Customer Reviews

War Beneath the Waves: A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine

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There are 3 subjects in `War Beneath the Waves'. The first is the submarine `Billfish' and especially the 15 hour depth-charge that it endured, where the commanding officer was paralyzed with fear and the exec was unable to take charge. Charlie Rush took over and led the sub to safety.
The 2nd subject is the 60 year wait for the men who saved the ship to be recognized as the heroes they were, and receive some of the Navy's highest decorations.
The 3rd subject is life in a sub. If you have never been in the claustrophobic conditions that these vessels contain, you can and will appreciate how much these men endure.
These 3 stories are combined in a simple enough manner that anyone reading can understand the workings of the submarine, the engines, torpedoes, the problems of fumes, smells, food and water. There are horrendous examples of "loose lips", even a Congressman telling the newspapers how Japanese depth charges were not working. There is one of the best prologues with descriptions of men under depth charges and the results.

The caution of the author to not judge harshly for those of us sitting safe and secure is well taken; but the story will haunt those that know and respect military traditions and its' working discipline. The conditions of submarine warfare and life will haunt the reader too. This is a book that has served its' purpose to describe the men's heroism and the submarine service.

This review is from a submariner with 29 years of naval service.

The story of the events that led up to and including the afternoon of November 11th, 1943 are the focus of this story. It is a story long overdue in the complete telling. Author Don Keith came to this task with a fair reputation of authorship of books on submarine warfare (Final Bearing, Gallant Lady, Final Patrol), however, here he presents a flawed book. The essentials of the book may well be true, but there are so many mistakes that the credibility of the whole must be drawn into question. Some examples include the following:
* Page 27, quoting: "Destroyers, depending on their vintage and class, were about 350 feet in length, could travel very fast - 35 to 38 knots (65 to 70 miles per hour)"...any seaman knows that 35 knots is 40.3 mph.
* In another place author Keith states that a Japanese destroyer could not catch a surfaced submarine because the destroyer's top speed was 20 knots. Almost all Japanese destroyers could easily top 35 knots. It is true that some patrol boats (equivalent to USN sub chasers) may not have been able to exceed 20 knots, but a destroyer certainly could.
* On page 72 he says: "Admiral Ralph Christie, the Pacific fleet submarine commander, was a torpedo expert,"...the highest WWII submarine post held by Christie was Commander Submarines, Southwest Pacific. He was never the commander of Submarines, Pacific Fleet.
* He refers to a "peer review" of chief petty officer candidates by senior and master chiefs before there were SCPOs and MCPOs.
* He has a LT calling an enlisted man "Mister so and so." At this time in the Navy, enlisted men below chief petty officer were always referred to by their last name, especially by officers. Officers below commander were called "Mister so and so."
* The author unnecessarily (in my opinion) repeats in great detail the description of how a submarine battery operates.
* Helm orders are given incorrectly ("helm 45 degrees starboard"). Diesel submarine rudders are hard over at 35 degrees, and orders are normally given as "right hard rudder, right full rudder, or right 20 degrees rudder."

In summary, this is an important story that deserved telling. While the book is generally well-written, the editing was very poor. The mistakes above should have (would have been) found by a review by almost any submariner. The mistakes detract significantly from an otherwise good read.

The book is a good read however, some of the tech issues are way off, i.e. Knots to MPH etc.

This book tells of the tale of a particularly heavy depth charging of the submarine BILLFISH. The problem is that the author had few sources to call upon so the main action of the book is dispatched in a single chapter and the remainder of the book is filled with a rehash of other sub stories from the Pacific War that are likely to be familiar to any reader of the genre. It also seems an editor had moved some information about life on the boats from one chapter to another but neglected to go back and remove from the original location. This means you are twice forced to trudge through descriptions of the showers being used as potato lockers, food being stored underfoot on the deck plates, and the limited fresh water aboard. The author also passes some pretty harsh judgement on several officers who are no longer around to defend themselves. He doesn't provide much support or citation to defend his condemnations to my satisfaction - it seems he relied primarily on the accounts of just two individuals. His judgement may be correct but the tone in which he writes about it 65+ years after the fact was off-putting to me. Finally, there are a few technical errors in the book (describing the THRESHER's 5"/51-caliber deck gun as a ".51-caliber" like it was a small arm comes to mind) that tend to distract from the story. If you find yourself stuck on a plane and starving for a sub book (like I did today) then it isn't a bad read but there are certainly other books that capture the drama and struggles of the silent service's war beneath the waves better than this selection.

