War under the Pacific (World War II)

216 Pages·1981·43.054 MB·English

by  Keith Wheeler

Scanning the surface through a periscope,
an American submarine commander searches
for enemy ships in Japanese waters. The
enormous toll of Japanese shipping taken by
the U.S. submarine service played a
crucial role in the war in the Pacific.
WAR UNDER THE PACIFIC
TIME
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This volume is one of a series that chronicles
in full the events of the Second World War.
Previous books in the series include:
Preludet o War
Blitzkrieg
The Battle of Britain
The Rising Sun
The Battle of the Atlantic
Russia Besieged
The War in the Desert
The Home Front: U.S.A.
China-Burma-India
Island Fighting
The Italian Campaign
Partisans and Guerrillas
The Second Front
Liberation
Return to the Philippines
The Air War in Europe
The Resistance
The Battle of the Bulge
The Road to Tokyo
Red Army Resurgent
The Nazis
Across the Rhine
a
WORLD WAR II - TIME-LIFE BOOKS - ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
BY KEITH WHEELER
AND THE EDITORS OF TIME-LIFE BOOKS
WAUNDRER THE PACIFIC
Time-Life Books Inc. The Author: KEITH WHEELER was a reporter for a South
is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dakota newspaper, a war correspondent for the Chi-
TIME INCORPORATED cago Daily Times and a writer for Life. He has pub-
lished a number of novels and nonfiction volumes,
Founder: Henry R. Luce 1898-1967 among them The Pacific Is My Beat and We Are the
Wounded. He is the author of five books in the Time-
Editor-in-Chief: Henry Anatole Grunwald
Life Books Old West series: The Railroaders, The
President: J. Richard Munro
Townsmen, The Chroniclers, The Alaskans and The
Chairman of the Board: Ralph P. Davidson
Scouts, and a volume in the World War II series, The
Executive Vice President: Clifford J. Grum
Road to Tokyo.
Chairman, Executive Committee: James R. Shepley
Editorial Director: Ralph Graves
Group Vice President, Books: Joan D. Manley
The Consultants: COLONEL JOHN R. ELTING, USA (Ret.),
Vice Chairman: Arthur Temple is a military historian and author of The Battle of
Bunker’s Hill, The Battles of Saratoga and Military
TIME-LIFE BOOKS INC.
History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars. He edited
Managing Editor: Jerry Korn Military Uniforms in America: The Era of the Ameri-
Executive Editor: David Maness can Revolution, 1755-1795 and Military Uniforms in
Assistant Managing Editors: Dale M. Brown America: Years of Growth, 1796-1851, and was asso-
(planning), George Constable, Martin Mann, ciate editor of The West Point Atlas of American Wars.
John Paul Porter, Gerry Schremp (acting)
Art Director: Tom Suzuki
Chiefo f Research: David L. Harrisgn HENRY H. ADAMS is a retired Navy captain who served
Director of Photography: Robert G. Mason aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Owen in the major cam-
Assistant Art Director: Arnold C. Holeywell paigns of the central Pacific. A native of Ann Arbor,
Assistant Chiefo f Research: Carolyn L. Sackett Michigan, he graduated from the University of Michi-
Assistant Director of Photography: Dolores A. Littles gan and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from
Columbia University. After his service in World War II
Chairman: John D. McSweeney he was a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in An-
President: Carl G. Jaeger
napolis, Maryland, and was later head of the English
Executive Vice Presidents: John Steven Maxwell,
Department at Illinois State University. His books in-
DavidJ .W alsh
clude 1942: The Year That Doomed the Axis, Years of
