Customer Reviews

Find 'Em, Chase 'Em, Sink 'Em: The Mysterious Loss of the WWII Submarine USS Gudgeon

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Review: FIND `EM, CHASE `EM, SINK `EM
Author: Mike Ostlund
Reviewed copy: Hardback-471 pages-1st edition-Signed
Publisher: The Lyons Press of Guilford, Connecticut-2006
Reviewer: Ron Martini


....I approach most submarine works that deal with WWII with trepidation. I have been burned by too many self serving books written by those who seem to be writing for their Academy classmates. Then there are those written as strict history and really grind on your resolve to finish them. The exceptions, in the first case, are Admiral Fluckey's "Thunder Below," and the example of the strict history type is Silent Victory and Hitler's U-Boat War by Blair.


....So I approached "Find `Em" with caution. Wow! I was amazed at this work. The book Is so well researched (it took 5 years), that I am going to use it forever as a model for anyone asking me what or how a book and what is involved. I get about 2 requests per month from authors who are hoping to write the ultimate WWII book. This is not that book but its real close. It contains a huge human touch or pathos, humor, drama, history and that déjà vu feeling all submariners get when reading about the world we lived in.


....Most books have 3-4 interviews of principals who are discussed in the work. This book never ends with them. From nursing home beds to children and grandchildren, the work is amazing in its attention to detail and reliance on proof and interviews to fill in the period of this submarines eleven patrols.


....This story is about the USS Gudgeon SS 211. It tells in detail the events of each of the 11 patrols and the last 100 pages attempt to find the boat lost on it's 12 war patrol presumably west of Iwo Jima. But it just isn't about the patrols, the torpedoes fired, the 5" shells pounded into Japanese ships, but also about the return of the boats to port. The fun the crew forced themselves to have to forget the 300 depth charges the boat endured in the short three years of it's life. The times at the Royal Hawaiian and their Gilly stills to the thrills and funny stories emanating from Australia will not be forgotten by this reviewer.


....The book does not hold back in criticism of those men who did not live up to their oaths or who did not have the fortitude to charge forward at all costs. Even the couple of cooks who deserted and were never heard from again. I hope they find this book.


....The author's uncle was a lieutenant on board the Gudgeon for her last 3 patrols and one of many lost on the 12th patrol. This is the authors five year search to find the boat, find out as much as he could about the men who served with her and the search for its remains. Unfortunately, the boat probably lies in the canyons of the Marianna's Trench at over 4000 feet depth. The author has done a great job in bringing some measure of finality to the families of those lost in that war.


....A great read and highly recommended to all readers of submarine lore and history. My copy is being donated to the USSVI National Library at North Little Rock, Arkansas near where another great WWII submarine now is on display.

Ron Martini

Very well researched material for the book on WWII sub warfare. In-depth about the lives of those that served on the sub Gudgeon. Really surprised that the book was mostly about the lower ranks - their thoughts, emotions - when at war. Most books just care about the high-ranking people and forget about the ones under them. Very good description of the smells and the fear the sailors felt when being depth-charged. It was interesting to find out how torpedoes work and how the men found out how to make a drink out of the propellant. This is a must-read book for those interested in WWII history and many others.

Mike is masterful in weaving the lives of the men and their stories into a totally enjoyable, readable book about submarine warfare during WWII. His Uncle Bill would have been very proud of him.

This book reads like a novel, full of adventure and stories of individual young men who served on, and in some cases were lost on, this WWII submarine, yet it has all the military details that an avid submariner could possibly want. A hefty book, so it's worth the cost of hardback, and leaves haunting images and memories of what war time service was like for men who were basically still children on a war-duty submarine. Unlike some submarine books, this one is interesting to not just the military literature audience, but to anyone who might pick it up. Perhaps it is the author's personal link to his "Uncle Bill", who was lost aboard the sub during it's last mission, but it is a story that pulls at every human emotion it is possible to feel--pride, grief, wonder, awe, terror, and joy, plus there are some tremendously funny reminiscences from men who served aboard the sub but were lucky enough to transfer off before the sub disappeared on it's last patrol. The author was also able to develop a well-researched and extremely viable theory of what actually happened on that last patrol and where the heroic sub and its crew may lie on the ocean floor, including the actual Japanese plane that sunk it. Great Read! Highly recommend!

Although the basis of this book is/was, because of an officers life, I - as an enlisted E4, having served on a Fleet type boat - found the book more about enlisted crewmembers, their deeds, thoughts, and lifestyles rather than the "wardroom's".

