Customer Reviews

Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two: German, Italian, and Japanese Submarine Successes, 1939-1945

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This is a data-book, pure and simple. It contains details of each successful attack made by Axis submarines during the Second World War (as the title suggests). A successful attack in this context is one that is reported as causing damage.

Information on each attack is: Date and time of first attack and of first hit (reported by submarine); Nationality of attacking submarine; Number or name of attacking submarine; Name of commanding officer of submarine; target type (as reported by the submarine, and actual); Convoy designation; Tonnage of target (reported and actual); Result of the attack (reported and actual); Weapon used in attack; Position of attack (as reported by submarine and as determined by the Allies); Nationality of attacked ship; Name of attacked ship.

There are also short notes on many of the attacks, expanding on the raw data.

The chapters are divided in to region (Atlantic, Pacific etc), and an index is provided of all submarines, commanding officers, convoys and attacked ships.

This book is a must-have for those interested in the raw data. If you're after a narrative then this book is certainly not for you.

Once again, we have a book which will not be read in the expectation of being entertained by the content. Instead we have the most detailed examination of all Axis submarine claims during WW2. It is a book full of facts and figures and is the most comprehensive work of its kind.

Whilst there are no photographs or illustrations, there are 10 charts at the end of the book which do much to explain where events took lace. For the remainder, we have are the carefully researched, painstakingly checked and meticulously catalogued details of all Axis submarine attacks during WW2 including German, Italian, Japanese, Romanian, Finnish and Vichy French operations in every theatre of the war at sea and the resultant claims.

It is another exhaustive and authoritative work from naval historian Jürgen Rohwer whose reputation is unsurpassed in his field of expertise. Most interesting of all is the author's comparison between what was claimed by the attacker with the information contained in Allied War Diaries. In this way, the author has, once again, been able to correct many instances of false or inaccurate reporting.

The book is arranged by sea areas of; Atlantic/North Sea, Northern Theatre, Baltic, Black Sea, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean/ South Africa and Pacific. These are followed by indexes on; Submarines, Commanding Officers, Convoys and Ships Attacked. Detail for each attack includes; Date, nationality name of submarine and commander, map reference and the type, tonnage, nationality and name of ship sunk. Additional information aimed at clarifying disputed claims is also provided.

As I say, not a "readable" work by any means, nevertheless, this is an important work as far as ongoing research is concerned and should be a required addition to the bookshelf of any discerning researcher.

NM

Captain Zenji Orita was one of the most active Japanese submarine commanders to have survived WWII. In his book, I-BOAT CAPTAIN (Major Books, 1976), he details his experiences in hunting U.S. and British ships throughout the Pacific Ocean. He discusses how other Japanese submariners sank the Yorktown carrier and the Indianaplis cruiser. He details the different classifications of Hirohito's submarines. He notes how and which various Japanese submarines were sunk on their missions. He describes how his submarines attacked Sydney Harbor and shelled Santa Barbara, CA. He discusses how Japanese submarines conducted resupply missions throughout New Guinea and Guadalcanal, and the difficulties that they experienced. He is able to put a very human face on the stoic pilots of the Kaiten "one way" suicide submarines, and how their one- and two-man crews trained, and sometimes failed in horrible drowning accidents. He seems to be a little vexed in that he believes that the Japanese submarines sank a lot more Allied ships that what the Allied navies are willing to admit. Not an "exciting" battlefield suspenseful reading book, but a nice, well written view from a true seafarer who survived the worst that Davy Jones' sea locker had to offer.