Submarine Diary

Very exciting story. The author was extremely adventerous-more so than I personally would have cared to experience. The book is a great read.

From the inside of a submarine, the ocean passes you by. The input you have comes from sonar and the periscope. Rather than give us another tale of submarine exploits, Mendenhall provides us with a war perspective from the men in the machine. This is an interesting WWII narrative.Rather than taking a retrospective look as an admiral (Mendenhall is a retired rear admiral), this narrative is taken from his diary from his submarine missions as a junior officer and an executive officer. He discusses the routines and the fighting, as well as gives the sailors' perspective. He also discusses the frustration felt by the crew as defective torpedoes missed easy targets.Not only does he discuss the day-to-day life in the submarine, he also gives a tally of how the submarine did on each mission. This was enlightening. He also shares his concerns about his career and command in the Navy as the war was beginning to wind down.I would recommend this book to WWII, Navy, and submarine buffs.

The only criticism I have of this book is it too short. It left me wanting more. But it appears to be an accurate depiction of the daily routine of a submarine in combat; plenty exciting with intermittent periods of boredom. A more fleshed out version would be even better.

Corwin Mendenhall's book, "Submarine Diary: The Silent Stalking of Japan" gives the reader a unique look into the daily operations of a WWII Fleet submarine stalking Japanese ships in the Pacific. The insight is unique because although Mendenhall was an officer aboard the USS Sculpin and then the USS Pintado, he was "an enlisted man's officer" and he tells the story of his patrols aboard these submarines from that perspective. I enjoyed reading this book because at one moment it relates the daily grind of serving on a sub and the next moment, it explodes with action as an enemy ship is spotted and attacked. I recommend this book to anyone who is a WW II submarine junkie because it is an account of real men and real times.