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Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan
The long-awaited publication of Silent Victory fills a major gap in the annals of World War II. Here for the first time is the definitive history of the submarine war against Japan--the only full-scale submarine war the United States ever fought--which has for the most part been shrouded in secrecy for three decades. Only recently have the codebreakers who played such a pivotal role in the submarine war been willing to talk about their work. And only recently have the private papers, diaries, and official reports of the submarine admirals and skippers been made available to historians.
In preparing to write this book, Clay Blair, Jr. combed hundreds of thousands of pages of recently declassified documents and personal letters. In individual interviews he listened to scores of skippers, staff officers, and codebreakers speaking freely. He researched in depth the development of submarine and torpedo from prewar days down to the present time. The result is a revealing and immensely exciting book that sets the submarine war within the framework of history and the overall war in the Pacific.
Silent Victory takes you into the submarine war at all levels--the highest strategy sessions in Washington, the terrifying moments in a submarine trapped on the bottom for hours as depth charges explode around it, the zany efforts of a torpedo crew coaxing an emaciated chicken to lay an egg. It tells of the jealous infighting of admirals vying for power . . . of "overcautious" skippers, trained in peacetime and ill suited for war, and the mutinies they provoked . . . of the shocking torpedo scandal and the toll it took . . . of the later breed of younger skippers whose daring was so effective against Japanese shipping that the war, as Blair argues, could have ended months earlier, saving thousands of lives.
The complete saga that led to victory is here supplemented by ● 37 specially drawn maps showing submarine activity in the context of every important naval engagement in the Pacific ● 32 pages of photographs ● 12 appendixes, including a calendar of all submarine war patrols ● an index of over 2,000 entries. A work of great scholarship and scope, Silent Victory is a timeless contribution to the history of World War II.
In preparing to write this book, Clay Blair, Jr. combed hundreds of thousands of pages of recently declassified documents and personal letters. In individual interviews he listened to scores of skippers, staff officers, and codebreakers speaking freely. He researched in depth the development of submarine and torpedo from prewar days down to the present time. The result is a revealing and immensely exciting book that sets the submarine war within the framework of history and the overall war in the Pacific.
Silent Victory takes you into the submarine war at all levels--the highest strategy sessions in Washington, the terrifying moments in a submarine trapped on the bottom for hours as depth charges explode around it, the zany efforts of a torpedo crew coaxing an emaciated chicken to lay an egg. It tells of the jealous infighting of admirals vying for power . . . of "overcautious" skippers, trained in peacetime and ill suited for war, and the mutinies they provoked . . . of the shocking torpedo scandal and the toll it took . . . of the later breed of younger skippers whose daring was so effective against Japanese shipping that the war, as Blair argues, could have ended months earlier, saving thousands of lives.
The complete saga that led to victory is here supplemented by ● 37 specially drawn maps showing submarine activity in the context of every important naval engagement in the Pacific ● 32 pages of photographs ● 12 appendixes, including a calendar of all submarine war patrols ● an index of over 2,000 entries. A work of great scholarship and scope, Silent Victory is a timeless contribution to the history of World War II.
1072 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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805 people want to read
About the author
Clay Blair Jr.
37 books18 followersClay Blair, Jr. was an American historian, best known for his books on military history. Born in Lexington, Virginia, he served on the fleet submarine Guardfish (SS-217) in World War II and later wrote for Time and Life magazines before becoming editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post. He assisted General Omar Bradley in the writing of his autobiography, A General's Life (1983), published after the general's death. Blair wrote two dozen history books and hundreds of magazine articles that reached a popular audience. His last book was Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945 (1998), which followed Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters, 1939–1942 (1996).
Blair's history of the Korean War The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953 (1987) is considered one of the definitive historical works on the war. His work was notable for his criticism of senior American political and military leaders. Blair criticizes President Harry S. Truman and his Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson, for failing to maintain the military's readiness in the years immediately following World War II. His history, while comprehensive, primarily employs a top-down perspective, with less emphasis on individual soldiers than on larger operational issues and the perspectives of general and field-grade officers. He has also been criticized by some historians for not making sufficient use of Communist sources.
Blair also wrote extensively on the submarine war of World War II, notably in the bestselling Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan (1975), considered the definitive work on the Pacific submarine war.
Blair was married for many years to Joan Blair, who co-wrote some of his books. Prior to that marriage he was married to Agnes Kemp Devereux Blair, with whom he had seven children: Marie Louise, Clay III, Sibyl, Joseph (deceased), Kemp, Robert and Christopher.
