Customer Reviews

Submarine Warfare In The Civil War

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4 star:		(1)
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As other reviewers have already noted, this is a fantastic book.
The author has fully researched the subject and presents details of many little known facts from the first Confederate submarines which attempted unsuccessful underwater attacks to the first Union submarine that had been intended to sink the ironclad Merrimac (Virginia). The book goes far beyond the history of the Hunley and certainly is a must for anyone interested in the Civil War or the history of the development of submarines. Highly recommended.

I'm only about halfway through this book, but so far I love it! I've been reading it in preparation for writing a paper about Civil War submarines, and it's an incredibly interesting and fact-filled book. I first heard about the Hunley a couple months ago, and in reading this book, I've learned that many other submarines existed during the Civil War--on both sides! If you are interested in Naval history, Civil War history, or just history in general, I highly recommend this book!

As soon as I saw the cover I had to read this book. What a contradiction of terms "submarine warfare" and the "civil war"! You would not think the two go together. I had heard the stories of the famous Hunley but are you kidding me, there were more submarines! In this book Mark Ragan tells the incredible story of the dozens of submarines that were created and tested during the civil war. I was surprised with each turn of the page as I learned more and more about that remarkable war. A must read for any civil war or submarine buff but even more important to any American interested in learning the true history of America!

What a fantastic book! Two of my favorite reading items compiled into one book. Well presented and when documented evidence does not exist the author presents plausible theories to allow the reader to make their own determination.
Everyone knows about the Hunley, now find out the other part of the story to give you the entire story. I really just wanted to keep reading this book and ignore my other responsibilites, it is that good.

This is an excellent look at all of the evidence available
of all attempts by both North and South to create the first
viable submarines.It's well written and carefully notes when the
writer's words are hypotheses rather than fact. Unfortunately for the overall story, many documents were lost when the Union
burned Richmond to the ground. Many were also destroyed because submarines fell under the cloak of secrecy and many records
were lost in the attempt to avoid postwar guilt, should such machines be considered "unfair" war devices. A very fine coverage of a little known area of the War Between the States..

While this is THE BIBLE for Civil War submarine fans, Regan makes a huge error regarding the history of the Intelligent Whale.

He says crew members were killed in testing the boat (not true- not one person died on the Whale.) He also says it is at the Washington Navy Yard (it is not - it is at the Army National Guard Militia Museum at Sea Girt, New Jersey and has been since April of 1999. See
http://www.nj.gov/military/museum/militia.pdf