Customer Reviews

Under Pressure: The Final Voyage Of Submarine S-Five

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! Things just keep getting worse and Cooke and his men teeter on the edge of eternity. This reads like great fiction and yet it's so obviously true to fact. A fabulous read!

This incredible story, which I'd never heard about before, took place in 1920 in a fairly primitive submarine (by today's standards). However, I believe it remains the only instance where the entire crew of a sunken sub was rescued. Lt. Commander Savvy Cook is as cool and calm and as great a leader of men in dire straits... Since they all survived, wrote letters, articles, and left a good first person record through official Navy records, Hill is able to place the reader on board the S-5 alongside with Savvy Cooke and his men. It is as gripping as any story of survival and rescue--think of how we all reacted to the recent rescue of the 9 trapped coal miners in PA. As exciting as any submarine or naval story ever written,... I can't recommend this book enough--this book is a gem. There's even an unbelievable photo of the stern of the S-5 sticking out of the water.

A J Hill is a non-fiction equivalent to Tom Clancy. As a former nuclear submariner, I found myself unable to tear my eyes from the book. While the technical details are well-described and accurate, the marvelous thing about the book is its portrayal of its characters. Savvy Cooke was a tortured man, having suffered and persevered through the sinking of two ships he commanded and the suicide of his first wife. Men like these are the between-the-wars heroes Herman Wouk described in The Caine Mutiny. Hill paints Savvy Cooke with the same brush. When's his next book?

This is an absolute "must read" for any submarine buff, but especially so if you like "S" boats. Not just for the on edge excitement of the accident and rescue but for life in general as a submariner onboard an S-class sub in the early years of the silent service. Not much reading of this quality is available covering this time span in the subs and "Under Pressure" strikes the nail on the head. This book is proof that you dont have to have a war to have heroes, highly recommended reading.

The story of the S-5 is one I've been familiar with my whole life, the executive officer LT Grisham (whose nickname was "Jim" not "Charlie") was my grandfather. He and his wife Mary were not getting ready to start a family, my mother was four years old at the time. I don't want to give away the ending, so I think I needed to make clear that my existence was not predicated on LT Grisham's survival.
The book is a real page-turner, I read it in one sitting. Although I was well aware of the outcome, Mr. Hill kept me enthralled. My heart was beating fast and my hands were sweaty. It is an inspiring book, uplifting to read about the honor and valor of men in terrifying predicaments.
It's also a graphic description of the conditions aboard submarines in the early days of the silent service.
A MUST-READ

The subject matter of A.J. Hill's "Under Pressure" has been covered in the other reviews. It is a significant book and a must-have for any interested in naval history and submarines. Mr. Hill (no relation to the reviewer) has done us all a service by bringing this little-known chapter in U.S. naval history to light.

There is a very strong moral to this story. LCDR Cooke and his crew were in a desperate situation. They were trapped underwater at a steep angle. There was no light, no electricity and no heat. The threat of chlorine gas was increasing with every minute. In a display of discipline and leadership in the finest traditions of anyone's service, LCDR Cooke did the only thing he could.

It wasn't much but it was enough to start the sequence of events that eventually lead to the rescue of every man on board.

The moral to the story is no matter how bad things are, we must do what we can. Who knows there may be someone to help......

I can honestly say that this is one of the most suspenseful and exciting books I've ever read. In fact, in many places it was so absorbing I simply couldn't put it down.
The story of how the S-Five sank and how Savvy Cooke and his men fought to survive afterwards is amazing, but the author has done such a great job of research that it's all believable. It's educational too. I didn't know much about submarines when I started the book, but I do now. The technical stuff was explained so clearly that I never had trouble understanding what was happening,. but the explanations never got in the way of the action.
If you liked The Terrible Hours, you'll love this book!

A great book about the rescue of the crew of the submarine S-5 in 1920. There have been a number of books about the loss of submarine crews but fortunately this book has no deaths (at least in this sinking). Captain Cook or Savvy as he is known manages to keep his crew alive by shifting the water in the sinking sub. He manages to tilt the submarine on end and then drill a hole in the back end of the sub, where he motioned a passing ship to save his crew. The sub turned out to be a total loss but the crew was saved.
There are better submarine books out there, but none that describes this particular sinking. The author is a medical doctor, but he does a great job of giving the reader a thrilling adventure. Great job A.J.

I enjoyed the S-5 as a former Stetson Home brother, Frank Somes was on the S-5. It would have been nice if all the members of the crew were listed. After all, this was their story

Eighty years before the ill-fated Soviet submarine Kursk sank, killed its entire crew, and inspired a major movie, another sub full of American sailors faced certain death on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. But the resourceful crew of the U.S. Navy's S-Five didn't suffer the same fate as the Kursk's crew. And their story is recounted in vivid detail in "Under Pressure."

"No matter how dire and hopeless things may seem," Hill says, "life is worth fighting for."

His book is a remarkable story of true heroism in a time of heroes.