Thunder Below

Download or read book Thunder Below! written by Eugene B. Fluckey and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker. Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey. This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen. And in a fascinating twist, he uses archival documents from the Japanese Navy to give its version of events. The unique story of the Barb begins with its men, who had the confidence to become unbeatable. Each team helped develop innovative ideas, new tactics, and new strategies. All strove for personal excellence, and success became contagious. Instead of lying in wait under the waves, the USS Barb pursued enemy ships on the surface, attacking in the swift and precise style of torpedo boats. She was the first sub to use rocket missiles and to creep up on enemy convoys at night, joining the flank escort line from astern, darting in and out as she sank ships up the column. Surface-cruising, diving only to escape, "Luckey Fluckey" relentlessly patrolled the Pacific, driving his boat and crew to their limits. There can be no greater contrast to modern warfare's long-distance, videogame style of battle than the exploits of the captain and crew of the USS Barb, where they sub, out of ammunition, actually rammed an enemy ship until it sank. Thunder Below! is a first-rate, true-life, inspirational story of the courage and heroism of ordinary men under fire. A Main Selection of the Military Book Club. Winner of the Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature given by the Naval Order of the United States, New York Commandery.

Download or read book Clear the Bridge! written by Richard O'Kane and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2011-07-06 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Tang and her gallant crew ranks with the most amazing of naval history. Whether rescuing Navy fliers off Truk or stalking enemy convoys off Japan, Tang carried the war to the enemy with unparalleled ferocity. Tang’s skipper on all five of her war patrols, Rear Admiral Richard H. O’Kane is acknowledged as the top submarine skipper of World War II. His personal decorations include three Navy Crosses and the Congressional Medal of Honor. He retired as a rear admiral from his command of the Submarine School, rounding out twenty years with the boats. He also wrote the classic Wahoo: The Patrols of America’s Most Famous WWII Submarine. Praise for Clear the Bridge! “There is no doubt that Tang was the best. . . . Most of the rest of us wondered what it was she had that the others didn’t. And here it is, in this extraordinary ‘tell it as it really happened’ book, written by the most daring, most professional submarine skipper of the war.”—Capt. Edward Beach, author of Run Silent, Run Deep “A classic of naval literature. . . . A stirring tribute, not only to [Richard O’Kane’s] gallant crew, but to all World War II submariners.”—Michael D. Hull, Military Magazine “Reading of [Tang’s] career and of the men aboard her is one of the great reading experiences of my life.”—Broox Sledge, The Book World

Download or read book U.S.S. Barb (SS-220) written by Everett P. Weaver and published by Riverdale Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the most successful of all American fleet type submarines, U.S.S. Barb made a total of twelve war patrols. During the course of the war, Barb was credited with sinking a total of 26 enemy ships, including the escort aircraft carrier Unyo. During her final five war patrols, under the command of Eugene B. Fluckey, Barb set a record for innovation and aggressiveness unmatched in the submarine service. In a series of rocket attacks during Patrol 12, Barb became the first American submarine to launch rockets in combat. During the same patrol, volunteer saboteurs slipped ashore and blew up a coastal train, in the process becoming the only Americans to "invade" Japan during the war. An incursion into Namkwan Harbor, on the China coast, during the eleventh war patrol, earned the Medal of Honor for Fluckey. This volume contains the complete text of the 12 war patrol reports filed by Barb's wartime commanding officers. Also included is a Foreword by former Barb officer Everett P. Weaver, an Introduction and extensive notes.

Download or read book Thunder Underground written by Jane Yolen and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of poems that's a science, poetry, and adventure story all rolled into one, noted children's poet Jane Yolen takes readers on an expedition underground. This thought-provoking collection will evoke a sense of wonder and awe in readers, as they discover the mysterious world underneath us. Kids will explore everything from animal burrows, to human creations -- like subways -- to ancient cities and fossils. Even deeper down, there are caves, magma, and Earth's tectonic plates. The illustrations show how girl and boy, accompanied by several animals, go on a fantastic underground journey. In these poems, young readers will see that beneath us are the past, the present, and the future.

Download or read book The Galloping Ghost written by Carl P Lavo and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eugene Fluckey was one of the great naval heroes of World War II. His exploits as captain of the submarine USS Barb revolutionized undersea warfare and laid the groundwork for a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine fleet. He retired as a rear admiral and was awarded numerous presidential, congressional, and military honors, including the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses. In the war against Japan, Fluckey fired the first ballistic missiles from a submarine, sank more tonnage than any other U.S. submarine skipper, including an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, a destroyer, and blew up a train after landing submariners-turned-saboteurs on mainland Japan in 1945. Here is the legendary submariner's story, told with the exclusive access to Fluckey's personal papers and based on interviews with him, his family, Barb shipmates, official Navy documents, and the recollections of his contemporaries.

Download or read book Sink ÕEm All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific written by Charles A. Lockwood and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-11-27 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sink 'Em All by Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, the U.S. Navy commander of the Pacific submarine fleet during World War 2, is the exhaustive and definitive account of submarine warfare between the US and Japanese 1942-45. Lockwood's intricate narrative is the breathless story of every submarine in the US fleet and what they did during the war, their misses, near misses and hits. He takes us into the cramped quarters of mess-halls and control rooms and brings the chief actors in the grueling conflict to life.

Download or read book Thunder Boy Jr. written by Sherman Alexie and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author Sherman Alexie and Caldecott Honor winning Yuyi Morales comes a striking and beautifully illustrated picture book celebrating the special relationship between father and son. Thunder Boy Jr. wants a normal name...one that's all his own. Dad is known as big Thunder, but little thunder doesn't want to share a name. He wants a name that celebrates something cool he's done like Touch the Clouds, Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth, or Full of Wonder. But just when Little Thunder thinks all hope is lost, dad picks the best name...Lightning! Their love will be loud and bright, and together they will light up the sky.