack's commissioning in January of 1943 to his (mis)adventure in Tokyo immediately following the surrender. A brief afterword follows up these retrospections. I highly recommend this book to those interested in submarines and/or WWII.

This book is excelent. Reading this, I really got a feeling as to what it was like on a submarine in World War II. It includes action sequences that really make it feel like you were there, on the sub. Calvert is a genius. I highly suggest this book for ANYONE who is interested in submarines, WWII history, or Naval History. I really think you will love this book as much as I did.

The author takes you through his experiences during WWII from the Naval Accademy To VJ day. The events flow from one period to another in an orderly manner. I read this book in three days, not wanting to miss a line. Sometimes reading fast to find out what was happening next. He keeps you in suspense through each chapter and joins each in an orderly transition. As a WWII submarine man, I found the action accurate and reported with sincere modesty. I served with Vice Admiral Calvert in the USS SKATE SSN 578 including two cruises to the North Pole. It was an honor to serve with him and he is a credit to the Navy and the American tradition "get the job done." I would recommend this book to any WWII history buff. Raymond L. Aten, LT(SC) USN(RET)