In February 1945, the Japanese High Command sent four submarines on a secret recovery mission to the Philippines. An American submarine wolfpack was sent to intercept them.
During the night, the submarine USS Batfish engaged the enemy. And in the ensuing skirmish, a fully armed torpedo lodged in a firing tube. With the enemy alerted to their presence, and their own torpedo threatening to destroy them, the crew of the Batfish entered into a 72-hour battle. In an astonishing display of skill, fortitude, and mariner's luck, the Batfish not only survived, but they destroyed a record-breaking three enemy submarines in a single engagement.
This is the never-before-told story of the submarine, the captain, and the crew of the USS Batfish, and a testament to the bravery of those who endured hell under the waves.
Don Keith is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning author. In addition to writing fiction and nonfiction, he heads up the curriculum in Media Marketing and Management at Virginia College and runs the school's full-service advertising and marketing agency.
Award-winning and best-selling author Don Keith was born in 1947 and has lived in the South all his life. He attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he received his degree in broadcast and film communication with a minor in English and literature. While working as a broadcast journalist, he won awards from the Associated Press and United Press International for news writing and reporting. He was also the first winner of Troy State University's Hector Award for innovation in broadcast journalism. As an on-the-air broadcaster, Don won the Billboard Magazine "Radio Personality of the Year" in two formats, country and contemporary. Keith was a broadcast personality for over twenty years in Birmingham and Nashville, and also owned his own consultancy, co-owned a Mobile, Alabama, radio station (WZEW-FM), and hosted and produced several nationally syndicated radio shows.
His first novel, THE FOREVER SEASON, was published by St. Martin's Press in the fall of 1995 to commercial and critical success. It called heavily on Keith's own athletic and academic experiences. Reviewers praised its unique approach and powerful story. The novel won the Alabama Library Association's "Fiction of the Year" award in 1997, joining works likewise honored from Harper Lee and others, and was re-issued in the fall of 2002 by the University of Alabama Press as part of its prestigious Deep South Books series. His second novel, WIZARD OF THE WIND, was based on Keith's years in broadcasting. As was the first book, the second work was published under the imprint of widely praised New York editor Robert Wyatt as A Wyatt Book for St. Martin's Press. Keith next released a series of young adult/mens' adventure novels co-written with Kent Wright. They are set in stock car racing and titled THE ROLLING THUNDER STOCKCAR RACING SERIES. The works were released in paperback by Tor Books, as audiobooks by Durkin-Hayes Publishing, and in hardback by Econo-Clad Books.
Don's next novel, a thriller co-written with former nuclear submarine commander George Wallace, FINAL BEARING, was released by Forge Books of New York City in April 2003 and quickly became a national bestseller and great reviews. A mass-market paperback edition is also available and a Kindle edition is now available from Amazon.com. A sequel to that novel, which is set for publication as an audio book in November 2011 and in hardback in 2012, has been optioned by a major film studio and a motion picture is in the works.
Keith's first non-fiction work, GALLANT LADY, the true story of a remarkable World War II submarine, the USS Archerfish, was written with the significant help of former Archerfish crewmember Ken Henry. It was published by Forge Books in June 2004. A trade paperback edition was published in 2005 and an audio version was released by Blackstone Audiobooks.
Don's next work of military history, IN THE COURSE OF DUTY, was published by the Caliber imprint of Penguin USA. The book deals with another amazing WWII submarine, the USS Batfish, her heroic efforts in the Pacific and the wonderful story of how she came to rest today high and dry in a former bean field in Muskogee, Oklahoma--the middle of the Dust Bowl and the Cherokee Nation.
In 2006, he published FINAL PATROL, another Caliber/Penguin release, which tells the personal, behind-the-scenes stories of each of the 17 WWII submarines that are open to the public around the country as museum ships. Each of the non-fiction submarine books were offered as featured selections of The Military Book Club.