In November, 1943, the American submarine USS Billfish was patrolling in Japanese waters off the Makassar Strait. A Japanese task force spotted the submarine and unleashed a vicious depth charge attack that lasted for several hours. Many of the crew, including the skipper (Lt. Commander Frederic Lucas) and the Executive Officer were either incapacitated or failed to act. One man, Charlie Rush, took the enormous risk of taking command of the submarine from the captain. This daring act was almost sure to invoke a court-martial but Rush, seeing the inability of his skipper to effectively command the submarine, felt he had no other choice.

Damaged and leaking water from the bombardment by the Japanese patrol boats, the Billfish was in danger of being forced to surface or worse, sinking. To make things worse, dangerous gases were being released by the sub's batteries, fouling the already depleted supply of fresh air. If the Billfish was not able to shake her attackers soon, the men would soon die of oxygen deprivation.

Aided by two other crewmen, Chief Electrician's Mate John D. Rendernick and Chief Charley Odom, Rush managed to finally shake the Japanese boats and bring the Billfish to safety. If not for Rush's fatal decision to overrule his skipper, the Billfish most likely would have been sunk.

This was not the end of Lt. Cmdr Lucas' inability to command. Shortly after surviving the incident in the Makassar Strait, the Billfish, in conjunction with the USS Bowfin, was to search out enemy shipping. Once again, Lucas' failure to act cost the crew of the Billfish. The Bowfin managed to sink several ships of a Japanese convoy, while the Billfish turned and ran. Rush, once again outraged at his commander, openly questioned his fighting ability. The skipper replied that he was in no frame of mind to command a submarine and promised to resign. Luckily for the men of the Billfish, Charlie Rush was on board.

This book does a good job of describing the events that unfolded on the Billfish during those days in the fall of 1943. Charley Rush showed incredible courage by taking command from his timid skipper. Thanks to Rush's quick actions, the men of the Billfish survived.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about submarine warfare. Although not discussed very much, this book points out that sometimes, even commanders of warships can "lose it" during battle. Luckily, there are men like Charlie Rush who are not afraid of the potential consequences of their actions. Very good reading.

I believe this story had to be told but the book has many problems which interrupts the story. Here are a few problems. The author tells the reader that 35 knots of speed is 65 MPH instead of about 40 MPH. Then he described the submarines 5" deck gun (page 68) as a .51 caliber gun. A 5" gun shoots a round approximately 5" in diameter not the 1/2 inch of a 51 caliber bullet. Another point is the USN did not have a .51 caliber gun but did have a 50 caliber machine gun called the MaDuece but that is far from a 5" gun. The author refers to the Medal of Honor as the Congressional MOH. There is no such medal as the Congressional Medal of Honor something a grade school boy would know. He repeated the relationship between the diesel engine power and the battery power about three times or until you were sick of reading it. At one point the author describes the submarine's patrol area was only 50 square miles yet the sub was assigned to the South China Sea and the story tells of traveling hundreds of miles. So which is it? Fifty square miles or the various bodies of water around the south China Sea? He also repeatedly wrote that young sailors with good eyesight were picked as lookouts. I lost track of how many times he repeated that when the sub made an emergency dive the slower lookouts could be left above deck which could result in their death by drowning. On page 126 he states that periscope depth on the USS Billfish was 60' and one paragraph later says it is 65'. I realized the technical errors are probably minor but they are distracting to the reader. This was my first book by this author and it will be my last.

I have read Don Keith's books before and found them tedious and poorly written, however I read The ice Diaries coauthored by him with William Anderson (CO Nautilus for the famous Under the North Pole voyage) and enjoyed the book. In fairness to Mr. Keith I gave him another chance with War Beneath the Seas because of The Ice Diaries. After reading the book I can only say never again will I read his unsubstantiated and shallow "work". In short this is a must miss (un)popular history like his other books. Mr. Keith does a gross disservice to the historical record with his books because poor writing, a gross misunderstanding or misrepresenting of facts.

His book was poorly written and in dire need of an editor. It was disjointed and often information was repeated. For example he writes about the submarine Billfish's early history on page 200 not when he was describing her commissioning commanding officer taking over in page 50 or so. Another major disconnect is his relating the USS Bowfin as such a major part of the story when she was a minor player. Perhaps Mr. Keith will defend this by saying comparing a good boat with a poorly led boat. Keith does this by relating Lt. Rush's experiences on the USS Thresher, at least fifty pages of this book were unnecessary and an editor should have caught those fifty pages.

