[Subnuts]

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking for the past, oh, three years, and thought I'd join. I've reviewed a few submarine-themed books for Epinions in the last year, but I thought I'd share my most recent. Please note that I recieve no royalties from these reviews. Then again, the author has been dead for ten years. :dead:

Clear the Bridge! By Richard O'Kane, book review by Daryl Carpenter

For most reading this review, the name Richard O'Kane needs no introduction. Dudley Morton's former XO from Wahoo was the sole commander of the Balao-class fleet submarineTang. During five patrols, Tang and her crew sank 24 confirmed ships, grossing 93,824 tons*. But it is the bitterly ironic and tragic fate of Tang and most of her crew that is most remembered.

O’kane’s career in submarines spanned the entire Pacific War. At the time of Pearl Harbor, O'Kane served as a lieutenant aboard the clumsy minelayer Argonaut. Just after he became XO of Wahoo, Argonaut was lost with all hands. His stint aboard Wahoo, in large part, molded him into the wildly successful commander he was. Wahoo too was lost with all hands after O'kane's transfer.

Clear the Bridge! is divided into six chapters, the first covering Tang’s shakedown cruise, the next five describing Tang's war patrols. There is a smattering of black and white photographs spread throughout the book, as well as a number of overview maps.

The first chapter introduces many of the major characters, and presents the reader with some of the peculiarities of underwater maneuvering and torpedo attacks. It also covers Tang’s shakedown cruise from Mare Island to Pearl Harbor.

First Patrol: Tang sets sail for the Carolinas, but not before stopping for a brief reconnaissance mission at Wake Island. Arriving on station, O’Kane and his crew engage in a spectacular first patrol, sinking five Japanese merchantmen for 21,000 tons in a span of only 41 days.

Second Patrol: O’Kane’s second patrol takes him to the Southwestern Pacific. Over the next two months, Tang is fruitlessly diverted from one island group to another, never once catching sight of Japanese shipping. Boat and crew finally hit their prime at Truk Atoll, rescuing a record number of downed pilots. No ships sunk, but 22 very thankful naval aviators!

Third Patrol: O’Kane receives the Navy Cross and sails, once again, to the Yellow Sea. In a daring (and suspenseful) night surface attack on a heavily escorted convoy, Tang torpedoes and sinks four merchants with a spread of six torpedoes. The entire deployment lasts only 36 days, during which Tang sinks ten ships, more than any other American submarine in a single patrol.

Forth Patrol: Tang[i]’s fourth patrol brings it to within 3,000 yards of Honshu coast. O’Kane and crew push the attack again and again, carefully maintaining stealth the whole time. Despite a maddening series of failures plaguing the new Mark 18 electric torpedoes, [i]Tang manages to sink two merchants.

Fifth Patrol: Tang’s final patrol brings it to the treacherous Formosa Strait, one of the last remaining "safe passages" for Japanese shipping. O'Kane skillfully penetrates a destroyer screen and takes up position behind a light cruiser, but attack is thwarted by the slow, erratic Mk 18 torpedo. In a series of night surface attacks, O’Kane sinks five loaded freighters, damaging another. Tang, and 90% of her crew, meet their demise when a torpedo circles back and strikes the boat in the stern, sinking it instantly. Only the men topside, and a number escaping from below, survive.

Epilogue: O’Kane and eight others survive the sinking, only to be taken prisoner by the Japanese. They whither away to almost 85 pounds, kept alive only by soybeans secretly provided by sympathetic civilians. The war ends, and all eight return home, where Richard O’kane receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for the Formosa Strait convoy action.

Reading Clear the Bridge!, it’s easy to see why O’Kane was so successful against the enemy. O’Kane was no Eugene Fluckey, aggressively charging in guns blazing, firing rockets at paper factories and chewing fishing boats to pieces with his 40-mm. O’Kane steadfastly stuck to submerged daytime operations, surfacing only at night. His success came from a methodical approach to submarine warfare; an almost intimate knowledge of the approach and attack. O’Kane knew his boat well, occasionally pushing it to the limits, but never putting himself in a position that forced him too.

Another element of his success could be attributed to his knowledge of not just Japanese tactics, but of human psychology. Take for example the night surface attack on the third patrol. The convoy is heavily escorted, and a full Moon is overhead. O’Kane positions his boat to present the smallest possible silhouette. Slinking through the escorts, he comes in from behind, eschewing the usual end-around maneuver. Therefore, he takes advantage of the human predilection to look ahead, where he or she is traveling, and not behind.

Those looking for an action story will be put off. Just like the author’s command style, Clear the Bridge! is methodical and richly detailed. Sure, O’Kane may have put more tons on the bottom than any other American skipper. But it’s all in the approach, the set up, the intense thought required for a successful attack that make this book work. The author exposits quite a bit on subjects such as diving and underwater maneuvering, navigation by dead reckoning and SJ radar, operating the torpedo data computer, and so on. O’Kane reminisces from time to time about his times aboard Wahoo, and pauses for a few pages every chapter to discuss various onshore activities.

That’s not to say that Clear the Bridge! is flawless; far from it. O’Kane was far from the world’s greatest writer, which results in frequently clumsy prose and overlong sentences. At 480 pages, Clear the Bridge! is, quite frankly, exhausting. Four patrols in, I began to grow somewhat weary of O’kane’s constant "The Bells of St Mary’s" moniker for the boat’s General Alarm, and his broad-brush description of the enlisted crew as "The Troops". The major characters are all sketchily developed, even O’Kane, giving the text an emotionally detached feel. The most memorable quote comes from the offical patrol report:

"When we realized that our clubbings and beatings were being administered by the burned, mutilated survivors of our own handiwork, we found we could take it with less prejudice"

I really wanted to feel moved by the book’s conclusion, but it is the inevitability of Tang’s destruction that keeps the reader on edge more than the event itself.

Don’t read me wrong, because Clear the Bridge! is one of the finest depictions of submarine warfare I’ve ever read. It’s not a book for those just getting into the subject (I gave up 50 pages in during my first reading in 1998). The four-page long glossary should be warning enough for anyone looking for a casual read. But if you persevere, you’ll come away knowing far more about how WWII submarines operated and engaged the enemy then you did previously. It’s one of those rare first-person accounts that makes you feel as if you’re really there, hunched over the Target Bearing Transmitter, hand on the torpedo firing plunger.

*Note: Of course, that’s quoting the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee report, released after the war and quoted in Clay Blair’s Silent Victory. O’Kane was originally credited for sinking 31 ships, grossing 227,800 tons. Whichever may be true, the Medal of Honor is for keeps. [/b][/i]

[Yattky]

This book is what I want to try to read someday for increasing my English vocabulary...I found the following words in my English dictionary "Reading increases one's vocabulary". :know: