The Submarine: A History [Hardcover]

Tom Parrish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2004

For centuries people dreamed of navigating under the sea, but it was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that inventors succeeded in developing practical submarines. With the coming of World War I, nations saw something entirely new in war: the deadly effectiveness of underwater craft, with German U-boats threatening to starve Britain and bringing the United States into the war, thus proving underwater battles more important than the great battles fought on land. A generation later U-boats repeated the struggle in the Atlantic, while in the Pacific U.S. submarines literally put Japan out of business. Then in the nuclear age, the true submarine became the most powerful weapon of war ever created—the weapon that paradoxically kept the peace.

Now, military historian Thomas Parrish tells the story of those who first dreamed of underwater ships; of the practical and ingenious inventors and engineers who created and developed the submarine; of visionary naval strategists; of famous skippers on all sides—steel-nerved men like America’s Dick O’Kane, Germany’s Reinhard Hardegen—who wielded this weapon; of the famous and infamous deeds of boats like the U-20, the Wahoo, and the nuclear-powered Nautilus and George Washington; and of the tragedies that befell boats like the American Thresher and the Russian Kursk. Parrish’s compelling narrative blends strategy, high policy, technology, heroism, and perilous adventure.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This readable if uneven history of the submarine takes the subject from David Bushnell's Turtle, which carried out the first submarine combat mission in 1776, to the Russian Kursk, whose explosion in 2000 was the latest of many disasters in the accident-prone Soviet and Russian fleet. In between are basically four episodes in the creation of undersea warfare. Late-19th-century developments culminated with engineer John Philip Holland's dual-propulsion system. By WWI, the unrestricted submarine warfare that was supposed to win the war for Germany lost it by bringing in the United States. In WWII, U-boats were again nearly decisive, and the U.S. subs in the Pacific actually were. Finally, in the postwar era, the nuclear submarine carrying ballistic missiles has become the ultimate deterrent. Parrish's coverage in each period varies among technical developments (a plethora of faulty torpedoes), combat operations (including strategy), heroic captains (e.g., Mush Morton of Wahoo) and inventors (Holland, Rickover and Raborn, the father of Polaris). Add a certain number of glitches (the British X-craft used dropped mines, not ones attached by divers against Tirpitz), but also add in smooth and even witty writing, and the result is a most respectable book. It may not be the seasoned experts' ideal, but it should set the new armchair submariner sailing off into the extensive and up-to-date bibliography.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Parrish synthesizes voluminous naval literature on the submarine in this fine popular presentation. After dispensing with the submarine's imaginative but primitive antecedents, such as David Bushnell's Turtle of 1776, Parrish lays down the technical advances that designer John Holland pulled together to produce the first truly functional submarines a century ago. However, navies were hard pressed to make use of these strange vessels, which were small, slow, and vulnerable if caught on the surface, until World War I revealed their predatory potential. Through descriptions of particularly dramatic or diplomatically significant sinkings, Parrish illustrates the submarine's crucial influence on that war, and subsequently on World War II and the cold war. Within each historical metamorphosis of the submarine, up to its contemporary incarnation as a nuclear-armed nemesis that can destroy an entire country, Parrish showcases famous submariners, including aggressive personalities such as Karl Donitz, "Mush" Morton, and Hyman Rickover. To a minutia-ridden subject, Parrish brings a superb general treatment that will attract naval-history readers. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1St Edition edition (May 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033138
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033133
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,604,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent General History, September 5, 2004

By 

Eldon Curtis "Eldon" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Submarine: A History (Hardcover)

Parrish covers the history of submarines from ancient times right up to the present. Naturally enough, he concentrates on 20th Century submarine development and employment, though earlier attempts at creating a functional submarine are also mentioned.

As in any general history, the author has to compromise. There are places where you might wish for a bit more detail. Just the coverage of submarine operations, both Axis and Allied, in World War II could easily fill two or three books of this size. Still, he does a fine job.

This is a good book for anyone who thinks he might be interested in the general use and development of the submarine as a weapon. The bibliography lists plenty of other books that will allow him to expand his knowledge.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Digestible and Informative History of these Silent Killers, April 27, 2005

By 

Daniel R. Sanderman (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Submarine: A History (Hardcover)

In THE SUBMARINE: A HISTORY, Thomas Parrish aims essentially to provide a history of the 20th century, told through the "periscope" lens of the submarine and its impact on world events. Of course, his history briefly dips back into the sixteenth century, jumps forward to the Civil War, and finally discusses the two innovators, Holland and Lake, in submarine design and technology. But the meat of submarine history occurs during the two World Wars and Parrish wisely decides to spend most of his time exploring these waters. I decided to pick up this book primarily because I have been fascinated by submarines ever since I was kid, stemming from the fact that my grandfather served on the USS Apogon (a Balao class) during WWII. I figured it was high time I learn a bit more about them.