So why the disconnect? It is because the "storyteller" that Keith claims he is can't tell a clear story. He also describes the "fleet submarines" structure in a haphazard manner leaving a reader not used to the submarine confused. He uses great prose and pretty words but unless the pretty prose and words are constructed in a clear and cohesive manner why bother. This is what I kept asking myself while reading the book where was an editor and why does Keith write in a way that disrupts the narrative.

The question kept on coming with not only with the poor writing style but his facts. His facts are often partial and read as if some Public Affairs Officer was handing him the facts. Public Affairs Officers are the public relations experts for the military, they are paid to make the military look good not be the most factual and this goes for any PR representative. For example Keith explains the steps of becoming a Chief Petty Officer. This is a huge step in a sailor's career and one not taken lightly since a CPO is considered to be expert in their field but exhibits leadership skills as well. Chiefs are the backbone of the sea services (USN and USCG) and becoming a chief is a major accomplishment in a sailor's career. Keith describes the process and it is an accurate representation of the modern navy especially when he describes the candidate having to meet with Senior and Master Chiefs. These are pay grades E8 and E9 and were introduced into the Navy in 1958 a full fifteen years AFTER the incident Keith is discussing. Keith wants to be seen as an authority however his knowledge seems to be as deep as a PAO "fact" sheet.

Another example of Keith's shallow and perhaps selective knowledge is his description of Admiral Christie. Keith puts Christie's removal from command on his awards policies which were very disruptive to operational security but it was high level politics as well. Christie's "boss" was Admiral Kinkaid who was the uncle to Commander Manning Kimmel (son to Husband Kimmel of Pearl Harbor). Manning Kimmel and his command USS Robalo was lost to mines in Balbac Strait. The Balbac Strait was dangerous but used by Christie often even though there were safer passages to use. This was what got Christie fired not handing out awards like candy and saying too much.

Keith uses selective information to make his "story" be more dramatic. Keith describes the transit of the Lombok and Makassar straits with great dramatic flair. However his prose looses effectiveness because not all the information is there again showing a shallow knowledge base. What makes the transits so dramatic are not the artillery pieces which would have to be lucky to sink a submarine but the different currents causing the crew to be attentive and that there were significant minefields in shallow waters forcing any transiting vessel to the center of the strait giving the ASW forces a more focused area to search. What made the transit even more dangerous was both sides knew it had to be used and that made an effective choke point for the ASW forces. That is what got the Billfish trapped on November 11, 1943. After three or four books on submarines Mr. Keith should know that and used that as a critical element in his book. It is absent and it tells a great deal about Mr. Keith's command of facts.

Another example of assumed knowledge was his constant use of submarine slang to make the reader believe Keith is an authority on submarines. One needs only to read any of Edward Beach's excellent books to read an authority on WWII American submarines. Mr. Keith is not a submarine veteran but has many friends who were. My Father served on early nuclear submarines and I grew up around submariners so apparently I can use the slang as well. Of course not that is just silly and Keith's constant use of "run" to describe patrols gives the reader a false sense of security and is misleading at best.

Yet another example of drama and lack of knowledge is Keith does not seem at all knowledgeable about a target priority list in the Pacific for submarines. At the time Keith describes the priority targets were tankers, troop ships and capital ships. In the area Billfish was patrolling the majority of prime targets would be tankers then troop ships. Keith gives the reader the impression that troop ships could be sunk if nothing else was in the area. To a reader unaccustomed to this part of history this seems humane but nothing about the Pacific War was humane. By sinking a full troop ship at worst the troops lose their equipment and food but at best that is one less regiment or more that the Imperial Japanese Army can use against the Americans. This type of ship was a prime target not one to overlook but to hunt and sink without any remorse.

Perhaps the most confusing part of Keith's book is the lack of sources. Keith makes the claim of two commanding officers being grossly incompetent and one a coward. He names the officer he believes to be a coward but there are no sources no interviews etc to verify his information. In the most damming episode was in the middle of combat Keith says that the main source a then Lt. Rush confronted his commanding officer in combat and forced a "gentleman's agreement" where the CO would "unvolunteer" from submarine command. There were instances of CO's withdrawing from command because of the pressure of command and no doubt Lt Cmdr. Jacobs of the Billfish showed a great deal of self introspection by withdrawing from command. However after 60 years of memories fading and the tricks the mind can play on recalling memories, this episode is called into question and without sources all Keith has done is taint an officer's name that without verification or for that officer to defend himself is a poor historical work. Keith maybe a storyteller but this accusation that is central to the narrative is inexcusable without any way to independently verify the accusation Keith makes.