Also in 2006, Cumberland House Press released Don's unique series of vignettes about legendary college football coach "Bear" Bryant titled THE BEAR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF COACH PAUL "BEAR" BRYANT.
Don's next work was THE ICE DIARIES, the untold story of America's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, and her historic Cold War trip to the North Pole in 1958. The book was co-written with Captain William R. Anderson, the skipper of Nautilus on that world-changing, top-secret voyage. The book was submitted for consideration for the Pulitzer Prize.
The next work was another true story of a series of events aboard the World War II submarine USS Billfish. WAR BENEATH THE WAVES reveals the previously untold story of how a young officer took charge of a submarine during a vicious depth-charge attack and, with the help of a couple of chiefs and brave crewmembers, saved the boat. It, too, is pubished by Caliber/Penguin and is also available in an audio-book version.
Don's next non-fiction historical work will be UNDERSEA WARRIOR, the remarkable story of Commander Dudley "Mush" Morton, a young submarine skipper who literally--and almost single-handedly--changed the course of submarine warfare. And he did it in only ten months as the captain of a submarine.
Don also writes under the pseudonym of Jeffery Addison and has published three novellas, co-written with Edie Hand, THE LAST CHRISTMAS RIDE, THE SOLDIER'S RIDE, and THE CHRISTMAS RIDE: MIRACLE OF THE LIGHTS. Each is an inspirational story of life's ride, the rough patches we run into along the way, and how we overcome them with faith, family and friends.
Don lives in Indian Springs Village, Alabama, with his wife, Charlene. He is also an active "ham" radio operator (call sign N4KC), is a member of the Alabama Writers' Forum and actively supports local and statewide literacy efforts. Don's web site is www.donkeith.com.
Don't know why I ordered this book but am so glad I did. Once I started reading, I found it very well written, entertaining and in parts, hair-raising. It captures the zeitgeist of the crew when the eerie sound of a torpedo rushes past the hull of the boat, or the shattering thunder of an exploding depth charge shakes the sub, barely missing blowing it up in the sea as well as the urgency of mechanical problems that seriously threaten the submarine and the lives of those on board. The horror is mixed with humor and the crew is presented in such a way that you are able to relate to what they must have felt in their darkest moments of terror as well as in their great joy when victorious over enemy vessels. Also well done, the foibles and dilemmas of getting it to that landlocked bean field in Oklahoma where it finally stands as a proud memorial to the WWII battles at sea and the incredibly brave men who fought them. Do put this one on your "must read list". It's a winner!
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This review is from: In the Course of Duty: The Heroic Mission of the USS Batfish (Paperback)
Don Keith has captured the history as well as the personalities of the crew of the Batfish. His writing style perfectly complements the events of her service during WWII and the remarkable but quirky way she wound up in Muskogee, OK. at War Memorial Park. A fun read as well as an emotional one.
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This review is from: In the Course of Duty: The Heroic Mission of the USS Batfish (Paperback)
Over many years, I have read ever book on the boats that I could get my hands on. Without reservation "In The Course Of Duty" is
in the top three of the best. The book takes you through some of the most daring situations that a reader will ever experience.
And, the placing the boat in an Oklahoma Bean Field gives you an insight on the guts and wisdom of Submariners past and present.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sub vets, submarine veterans, sub sailors, eternal patrol, torpedo data computer, vets group, war patrol, former crew members, torpedo room, enemy boat, diving officer, sound operator, conning tower, enemy sub, deck log, periscope depth, patrol report, new skipper, attack officer, new submarine, patrol plane, hot run
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jake Fyfe, Maritime Advisory Board, Pearl Harbor, New Orleans, Ace Kelly, Captain Merrill, Arkansas River, Karl Wheland, United States, Wayne Merrill, Captain Fyfe, Clark Sprinkle, Captain Jake, Imperial Japanese Navy, New London, Port of Muskogee, Pacific Ocean, Nick Guagliardo, War Memorial Park, Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf of Mexico, Panama Canal, Stan Javorski, Don Keith, George Nigh
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