Vice Presidents: George Artandi (comptroller);
Deadly Peril, Years of Expectation, Years to Victory
Stephen L. Bair (legal counsel); Peter G. Barnes;
and Harry Hopkins: A Biography.
Nicholas Benton (public relations); John L. Canova;
Beatrice T. Dobie (personnel); Carol Flaumenhaft
(consumer affairs); James L. Mercer (Europe/South
GEORGE W. GRIDER served in World War II on the
Pacific); Herbert Sorkin (production); Paul R. Stewart U.S. submarines Wahoo, Pollack and Hawkbill before
(marketing) assuming command in 1944 of the U.S.S. Flasher,
which set the record for enemy tonnage sunk. A grad-
WORLD WAR II uate of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936 and a former
Editorial Staff for War under the Pacific U.S. Congressman, he is the co-author of War Fish,
Editor: Gerald Simons which recounts his wartime experiences.
Designer/Picture Editor: Raymond Ripper
Chief Researcher: Charles S. Clark
Text Editors: Bobbie Conlan, Brian McGinn,
Mark M. Steele
Staff Writers: Peter Kaufman, Glenn Martin McNatt,
John Newton, Peter Pocock
Researchers: Betty Ajemian, Kristin Baker,
Mary G. Burns, Patricia A. Cassidy, Jane Freundel,
Lucinda Moore, Cronin Buck Sleeper, Paula York
Art Assistant: Mary L. Orr
Editorial Assistant: Constance Strawbridge
Special Contributors
Robin Richman (pictures), Champ Clark (text)
Editorial Production
Production Editor: Feliciano Madrid
Operations Manager: Gennaro C. Esposito,
Gordon E. Buck (assistant)
Quality Control: Robert L. Young (director), Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
JamesJ .C ox (assistant), Daniel J. McSweeney, Wheeler, Keith
Michael G. Wight (associates) War under the Pacific
Art Coordinator: Anne B. Landry
Copy Staff: Susan B. Galloway (chief), Victoria Lee, (World War Il; v. 23)
Bibliography: p. 200
Barbara F. Quarmby, Celia Beattie
Includes index.
Picture Department: Alvin L. Ferrell 1.World War, 1939-1945—Pacific Ocean.
Traffic: Kimberly K. Lewis
2. World War, 1939-1945—Naval operations—Submarine.
3. Submarine boats.
|. Time-Life Books. Il. Title. Ill. Series.
D767.W47 940.54'51 80-13222
ISBN 0-8094-3377-X
ISBN 0-8094-3376-1 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 0-8094-3375-3 (retail ed.)
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Correspondents: Elisabeth Kraemer (Bonn): Margot Chicago, Illinois 60611
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Natanson (Rome). Valuable assistance was also age and retrieval devices or systems, without prior written per-
provided by: Ed Reingold, Bureau Chief, Tokyo. The mission from the publisher, except that brief Passages may be
editors also wish to thank: Martha Mader (Bonn); quoted for reviews.
Selwyn Parker (Dublin); Judy Aspinall, Pat Stimpson Third printing. Revised 1981.
CY(ohLruokbn)ed;ot n,M) i;Mm iiJr oihManum r DpHuhsnyina , ((RCMohemrleibs)to;iu nraSn heo)Li;ic ehibC earrImomaaliny,n (FTNr.ae nwk MSPcouhrbolroiilss hteoadwn nd, s ilmiNbuerlawtra yn Jedeoirusstesryli.y b utiino nC anbayd aSi.l ver Burdett Company,
Iwama (Tokyo). TIME-LIFE is a trademark of Time Incorporated U.S.A.
CHAPTERS
1: A Force Unready for War 22
2: The Year That Turned the Tide 62
3: The Enemy Below 96
4: On Special Assignment 130
5: A Time of Slaughter 166
PICTURE ESSAYS
Evolution of a Weapon 6
Building the Undersea Navy 48
Find ’em, Chase ’em, Sink’em 82
All the Emperor’s Boats 118
Ready for Any Job Any Time 144
Refit between Patrols 154
Remembered Battles 188
Bibliography 200
Picture Credits 201
Acknowledgments 201
Appendix 202
Index 206
CONTENTS
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