What makes the accusation sound even more hollow only one witness who benefits from the telling is his source. I do not want to disparage Captain Rush because I feel that is how he remembers the events which means it is a real memory but a history just can't have one source for an integral part of the historical narrative. After three or four books Keith and the absent editor should know that or willingly ignored hoping the read would accept blindly this misuse of History and the abuse trust of the reader that Keith could verify his accusation. It seems obvious Keith used other resources but why no bibliography unless he is not confident that his interpretation could be supported. The lack of sources and verification of Captain Rush's memory of the "gentleman's agreement" which is integral to Keith's narrative makes this book not worth much to the historical record but a good sea story.

Captain Jacobs could certainly have been the least agressive commanding officer and evidence supports his lack of agression but I can't see cowardice without supporting evidence Keith does not provide that supporting evidence and therefore should not have printed this event. It took a two or three star book and brought it to the lowest level possible. The accusation of cowardice by Keith is indefensible and very poor work indeed combined with the lack of good editing, poor command of the facts and a confused writing style this book is a must miss which is unfortunate. Captain Rush's story of a junior officer in combat is an important historical piece to the historical record but without a better author willing to cite sources and have a better appreciation of the facts might make Captain Rush's account minus the "gentleman's agreement" an important contibution to the historical record.

I appreciated reading all the reviews. To be perfectly honest, I purchased War Beneath the Waves because (and this is sufficient reason) my late grandfather, Charlie Sissian (TM3/c) served on the 6-8th war patrols in the Pacific theater. I am grateful for the publication of this book. My hope is that it will bring to the forefront the indelible contribution of service to our Nation by a heretofore little known and under appreciated group of Navy sailors.

While the book will remain a treasure to me for obvious sentimental reasons, I must say that I was disturbed by a lack of recognition for the other countless Billfish crew members, who should not remain nameless and faceless. I am saddened by the fact that there is no mention of Robert Oliver, a willing and gallant shipmate, who perished at the hands of enemy gunfire during the 7th run. Ralph Boese (EM2/c) was also injured during the attack, though not critically. Surely the author might have included any number of first-hand accounts, and photographs from crew members or their families to include in the book. He might have dedicated a few pages at the end with the names of all who served aboard the Billfish.

Many have heard about the Lucas and Rush accounts, and this is not to diminish them in any way! It is just that there were so many others, whom I trust demonstrated unflinching bravery, loyalty and ingenuity every day.

I would like to acknowledge the following sub vets for their service to our Country during their duty on the Billfish (SS-286) This is the only list I have and therefore, I apologize if I have left anyone out. God Bless You!

Dennis Alexander Donald Alger Russell Anderson George Bartek Emil Bartone
Joseph Bender Jr Phillip Beshany George Bibb Ralph Boese Emmel Carpenter
Benny Cegelski Richard Clower Robert Coley William Colvin Claude Cunningham
Paul Czelusniak George Davis Crawford Ervin Harry Fitzgerald Louis Fisher
George Friedlander Allen Garon Leon Gaus Severance Gavitt John Greene
Warren Guymon Arthur Hackbarth Emmet Hayes James Heasley Frank Hess
George Holick John Holman Thomas Kealy Frank Kelly Thomas Kelly
Harry McLeery C. Fraser McMenemin Serge Millisich William Morris Jr.
Edward Neely Charles Nicolas Edgar Nordyke Charley Odom Joe Paquin
Seymour Phillips Raymond Rickson Charles Rush Jr. Arthur Sciotto
Gerald Shultz Charles Sissian Joe Strong

Keith writes an excellent book of the action of a true hero. I could hardly put the book down once I began reading it. This could be a Hollywood award winning movie as Saving Private Ryan was. It has suspense, action, and life or death decision making. Best book I have read years.

Received an advance copy from Don to review. A never before told story of courage and integrity under fire. Action packed and told in Don Keith's easy reading style, this is both highly entertaining submarine tale and deeply soul-searching study of men under the ultimate stress of war. A great read.