Submarine Scene

December 16, 2005 4:14 AM

What are your favorite books about submarines?

I'd like to focus on the historical/stragetic stuff rather than the technological. Also, I am open to excellent submariney fiction. Thanks all!

posted by defreckled to sports, hobbies, & recreation (19 comments total)

I haven't read to many books about subs. Probably because I served on them for a few years.
But, a friend gave me this book (Blind Man's Bluff), and I really enjoyed it. Those guys in the 'old days' of nuclear submarining really let it all hang out.
posted by whoda at 4:28 AM on December 16, 2005

Shadow Divers is an excellent account of a couple of extreme scuba diver's search for a lost German U2 Sub off the coast of New Jersey. Excellent read. Well researched. Good Info about the German Sub program during WWII
posted by NickPeters at 4:41 AM on December 16, 2005

Stoker's Submarine documents the true story of an Australian submarine at Gallipoli. It's quite remarkable.
posted by tomble at 4:49 AM on December 16, 2005

Does sci-fi count? Jules Verne's classic, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is excellent.
posted by londonmark at 5:39 AM on December 16, 2005

Das Boot (The Boat), by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim. If you liked the movie (a true classic), let me tell you, the book is better.
posted by Chrischris at 5:44 AM on December 16, 2005

I'll second Blind Man's Bluff. Excellent true account of cold war submarine missions.
posted by bondcliff at 6:26 AM on December 16, 2005

You must read Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner, as well as Karl Doenitz's Memoirs. And Shooting the War has great submarine photos from World War II.
posted by naomi at 6:27 AM on December 16, 2005

I'm sure you've read Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October. But if not, whoa. Cause it's good.
posted by Sfving at 6:28 AM on December 16, 2005

When I asked a Polish friend of mine if there were anything I could bring out for him, he requested books by Edward Beach.

I think the book I took him was an earlier version of Submarine!
posted by sagwalla at 6:31 AM on December 16, 2005

Don't forget books about the amazing Civil War-era Hunley. A friend has a relative who died onboard; I'll ask him which books he likes best.
posted by mediareport at 6:36 AM on December 16, 2005

Second Hunt for Red October. Quite a few of his books deal with submarine warfare and stuff, it's good shite.
posted by antifuse at 7:14 AM on December 16, 2005

Definitely Iron Coffins.

Also Clay Blair's two volume account of the Atlantic U-Boat has about everything anyone would need to know about that subject. And his book Silent Victory about the submarine war against Japan is good also, the importance of that particular part of the war seems to have been underplayed. Home Hickman's Torpedo Junction is a good account of the U-Boat war off the U.S. coast.
posted by marxchivist at 7:31 AM on December 16, 2005

There is an autobiography, translated into English, of a WW2 Japanese submarine captain, one of just a handful who survived the war. I don't recall the name or title but you can probably google it. As I recall, he mostly ran away.

As a geeky junior high kid I loved the book Run Silent, Run Deep.
posted by LarryC at 8:21 AM on December 16, 2005

It's probably not what you're looking for, but Monturiol's Dream: The Extraordinary Story of the Submarine Inventor Who Wanted to Save the World is a fascinating read.
posted by Goblindegook at 8:31 AM on December 16, 2005

1.) Sub vs. Sub, by Richard Compton Hall. Orion Books, ISBN 0517566176. It's subtitled, "The Tactics and Technology of Underwater Confrontation."

2.) Fleet Tactics, by Capt. Wayne P. Hughes, Jr. Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0870215582. Not specific to subs, but fascinating stuff.

If you type the ISBNs into Amazon, you'll see that you can buy both together (used) for about ten dollars plus shipping. There isn't much of a secondary market for used non-fiction naval theory books.

Tom Parrish's book was pretty good, too -- and ditto Red October. Not really my thing, but they were good.
posted by cribcage at 8:48 AM on December 16, 2005

Another vote for Red October. Clancy's been off the reservation for a while now, but this is a great read.
posted by shallowcenter at 8:59 AM on December 16, 2005

I would third Blind Man's Bluff for U.S. Cold War submarines. A similar book detailing the Soviet submarine Cold War is Rising Tide. Not as well written, but interesting to see the other side.
For historical reading, Thunder Below! is the account of the U.S.S. Barb and ADM Eugene Fluckey's WWII patrols. Barb was one of the most decorated boats of the war, and ADM Fluckey earned the Congressional Medal of Honor.
posted by jawbreaker at 9:13 AM on December 16, 2005

Clear the Bridge, about the Tang in WWII.
posted by Pressed Rat at 10:03 AM on December 16, 2005

I also endorse the recommendations for Clancy's Hunt for Red October and Edward Beach's Run Silent, Run Deep. Bear in mind neither man is a particularly good writer, with clunky prose and cardboard characters, but both novels are tightly plotted and informed by deep knowledge of their subject. And in Clancy's case, don't pre-judge The Hunt for Red October by his elephantine later novels. It was written before he became a Big Foot Author, when he was just an insurance agent and could actually be edited.
posted by mojohand at 12:13 PM on December 16, 2005