The Depths of Courage: American Submariners at War with Japan, 1941-1945

My being a U S Submarine Sailor, from the 50's & 60's, I usually cannot stand to read books about submarines. This book is well written by knowlegable people. With few exceptions, I cannot find much fault with it. Enjoyable reading, I'll keep this one in my library.

There are some wonderful and very detailed specialized histories of the submarine campaigns of WW II, notably by Clay Blair. This book is a little different. First, the authors assume (wisely) that people who want an exhaustive history can consult one of the specialized books or the copious information available on the internet. Second, the authors assume (again wisely) that today's general reader may not know much more about the overall course of the Pacific War than the names of a few famous battles like Iwo Jima. Thirdly, one of the authors, Ron Smith, is a surviving WW II submariner who saw considerable combat. This books is thus an interesting blend. You get a general overview of the Pacific War, including naval and amphibious operations as well as the submarine war. You get Smith's personal narrative, which is fascinating and frank. And you also get a good overall view of the Pacific submarine campaign, which even casual students of the war soon realize was very important. Smith has a particular talent for describing the experience of a submariner -- not only life aboard the ships and in combat, but also training, life on the various bases he was stationed at, and how the war affected his personal life and those of his friends. Perhaps because he's aware of how distant the world of the 1940s is now, Smith tells you about the details of life on the boats and on liberty. He doesn't just tell you he spent a few weeks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, he describes what it was like to arrive there still stinking and rumpled from a submarine and tells you what he and his fellow submariners did once they showered and shaved (beer, women, and sunbathing figured heavily). The book gives you an excellent sense of what it was like to be caught up in such a huge effort: the struggles, the absurdity, the heroism, tedium, hard work, and sheer randomness of life in the Navy. And also, strangely, the fun and humor and camaraderie. And the beer and women. The Depths of Courage isn't likely to make you wish you'd been there, but more than any book I've read on the submarine war in the Pacific, it gave me a sense of what it was like.

Ron Smith was my grandfather. His stories in both this book and Torpedoman are as true as can be. From a kid until a full grown adult, I can remember him recounting his days in the submarine service. He was so proud of his service that his F-150 even had the submarine insignia on both sides. You will find no truer stories than The Depths of Courage or Torpedoman. The tales he retold to us were brutally honest at times, but were always the truth. My grandpa was passionate about his country, his service, and his family. I believe this is expressed in both of his books. Unfortunately, he passed away last night (9/12/08), but his memories remain in the pages he's written and the stories he has told.

I was eager to see how this book portrayed the US submarine effort in the Pacific, and how it would stack up against what has to be the Gold Standard, Clay Blair's "Silent Victory". One of the authors, Ron Smith, was himself a submariner during WWII, and Flint Whitlock is an experienced author. Basically, I wanted to like this book, but in my opinion, it just came up short. The book takes an interesting tack; interspersed with descriptions of the submarine actions during the course of the war, the authors also describe highlights of the Pacific campaign itself. Intertwined with the historical descriptions, we also follow Ron Smith as he enters the Navy, and his somewhat circuitous route to submarine school, via aerial torpedo training. The author ends up aboard one of the older submarines, the USS Seal, one of the mid-1930's designs on the road to the definitive fleet submarine design, epitomized in Gato. We get a parallel narrative which details the problems with torpedoes, and covers many of the early key exploits and losses (such as Howard Gilmore and Mush Morton's Wahoo). If you have never read a history of WWII US submarine action, these will be new to you. However, for those familiar with the historical record from reading "Silent Victory" or a number of other prior histories, these will be rehashes. Nothing new added to these already well know tales. The stories that revolve around Smith himself are certainly very interesting and make for worthwhile reading, Smith is assigned to the base torpedo shop at Pearl in 1943 and then transferred stateside as an instructor. He more or less exits the story at that point, making minor appearances later in the book. The story continues, with the alternating submarine warfare and the Pacific "island hopping" campaign. Surface fleet battles are described, along with submarine roles in these engagements. In terms of the personal focus, the latter part of the book relates the tragic story of Richard O'Kane's Tang. Tang was sunk off the Chinese coast when, in a surface attack, one of her torpedoes made a circular run and struck the stern of the submarine, rapidly sinking it. This is told with the spotlight on Clay Decker, one of the crew members who escaped from Tang, and imprisoned in Japanese POW camps along with a handful of other crew members (including O'Kane) who escaped Tang. Again, this makes a very good human interest story, and the suffering they experienced at the hands of their captors is truly disturbing. This part of the story is interspersed with later war history, such as the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the exploits of Gene Fluckey in Barb, and George Street's action with Tirante. And speaking of history, several "facts" presented in the book are inaccurate. Submarines were never painted in a mottled camouflage pattern of "blue and gray splotches". Barb was not greeted at the pier by Nimitz, MacArthur and Roosevelt after her 11th war patrol (for which Fluckey received the Me

This is Ron Smith's 2nd book and it adds a lot that wasn't in the "Torpedoman." It tells of his growing up and becoming a submarine sailor. But it does so in a unique way. Every other chapter is written by his co-author, Flint Whitlock, who is a major military writer in his own right. Flint marches across the Pacific and time with his story of the submarine service while Ron tells of his tribulations and his life from a young man wanting to be an aviator to becoming a Torpedoman. The near death experiences aboard a WWII submarine are very dramatic and will give the reader an appreciation of the horror these men faced. A great read from two established writers.