American Submarine War Patrol Reports: U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238) [Paperback]

J. T. McDaniel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

The American fleet submarine may well have been the single most successful naval weapon of World War II. While the submarine forces never made up more than 2% of the Navy, submarines sank more than half of all Japanese tonnage sunk during the war in the Pacific.

One of the most successful boats, Wahoo was credited with sinking 20 enemy ships for a total of 60,038 tons. This volume, the first in a projected series planned to include every American submarine war patrol report, contains the text of the actual reports submitted by her two commanders, Marvin G. Kennedy and Dudley W. "Mush" Morton.

Includes an introduction, explanatory notes, and appendices.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Riverdale Electronic Books (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932606017
• ISBN-13: 978-1932606010
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,193,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful History, September 3, 2004

By 

Eldon Curtis "Eldon" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Submarine War Patrol Reports: U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238) (Paperback)

This book has been out for a while and I haven't seen any others, so I hope the publisher is really following up on their stated intention to continue the series. I'm giving this book five stars for historical usefulness, rather than for literary style. The book is exactly what the title suggests, a lightly-edited reprint of U.S.S. Wahoo's official war patrol reports. You just can't expect great literature from official documents. While "Mush" Morton seems to have been a slightly better writer than Marvin Kennedy, it's still very official sounding, complete with tables of firing solutions, ammunition expenditures, fuel used, who had a boil lanced, and so forth.

The value in this book is as a source of first-hand history, particularly since actual copies of these reports are usually only available on microfilm. The editing seems to be limited to fixing spelling errors and adding the editor's best guess (clearly indicated) at obvious missing words. There are a few footnotes, and appendixes are provided to explain things like Navy time zone designations and ship types. I'll note that, if you're one of those guys who are looking for a lot of first-hand details on the Buyo Maru incident, you won't find it here, as the whole thing is just mentioned in passing. And, since Wahoo was lost on her final patrol, an excerpt from the Navy's official history of submarine losses is included in its place.