A Tale of Two Subs: An Untold Story of World War II, Two Sister Ships, and Extraordinary Heroism

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Synopsis
On November 19, 1943, the submarine USS Sculpin was attacked by a Japanese destroyer. Despite the crew's desperate attempts to survive-diving down below the waters to perilous depths and running quiet in order to hide themselves from the destroyer's sonar equipment-the destroyer prevailed. Ultimately, the Sculpin took on too much damage and was forced to surface, leaving her crew with no choice but to abandon ship. The American sailors were then picked up by the Japanese, who would subject them to days of torture. These seamen were ultimately transferred to a Japanese aircraft carrier and then sent to a dreaded Japanese POW camp. On board the Sculpin was Lt. Commander Cromwell, who, unbeknownst to the crew, carried an important secret: the United States had managed to crack the secret Japanese war code. Cromwell knew that this information was too important for him to risk interrogation; he now had a terrible decision to make. Weeks later, another sub, the USS Sailfish, came upon a Japanese aircraft carrier. It was a fortuitous discovery, as an enemy carrier was a prime target in World War II. But little did the crew of the Sailfish know that their countrymen-the survivors from the Sculpin-were on board that same carrier, locked in the brig and trying to escape. Ironically, the Sculpin and the Sailfish originally christened as the Squalus) were sister submarines. In fact, when the Squalus had first been launched in 1939, it had gone down in a test dive. The Sculpin had been instrumental in finding her in time to save the lives of half of her crew. The incredible interconnections between the Sculpin and the Sailfish have never been so dramatically portrayed. Thoroughly researched by the author, who gained access to the few living survivors, never-before-translated Japanese war documents, and exclusive photographs, A TALE OF TWO SUBS tells the story of some of the most amazing and moving events in World War II history.
Copyright:
2008

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
298 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780446178396
Publisher:
N/A
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Jonathan McCullough
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Military, Nonfiction
Submitted By:
Dave Russell
Proofread By:
Dave Russell
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

3 out of 5

By on

The title is somewhat misleading, as is the long synopsis, which I think is quoted from the cover flap. They are what interested me in reading the book, but those events are not described until the last 70-or-so pages of the 306-page book, though started in the first chapter. The rest of the book is, indeed, a tale of two subs--from when they were first launched in the late 1930s; descriptions of submarines and life inside a submarine; codes and cyphers and the men who broke the codes and cyphers; the war in the Pacific and the Coral Sea; the secrets that were leaked by newspapers and a senator that resulted in disaster; the insistence of bureaucrats that torpedoes that did not work did, to the detriment of the war effort; Japanese torture of POWs (because submariners, not carrying weapons, could be considered noncombatants and therefore tortured). This is an interesting book, especially to those interested in such technical information, but it is not a fascinating or absorbing tale. The navy men are wonderful; the men in Washington will make you shake your head in disbelief and sadness.