Customer Reviews

Anti-submarine Warfare: An Illustrated History

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Whilst this book does require some serious attention to detail as far as the overall layout is concerned, it does provide a reasonable overview of the subject. In addition, some of the illustrations - especially the photograph of the Hunley plaque from the Submarine Library in Connecticut, are below standard.

Nevertheless, for anyone interested in the threat of the submarine as a naval weapon - from the very earliest conceptions right up to the modern nuclear vessel, and the anti-submarine measures developed to counter that threat, this book will give that person a very good appreciation of the subject.

With initial chapters devoted to the early development of the submarine, WW1, post WW1 and pre-WW2 the reader will already have learned a great deal about the development of the submarine as the author divides the next 12 chapters into different aspects of WW2 and the various battles fought in different theatres of war. This was the period when both the submarine and anti-submarine measures came of age. With surviving German U Boats distributed amongst the victorious Allies, post-WW2 submarines were further developments of the German lead in this particular field.

Concluding with chapters on the "Nuclear Revolution" and the tactics of submarine hunting submarine, the book concludes with the author's appraisal of the threat posed by submarines in the 21st Century.

As I have said, altogether an excellent overview of the subject but attention to detail required as far as layout and certain illustrations are concerned.

NM

Like so many recent US Naval Institute books this book is written primarily to emphasize British Naval operations during WWII while minimize USN contributions......The book is largely an account of WWII British convoy operations/battles....Only overviews of ASW weapons systems are included....... Minimal technical data and illustrations of the ASW weapons systems are provided....I would have expected technical listings and data on the various World's ASW systems from such a book.....Post World War Two USN coverage is minimal at best and includes no mention of the primary USN MK114/MK116 surface ships ASW systems of the 1950's-1960's........Overall the book was just another deary "Battle of the Atlantic" book from the Royal Navy Perspective......

ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
DAVID OWEN
NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS, 2007
HARDCOVER, $42.95, 224 PAGES, CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, PHOTOGRAPHS


Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) comprises the employment of available weapons, resources, and necessary tactics against enemy submarines, their operating bases, and their supporting activities. The purpose of ASW is to deprive the enemy of effective use of his submarines.

Operations contributing to accomplishment of this purpose are various in nature and maybe either offensive or defensive in character. In general, the principal categories of ASW operations are as follows:

*Bombing and Mining

*Hunter-Killer Operations

*Escort of Convoys

*Harbor Defense

*Submarine Anti-Submarine Operations

During the First World War, submarines were a new menace. Previously they had been limited to relatively calm and protected waters. The vessels used to combat them were a range of small, fast surface ships using guns and good luck. They mainly relied on the fact a submarine of the day was often on the surface for a range of reasons, such as charging batteries or crossing long distances. The first approach to protect warships was chain link nets strung from the sides of battleships, as defense against torpedoes. Nets were also deployed across the mouth of a harbor or naval base to stop submarines entering or to stop torpedoes fired against ships. The hydrophone, an underwater microphone, was used to listen for submarines; the German U-Boat, UC-3, was sunk with the aid of hydrophone on 23 April 1916, in company with the first depth charges.

By early 1917, the Royal Navy had also developed indicator loops which consisted of long lengths of cables laid on the seabed to detect the magnetic field of submarines as they passed overhead. At this stage, they were used in conjunction with controlled mines which could be detonated from a shore station once a "swing" had been detected on the indicator loop galvanometer. Indicator loops used with controlled mining were known as 'guard loops'. Seaplanes and airships were also used to patrol for submarines, with Fregatten-Leutnant Dip. Ing. Walter Zelezny scoring the first submarine kill be aircraft (in L135, a type T1 Lohner Flying Boat of the Imperial Austro-Hungarian Naval Air Arm) on 15 September 1916 against the French submarine 'Foucault Q-70' commanded by Captain L.V. Leon Henri Devin. While dipping hydrophones appeared before the war's end; the trials were abandoned.
However, the most effective anti-submarine measure was the introduction of convoys.

During the Second World War, the submarine menace revived, threatening the survival of island nations like Great Britain and Japan which were particularly vulnerable because of their dependence on imports of food, oil, and other vital war materials. Despite this vulnerability, little had been done to prepare sufficient anti-submarine forces or develop suitable new weapons. Other navies were similarly unprepared, despite the fact that every major navy had a large, modern submarine fleet. At the start of the war, most navies had few ideas how to combat submarines beyond locating them with sonar and then dropping depth charges on them. But sonar proved much less effective than expected, and was no use at all against submarines operating on the surface at night. The Royal Navy had continued to develop indicator loops between the wars but this was a passive form of harbor defense that depended on detecting the magnetic field of submarines by the use of long lengths of cable laid on the floor of the harbor. Indicator loop technology was quickly developed further and deployed by the U.S. Navy in 1942. By then, there were dozens of loop stations around the world. Sonar was far more effective and loop technology died straight after the war.

That the submarine was usually defeated is a hugely important but overlooked story in naval history, yet this book, ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY is the first book to treat the subject as a whole in a readable and accessible manner. It concerns not only individual heroism and devotion to duty, but also ingenuity, technical advances, and originality of tactical thought. What developed was an endless battle between forces above and below the surface, where a successful innovation by one side eventually produced a counter-measure by the other in a lethal struggle for supremacy. Development wasn't a straight line: ill-judged ideas and assumptions led to defeat and disaster.

The importance of anti-submarine warfare can't be too highly stressed. Recent advances have been made in submarine design and operation, such as greater speed and the ability to stay submerged almost indefinitely. These facts, plus the submarine's potential of any prospective enemy, make it obvious that maximun effort must be devoted to attain proficiency in anti-submarine warfare.

Throughout its pages, well-chosen examples and incidents and a superb collection of photographs and illustrations enliven a narrative which is both informative and highly readable. While there is an emphasis on the Royal Navy in this book, this doesn't detract from the information within it.



Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida