Customer Reviews

U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238): American Submarine War Patrol Reports

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

 

 

This book has been out for a while and I haven't seen any others, so I hope the publisher is really following up on their stated intention to continue the series. I'm giving this book five stars for historical usefulness, rather than for literary style. The book is exactly what the title suggests, a lightly-edited reprint of U.S.S. Wahoo's official war patrol reports. You just can't expect great literature from official documents. While "Mush" Morton seems to have been a slightly better writer than Marvin Kennedy, it's still very official sounding, complete with tables of firing solutions, ammunition expenditures, fuel used, who had a boil lanced, and so forth.

The value in this book is as a source of first-hand history, particularly since actual copies of these reports are usually only available on microfilm. The editing seems to be limited to fixing spelling errors and adding the editor's best guess (clearly indicated) at obvious missing words. There are a few footnotes, and appendixes are provided to explain things like Navy time zone designations and ship types. I'll note that, if you're one of those guys who are looking for a lot of first-hand details on the Buyo Maru incident, you won't find it here, as the whole thing is just mentioned in passing. And, since Wahoo was lost on her final patrol, an excerpt from the Navy's official history of submarine losses is included in its place.