Submarine (Paperback)

~ (Author), John Gresham (Author) "When tracing the roots of the modern submarine, one is usually faced with a number of different places to start..." (more)
Key Phrases: acoustic intercept receiver, pumpjet propulsor, turboelectric drive, Royal Navy, United States, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Never before seen by the general public: a rare glimpse inside a Los Angeles-class (SSN-688) nuclear submarine ... with Tom Clancy as your guide. Only the author of The Hunt for Red October could capture the reality of life aboard a nuclear submarine. Only a writer of Mr. Clancy's magnitude could obtain security clearance for information, diagrams, and photographs never before available to the public. Now, for the first time, every civilian can enter this top secret world and experience the drama and excitement of this stunning technological achievement.... the weapons, the procedures, the people themselves... the startling facts behind the fiction that made Tom Clancy a #1 bestseller.

Submarine includes:

• Exclusive photographs, illustration, and diagrams
• Mock war scenarios and weapons launch procedures
• An inside look at life on board, from captain to crew, from training exercises to operations
• The fascinating history and evolution of submarines

PLUS: Tom Clancy's controversial views on submariner tactics and training methods.

From Library Journal

Best-selling author Clancy's first nonfiction book is a thorough, highly detailed examination of the technology employed by U.S. nuclear attack submarines. After months of lobbying, Clancy was granted security clearance by the navy to board and photograph the nuclear powered USS Miami. Every inch of this state-of-the-art vessel is covered, from the hull, control room, and engine room nuclear reactors to the communications/electronic warfare space and torpedo bays. Clancy shows readers how all the components are made and how they work. Also included is the fascinating history and evolution of submarines and an inside look at life on board, from captain to crew. Much of the information here has only recently been declassified, and Clancy's insightful views on the future of this type of warship in the post-Cold War era are interesting as well. Recommended.
- Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, R.I.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Books; 1st edition (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425138739
• ISBN-13: 978-0425138731
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #791,061 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative if perhaps unimpressive, September 26, 2003

By	Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Submarine (Tom Clancy's Military Reference) (Paperback)

Submarine: A Guided Tour of a Nuclear Warship, first published in 1993 but recently updated, is the lead book in a seven-volume non-fiction series which examines many of the weapons systems and/or units that appear in Tom Clancy's fiction.

Written with the assistance of defense analyst John D. Gresham, Submarine is an interesting look at one of the most fascinating yet least seen warships in the United States Navy, the Improved Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine. While steering clear of revealing such closely guarded secrets as true maximum speed, diving depth, and the layout of the nuclear power plant, Clancy and Gresham manage to give the reader an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at "the boat," its weapons, and more importantly, its officers and crew. For, as Clancy has often pointed out in both his novels and op-ed columns, it's not the machine or weapon that determines success in battle; it's the operator and his/her training and morale that matter on the battlefield.

Supplementing the section on USS Miami -- the boat Clancy and Gresham closely examine -- is a section devoted to the Royal Navy's smaller but still-impressive nuclear sub force. Clancy examines not only the workings and weapons of HMS Triumph, a Trafalgar-class attack sub, but he also delves into the differences in training between American and British SSN skippers. His comments may raise eyebrows among some American readers unaccustomed to even constructive criticism of the U.S. Navy, but at least Clancy is honest and doesn't shy away from speaking his mind about a branch of our military that he is otherwise very fond of.

The new edition leaves the original text as it appeared in 1993: there are no updates on the featured officers (namely, the skippers and execs of USS Miami and HMS Triumph) and their subsequent careers. However, Submarine does have a new section covering the entry into service of two new classes of SSN into Navy service, and the section on Other People's Boats has also been updated.

A word about the quality of this book. I like it enough to have both editions, true. It's informative (up to a point), but it's not exactly impressive, either. As an introduction to the topic of nuclear attack subs, it works. But is it as good as Clancy's depictions of SSNs in his novels The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising? Perhaps, perhaps not.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but not for serious collectors, November 21, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Cornell University, NY) - See all my reviews

Actually I would give this book 3 and half stars. This book represents an effort to give a comprehensive introduction to modern nuclear attack submarine. This effort itself is respectful. But just like most other military technical books you find in an average bookstore, Clancy's work is filled with technical inacurracies. One obvious example: the side view of Kilo sub at the end of the book is totally out of proportion. And Clancy's USA-always-No.-1 arrogance is a bit annoying. In his tatical senarios, which are entertaining to read, he just assumes too little of the enemies' intelligence in blunt statement such as "the captain of the Russian boat tries the same evasion tactics as his American opponent, but they are probably not as effective." At another occasion he calls the Soviet Union a "babarian country."

In short, this book is adequate in providing amateur knowledge on attack submarine and is entertaining as a leisure reading. But maybe it's just not worth the money of serious collectors. The easily accessible accurate info. could be found in the menu of Jane's game 688I, Hunter/Killer (although it's quite dry to read), or US Submarines since 1945: an Illustrated Design History by Friedman and Chritley.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Clancy: stick with fiction, or improve your research., December 4, 1998

By A Customer

I'm not a historian, but I counted a dozen errors in fact and interpretation in the first four pages. Example? Robert Fulton did not demonstrate his Nautilus to the British in 1804, or ever. He built one Nautilus, and one only, which he scrapped in France. Nor did he "destroy a number of vessels in test runs," anywhere. My source is the "Navy Times book of Submarines," written by retired Navy Captain Brayton Harris. It's billed as a "Political, Social and Military History" and may be the most accurate overall history of the early years of submarine development . . . ever. The rest of Clancy's book? I found it a bit tedious.