I am no submarine historian, nor am I an avid reader of war histories. Therefore, I think that I provide a fairly objective viewpoint when I say that I enjoyed reading Parrish's text. It is extremely digestible and Parrish seems to have done his homework. Indeed, he provides quite an extensive bibliography for further reading. I can only fault the book on two points. First, I believe that Parrish gets so caught-up in re-telling the wars and the surrounding context that he forgets to tell us what we are really interested in: the submarines. Naturally, it is nice to have a sense of the landscape before going deep into the bush, but I would have enjoyed spending more time "under the waves" rather than riding around on the surface. In short, I would have liked more detail and stories from the actual submarine tours and less abstract text about "the submarine" as a naval unit.

Secondly, given that Parrish does spend so much time dealing with the politics and abstract developments of submarine warfare, I believe that Parrish overestimates the role of the submarine in his history. No one is going to doubt the powerful impact that submarines have had on modern warfare, but there are other aspects of warfare (indeed, even of naval warfare) that have played an equally important, if not more important, role. Let us not, for instance, forget the powerful importance of the aircraft carrier. Parrish is forced at several points to deal with the difficulties and failures surrounding the development and performance of the submarine. In essence, he brushes these events aside, telling the story as if the submarine was destined for perfection, but was simply unrealized at various points in history. The story, quite frankly, appears to be much more complex than that.

Of course, this slanted view of the submarine arises from the fact that THE SUBMARINE: A HISTORY is told from the viewpoint of the submarine. It is bound to be a little glowing in its treatment. Overall, I found this text quite entertaining and informative. I have always been fascinated by submarines and it was nice to finally learn more about the history of these amazing machines.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Episodic History of the Submarine, May 5, 2005

By 

Thomas J. Dougherty (Ayer, Ma. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Submarine: A History (Hardcover)

This book is an attempt, largely successful, of a comprehensive history of the submarines. The author, who has written a number of military history books, opens his book with the recent recovery and brief history of the Hunley. Another brief chapter explores early submarine efforts such as Bushnell's Turtle, Robert Fulton and Wilhelm Bauer's work and the Spanish effort on Monturial's Ictinio. The modern realization of the submarine as embodied by Holland and Lake is covered, along with the substantial design differences in submarines espoused by each inventor. The coverage of the German U-boat campaign in World War I is excellent, running almost 120 pages. The interwar period of submarine development is described, with the advances in technology and the differing philosophies on the future role of the submarine. The Second World War is addressed from both the German U-boat perspective in the Atlantic (100 pages), as well as an excellent overview of the US Fleet Boat operations in the Pacific (125 pages), including details of skippers who won the Medal of Honor. After the conclusion of the war years, the book immediately launches into the development of nuclear propulsion. To his credit, Parrish does not start with (then) Captain Rickover, but covers much of the background technical work leading up to the point where Rickover became the driving force behind achieving nuclear propulsion in a short time frame. As is obligatory in these histories, some "Rickover interview vignettes" are included, as are examples of his shrewd use of US Congress Members to further his aims (and keep him from mandatory retirement). Rickover's growing power and his ability to challenge (and survive!) Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze in the late 1960's are examples of his political savvy. Two chapters are devoted to the submarine missile programs, and another chapter deals with the loss of Thresher and Scorpion, the submarine special operations missions, such as the Halibut's cable tapping operations. This chapter covers material up to the present day, including a brief mention of the Seawolf and Virginia classes. The book closes with a brief chapter "On Eternal Patrol" about the WWII Submarine Veteran's Association.

Overall, this one volume history can serve as a decent, if somewhat episodic guide to overall submarine history. The treatment focuses a fair amount on politics, and not on submarine technology evolution. Some topics are given very minimal coverage, such as the Postwar Tang and Guppy fleet boat conversions, which are both covered in a single paragraph. The extremely important Albacore design gets a single mention in one sentence. The Soviet submarine developments during the Cold War get minimal coverage. Notable submarines such as the British T-class submarines receive passing mention, and the large Japanese aircraft carrying I-boats are not covered at all. Nonetheless, even with these omissions, I would recommend this book to anyone who desires a detailed and well written book that does cover most of the essentials.