A very good read ...............

Tang, Bowfin, Silversides, Wahoo. As the son of a submariner and an amateur W.W.II history buff, these names are very familiar, and deservedly so. U.S. submarines accounted for more enemy tonnage sunk than all other types of fleet vessels combined. If an army truly moves on it's belly, it was the "pig boats" that insured that the enemy would be in constant short supply. Much has been written about individual boats and their captains but now, finally, the skill, dedication, and contributions of the entire crew aboard a fleet submarine is taken into account in Find "Em, Chase "Em, Sink "Em. This is the book I've wanted to read for a lifetime and it was well worth the wait.
Gudgeon (SS-211)had been largely forgotten until now. On December 11th, 1941 she sailed on her, and America's, first offensive war patrol in the Pacific. Her crew, although highly trained, were untested in battle but what they learned on this first patrol would help shape submarine doctrine in those early months of the war. Along the way, Gudgeon would become the first American submarine to patrol Japanese home waters (the dangerous Bungo Straits) and also become the first American vessel of any type to sink an enemy warship (I-73). During her illustrious 3 years career, her total tonnage sunk would place her 15th on the honor roll. She also received 11 Battle Stars and earned the coveted Presidential Unit Citation.
All that said, this book offers so much more. Mr. Ostlund has written a fine tribute to not only the brave crew of Gudgeon, both the surviving and those who remain on eternal patrol, but to all the dedicated young men of the Silent Service who served their country in her time of need.
As for the mystery surrounding her disappearance, I won't say a word. Instead I'll urge you to read, in my humble opinion, the finest book ever written about a U.S. submarine in W.W.II.

I have read almost every sub book written. This book has the right personal touch. The emotion and the action bring the reader back to a time when we fought wars the right way. Integrity and courage are abound. Join one mans quest to find his uncles past, and uncover the story behind one of the best world war II submarines to sail the south pacific. From enlisted to Officer this book covers it all. In this book the GREAT GENERATION LIVES ON !!! THANKS MIKE

Capt. Brian Koschak
Rowlett Fire Rescue

I found "Find 'em, Chase 'em, Sink 'em" to be one of the more interesting and entertaining Submarine History I have read in a long time. The detail is outstanding, and there is a lot more information concerning the enlisted crew- members than any other Submarine History I have ever seen. This book has been written by a second generation author, and relative of one of Gudgeon's officers.
Every bit of information he includes is factual, not from a 60 year old memory, and he explains exactly how he researched his subject. This book is definitely a must for the serious Submarine History buff.

Mike Ostlund did a fantastic job writing and researching this book. My uncle Harry Nickel was always talked about when I was growing up. I was born 3 years after he was lost in the submarine. I found the entire book extremely interesting and I now have a better understanding of what happened. My only wish is that My Grandmother and my Mother were still alive to share this great book, they were the last of my family to know Harry Nickel during his short life. Bravo Mike !!!!!!!

Having made 6 war patrols aboard the Gudgeon, and 3 war patrols on other boats, I am well aware of what constitutes excellence in a fighting submarine than one without the aggressiveness and resolve found in Gudgeon and her crew.We were a team, and in my estimation no one, without exception, was more important than another. This was made clear to the author who followed our description of events to the "T". This is the true
story,without embellishments, or aggrandizements, of one of the fightingest submarines that ever existed.I am proud to have been part of this history, and even more proud of it's excellent narration by the author, Mike Ostlund

As Tom Brokaw called them, this was 'The Greatest Generation.' We have to stand amazed at what these people did.

On Friday nights a group of us usually meet at a local watering hole for a couple of beers before going on to other things. One man, who doesn't usually say much was finally convinced to tell his story of the war.

He was a mechanic before the war. So he enlisted in the Navy to work on aircraft engines. Of course he wound up on submarines. He went on four war patrols. Then he came down with appendicitis. He was in the hospital when the boat went on their fifth war patrol, from which is didn't return. His boat, like the Gudgeon is, as the submariners say, 'On Eternal Patrol.'

It was fascinating to read in this book what these men went through. Here is how life was on those crowded, hot (or freezing), stinking (everything smelled of diesel fuel) boats.

But perhaps the best part of this book is Chapter 13, the story of chasing down (almost certainly) the story what really happened to the Gudgeon. While officially the cause of the loss of the Gudgeon is unknown, the work by the author has been accepted by most people. It is the only cause that uses Japanese reports of sinking a sub that matches.

Good job Mr. Ostlund.