- Wikipedia
Blair's history of the Korean War The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953 (1987) is considered one of the definitive historical works on the war. His work was notable for his criticism of senior American political and military leaders. Blair criticizes President Harry S. Truman and his Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson, for failing to maintain the military's readiness in the years immediately following World War II. His history, while comprehensive, primarily employs a top-down perspective, with less emphasis on individual soldiers than on larger operational issues and the perspectives of general and field-grade officers. He has also been criticized by some historians for not making sufficient use of Communist sources.
Blair also wrote extensively on the submarine war of World War II, notably in the bestselling Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan (1975), considered the definitive work on the Pacific submarine war.
Blair was married for many years to Joan Blair, who co-wrote some of his books. Prior to that marriage he was married to Agnes Kemp Devereux Blair, with whom he had seven children: Marie Louise, Clay III, Sibyl, Joseph (deceased), Kemp, Robert and Christopher.
- Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
January 26, 2023
A definitive account of the USN’s submarine war in the Pacific theatre in WWII that explains why the US submarines made up for less than 2% of the USN but accounted for 55% of Japan’s maritime losses and gives credit to this amazing silent victory.
February 15, 2011
One of the best books I've read in a while. A comprehensive history of submarine operations in the Pacific during WWII. While the subject matter is itself often a dry accounting of patrols run and ships sunk, the writing style is excellent at communicating this in an enjoyable manner.
The book opens with a brief history of the submarine, including the submarine operations of Germany in WWI. Something not often remembered today is that prior to WWII, unrestricted submarine warfare was considered one of the most heinous forms of warfare, and had been condemned by many countries, including the US. Only gas warfare was comparable in terms of its bad reputation with the public.
This is interesting in that the US took less than 24 hours after Pearl Harbor to reverse their position on the issue and declare unrestricted submarine warfare on Japan. The author does not editorialize on this decision, but there is much to think about here for those so inclined.
Along these lines, the author also does not shrink from mentioning incidents where US submarines sank ships of questionable military value, specifically many small native craft. Again, the author doesn't editorialize, but it's hard to think how Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Pacific Islander small boat sailors could have been contributing significantly to the Japanese war effort, yet their boats were readily sunk by US submarines, even when their crew contained women and children.
In only one case mentioned in the book was this practice forbidden, when one of the Admirals decided it might not be a good idea to sink Filipino boats while at the same time encouraging Filipinos to rebel against their Japanese occupiers and while preparing an invasion to liberate the islands.
This was the logical outcome of orders to sink all shipping not US, British or Russian (although there were a few cases of the latter being sunk by accident anyway), and a culture that valued number and tonnage of ships sunk above all else.
The author does editorialize on a few things, the first being the US torpedo scandal in which it took years to correct massive defects in US torpedo manufacture, with great obstruction provided by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance.
The second is the decision to use submarines on missions unrelated to the sinking of enemy ships. Something that MacArthur in particular often called for.
The third, related to the second, is the decision to not bypass the Philippines.
In both these latter editorials it's quite evident that the author himself is a former submariner, and he shows the common fault of most members of a specialist military branch: the belief that his branch alone could have won the war. While submarines made a tremendous contribution to the war, they were still simply part of a whole.
The author makes a reasonable military case for bypassing the Philippines, but ignores the fact that the islands were a US protectorate and that we therefore had an obligation to do all we could to liberate them. It's doubtful that such a case would have been made had it been the Hawaiian Islands being considered instead. MacArthur's decision may or may not have been based largely on ego, but the decision was nonetheless the correct one when looking at the larger picture and not just the immediate military situation.
The fact that the author got me to thinking of all these points when he spent a minimal amount of time covering them himself I think shows just how good a job he did of relaying the facts involved in a clear and informative manner.
One final thing I can't help mentioning, it's refreshing to read a book in which Junior McCain plays a significant role yet there's not one mention of the name "John McCain" (he's referred to in the final chapter, but not by name). Of course, this is because the book was published in 1975 when no one outside the Navy knew who John McCain was (he had just been released from POW camp when it was being written), but it's refreshing nonetheless.
The book opens with a brief history of the submarine, including the submarine operations of Germany in WWI. Something not often remembered today is that prior to WWII, unrestricted submarine warfare was considered one of the most heinous forms of warfare, and had been condemned by many countries, including the US. Only gas warfare was comparable in terms of its bad reputation with the public.
