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Battle Surface!: Lawson P. "Red" Ramage and the War Patrols of the USS, Parche
 
 

Battle Surface!: Lawson P. "Red" Ramage and the War Patrols of the USS, Parche [Kindle Edition]

Stephen L. Moore
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Cmdr. Lawson Paterson Red Ramage was among an elite group of just seven U.S. submariners who were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II and the first not to die in the course of his heroic exploits. He was honored for his actions in the Pacific on the night of 31 July 1944 when he kept his submarine, USS Parche, on the surface and defiantly charged into the midst of a large Japanese convoy. Ramage's close-in, furious surface rampage became the talk of the submarine force, both in terms of its boldness and its destruction of the enemy shipping. Remarkably, Parche's crew had managed to reload their torpedo tubes while their skipper twisted and turned the boat through the chaos of machine gun bullets, exploding heavy shells, and Japanese ships trying to ram them.

To tell Parche's dramatic story, author Stephen Moore draws on recently discovered wartime diaries and interviews with dozens of veterans, who add rich details to the official record. Readers learn what it was like on patrol in the Pacific to endure the terrors of torpedo attacks and depth charges, as well as learn how they relieved the stress of combat on liberty. The only book to focus exclusively on Parche and the incredible Red Ramage, it offers a rare, up-close look at the actions of the legendary World War II submarine, whose conning tower and periscopes are on permanent display in Pearl Harbor.

About the Author

Stephen L. Moore has written a number of books on World War II and Texas history, including Presumed Lost: The Incredible Ordeal of America's Submarine Veteran POWs of World War II; War of the Wolf: Texas' Memorial Submarine, World War II's Famous USS Seawolf; and Spadefish: On Patrol With a Top-Scoring World War II Submarine. A sixth generation Texan, Moore is a frequent speaker at Texas historical conferences and writes for local magazines and historical journals. He lives in Lantana, TX.

Product Details

  • File Size: 5587 KB
  • Print Length: 360 pages
  • Publisher: Naval Institute Press (June 2, 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0052LIVJE
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,519 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
I was there June 10, 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Steven Moore's analysis of the men and action on the Parche (SS384) is better than mine, and I was an officer on the Parche for all six war patrols.l
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Not a sub sailor July 20, 2011
By none
Format:Hardcover
I have a rule not to read books written about diesel submarines written by someone who did not serve on them. I purchased
this one because I knew Vice Admiral Ramage. Mr. Moore knows how to write a book, and i did enjoy it, and would
recommend it. However he did make lots of mistakes because he was not a submarine sailor. On the very first page he has
a steward taking coffee from the officers pantry to the bridge by going forward. If he went forward he would have been in
the forward torpedo room. He also says on page 23 that pearl Harbor was polluted with diesel fuel leaking from the sunken
battleships. Battleships were not diesel they were steam ships and burned snfo which is a heavy #5 fuel oil. On page 47 he
says Parche's 4" deck gun was a dual purpose cannon. It was neither. The 4" Mk12 gun had an elevation of -15 deg, and
+20 deg. Dual purpose means it can be used against aircraft and surface targets. This gun is single purpose (surface targets
only) And a cannon is a smooth bore gun. The correct term for Parche's gun would be rifle . On page 52 he says the SJ
radar was not able to tell if the reported contact was on the surface on submerged. Radar can not, and is not used for under-
water contacts that is sonar's job. One page 157 he says "Bob Erwin seated in the wardroom just one compartment forward
of the forward torpedo room" He should have visited one of the many world war II submarine memorials in the US before
writing this book, then he would have known that the wardroom is one compartment aft of the forward torpedo room.
On page 158 He calls Mac Marory a junior officer, He was the XO, and a LCDR not a junior officer. So as you can see
Mr. Moore was not a submarine sailor, but again the book was very well done and very interesting...
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Amongst the famous American submarines who saw combat in World War II, was USS Parche. During the course of six cruises, SS-384 earned two Presidential Unit Citations, five Battle Stars and won her first CO, Lawson Ramage, the Medal of Honor. The history of this Silent Service stalwart is well-told in Stephen Moore's BATTLE SURFACE, a 2011 Naval Institute Press release.

A Balao-class submarine, Parche was commissioned in November 1943 and first sailed in harm's way in March 1944. On 31 July, during Parche's second patrol, 'Red' Ramage took SS-384, running on the surface, into the midst of a Japanese convoy, savaging the merchantmen in an epic 45-minute brawl. Credited with sinking five ships for 34,000 tons, 'Ramage's Rampage' netted the skipper an MOH and the boat her first PUC. Following another patrol, Ramage turned SS-384 over to his XO, 'Mac' McCrory, who logged three more patrols before war's end. Parche was struck from the Navy list in November 1969, her conning tower being preserved and displayed at Pearl Harbor.

BATTLE SURFACE is Stephen Moore's fourth Silent Service book. Moore does a good job of presenting each member of the crew, creating vivid images of living, breathing human beings warts and all. Likewise, his descriptions of Parche's patrols, and especially the various attacks carried out by Ramage and McCrory, make for compelling reading. On the flip side, there are a number of technical errors throughout the book.

In short, BATTLE SURFACE is an entertaining history of a hard-hitting American sub and the valiant men who crewed her during two years of war. Naval warfare and Silent Service buffs should enjoy this book tremendously. I know I did. Recommended.
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