Customer Reviews

Submarine Grayback: The Life & Death of the WW II Sub, USS Grayback

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Upon first reading the book I was amazed at the detail used throughout the book. It painted a picture for me of life in a world war Two sub. The story keep me glued to the book and wanting to know more. The author, Rick Cline did an outstanding job in relaying the excitiment of running submurged, being chased by the Japs and finally the sorrow of the lost of the crew of the Grayback.

This book is well written and great story of submarine warfare in the Pacific.

This book was disappointing, with sloppy editing throughout there is no doubt that the book was hastily prepared by a novice "wanna be" historian writer. The generous "filler material" Cline included about day to day submarine life read more like a fictional account. The author has conveniently taken many questionable liberties writing about a submarine that was lost with all hands. Since there were no survivors, there is no one to verify anything Cline presents as fact in his book. There is some reliable information probably taken from official war patrol records when the author at least made the attempt to include something worthwhile. However that does not make up for the overall amateur effort made by the author to tell the story of the USS Grayback and crew. I would NOT recommend this book!

I have always been fascinated by submarines, and am particularly interested in the stories of those subs lost during WWII, as was Grayback. At first I was somewhat put off by the amount of daily minutia Cline includes, but eventually I fell into the rhythm of what life must have been like for her crew. I also like how Cline made each war patrol a single chapter, and my interest grew as I neared that final patrol. The account of her final days--and the speculation as to how she was lost--is both poignant and fascinating. However, I was dismayed to find typographical errors, incorrect punctuation and capitalization, misspellings, and/or bad grammer on nearly every page. I regret to say that is not an exaggeration, and it kept distracting me from the story. I'll admit to having majored in English and Writing, so perhaps others might not find this as bothersome I did. As is, I had to read most of the way through the book before the strength of the story overcame my tendency to come to a halt at the errors. That the story shines through in the end is a testament to the valor of the men of Grayback. I applaud Rick Cline for bringing their heroic tale to life, and I would recommend the book.

After fifty five years, the true story of the USS GRAYBACK is finally told, and what a story it is! Lost on her 10th war patrol the GRAYBACK is a real unsung hero of the "Silent Service"......must reading for anyone who appreciates and honors the sacrifices made by our submarines in World War II.