This is interesting in that the US took less than 24 hours after Pearl Harbor to reverse their position on the issue and declare unrestricted submarine warfare on Japan. The author does not editorialize on this decision, but there is much to think about here for those so inclined.
Along these lines, the author also does not shrink from mentioning incidents where US submarines sank ships of questionable military value, specifically many small native craft. Again, the author doesn't editorialize, but it's hard to think how Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Pacific Islander small boat sailors could have been contributing significantly to the Japanese war effort, yet their boats were readily sunk by US submarines, even when their crew contained women and children.
In only one case mentioned in the book was this practice forbidden, when one of the Admirals decided it might not be a good idea to sink Filipino boats while at the same time encouraging Filipinos to rebel against their Japanese occupiers and while preparing an invasion to liberate the islands.
This was the logical outcome of orders to sink all shipping not US, British or Russian (although there were a few cases of the latter being sunk by accident anyway), and a culture that valued number and tonnage of ships sunk above all else.
The author does editorialize on a few things, the first being the US torpedo scandal in which it took years to correct massive defects in US torpedo manufacture, with great obstruction provided by the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance.
The second is the decision to use submarines on missions unrelated to the sinking of enemy ships. Something that MacArthur in particular often called for.
The third, related to the second, is the decision to not bypass the Philippines.
In both these latter editorials it's quite evident that the author himself is a former submariner, and he shows the common fault of most members of a specialist military branch: the belief that his branch alone could have won the war. While submarines made a tremendous contribution to the war, they were still simply part of a whole.
The author makes a reasonable military case for bypassing the Philippines, but ignores the fact that the islands were a US protectorate and that we therefore had an obligation to do all we could to liberate them. It's doubtful that such a case would have been made had it been the Hawaiian Islands being considered instead. MacArthur's decision may or may not have been based largely on ego, but the decision was nonetheless the correct one when looking at the larger picture and not just the immediate military situation.
The fact that the author got me to thinking of all these points when he spent a minimal amount of time covering them himself I think shows just how good a job he did of relaying the facts involved in a clear and informative manner.
One final thing I can't help mentioning, it's refreshing to read a book in which Junior McCain plays a significant role yet there's not one mention of the name "John McCain" (he's referred to in the final chapter, but not by name). Of course, this is because the book was published in 1975 when no one outside the Navy knew who John McCain was (he had just been released from POW camp when it was being written), but it's refreshing nonetheless.
April 12, 2023
This book can double as a weight training aide. A massive telling of the US Navy's submarine efforts, mostly in the Pacific. At first, it seems to take into account every patrol and each and every torpedo fired. If falls out of that habit fairly quickly which is a good thing otherwise the book may have been three to four times as long. I am sure that there are those out there who would find this book a riveting read, but I am not one of them. Don't get me wrong, this is an amazing book that is filled with information that is well worth the effort to grind through if you must. It is also a great way to help induce some sleep from time to time.
It is also very good at showing the difference between reported numbers and those calculated after the fact by officials looking at Japanese records. A good book as a resource and one that shows just how important the submarine force was to victory over the Japanese.
It is also very good at showing the difference between reported numbers and those calculated after the fact by officials looking at Japanese records. A good book as a resource and one that shows just how important the submarine force was to victory over the Japanese.
May 25, 2016
Having previously read Combat Patrol (a shortened version of Silent Victory) back in the early 80's, I was very pleased to finally read the full version of Blair's masterpiece.
Starting with the origins of the submarine and the U.S. Navy's embryonic submarine force before World War II, the book is a fantastic history of the very critical part U.S. submarines played in the final victory over Japan. While not every single war patrol is covered, and some are covered in more detail than others, there is plenty of combat action. Blair was fortunate to interview many of the submarine commanders and therefore he was able to put plenty of personal stories into the narrative. All the top sub skippers are mentioned in some detail, from Morton, Ramage and O'Kane to Dealey, Fluckey, Reich and many others.
Since the problems with faulty torpedoes played such a crucial part in the successes and failures of the subs, much detail is put into informing the reader of how this problem came about and why it took so long to fix it. Blair doesn't pull any punches when talking about leadership as well--virtually all of the submarine commanders such as Lockwood, Fife and Christie get their share of criticism. The book includes several specially commissioned maps and dozens of photographs, as well as detailed charts detailing every single war patrol made by U.S. subs in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
I've read many books on the American submarine war versus Japan, and I've had the pleasure of meeting Richard O'Kane twice. This book is a fitting legacy to all who fought and died in the Silent Service, and even nearly 40 years after publication it stands tall as THE definitive history of U.S. submarines versus Japan in World War II.
Starting with the origins of the submarine and the U.S. Navy's embryonic submarine force before World War II, the book is a fantastic history of the very critical part U.S. submarines played in the final victory over Japan. While not every single war patrol is covered, and some are covered in more detail than others, there is plenty of combat action. Blair was fortunate to interview many of the submarine commanders and therefore he was able to put plenty of personal stories into the narrative. All the top sub skippers are mentioned in some detail, from Morton, Ramage and O'Kane to Dealey, Fluckey, Reich and many others.
Since the problems with faulty torpedoes played such a crucial part in the successes and failures of the subs, much detail is put into informing the reader of how this problem came about and why it took so long to fix it. Blair doesn't pull any punches when talking about leadership as well--virtually all of the submarine commanders such as Lockwood, Fife and Christie get their share of criticism. The book includes several specially commissioned maps and dozens of photographs, as well as detailed charts detailing every single war patrol made by U.S. subs in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
I've read many books on the American submarine war versus Japan, and I've had the pleasure of meeting Richard O'Kane twice. This book is a fitting legacy to all who fought and died in the Silent Service, and even nearly 40 years after publication it stands tall as THE definitive history of U.S. submarines versus Japan in World War II.
October 28, 2014
I'm sure that real navy and submarine buffs will have a ball reading it with all the details it presents to the reader. And as such I can only recommend it wholehearted.
But for me it is simply too much and too far from my 'home turf'; Army and combat aviation related stuff.
But for me it is simply too much and too far from my 'home turf'; Army and combat aviation related stuff.
March 24, 2015
The book is mainly a chronology of the war patrols of individual boats. Its an homage to submarine service officers during the war. It was a disappointment to me. It failed to educate me on the tactics, operations and strategies of the U.S. Navy's submarine service during the Pacific War.
Its not that the stories of the patrols aren't interesting or at times amusing. I laughed over the missing-in-transit gold bar from the Philippine treasury. I wondered aloud about a certain Skipper's need for prostate massages 'for health reasons' between patrols. And, I appreciated the by example description of submarine service's organizational behavior as it evolved described in the patrol chronology.
The technology of the submarine conflict is adequately covered. I was not aware that code-breaking was as instrumental in the Pacific War as it was in the European theater. The role of the 'fleet' boat and its rise to prominence was covered well-enough. Although I'm hazy on the relationship between its major systems. For example, I can't recall any description of surface speed, submerged speed and cruising range, or how it compared to then contemporary surface men-of-war and commercial shipping. The defective torpedo problem was well covered. I would have liked an explanation of the relationship between hostile and friendly wartime air power to submarine operations. Also tonnage could have been more clearly described, what was a 'small freighter'?
My harshest criticism is the author's failure to clearly describe and summarize fleet boat tactics, general operations, and strategy during the beginning, middle and end-periods of the war. It turns the title into a misnomer.
One clear description of the tactics of an 'ideal engagement' using bow then stern tubes would have greatly contributed to understanding the patrol logs. Operations such as 'wolf packing' are barely covered. I can't understand how Allied commerce could be punished in the Atlantic by German wolf packs, but American wolf packs were not employed until mid-war. Submarine strategy suffered most. A high-level discussion of submarine blockade of the Japanese Home Islands would have been a welcome addition. Why the "Luzon Strait" was so important would have been more obvious with high-level summaries of the Japanese-used sea lanes and the patrol regions (South China Sea, Polar Region, Indochina, etc.).
In addition, the tactics and capabilities of the Japanese Navy are discussed only incidentally. The enemy shapes the conflict. In this case the Japanese, despite the code-breaking, was a cipher.
Map usage was adequate. There are some photographs of merit, but too many 'head shots' of submarine officers. Use of charts and diagrams was non-existent. Summaries of 'tonnage per month' per region would have been appreciated.
I did not learn what I expected to learn from reading this book. It was the 'trees' of the submarine war in the Pacific, not the 'forest' view. The primary object was the officers who served and their relationship to each other and the service during the period of conflict. (Enlisted personnel were barely mentioned.) This book migh be helpful as a supplementary text to someone who was already read-up on the tactics, operations and strategy of 'The Silent Service' during the Pacific War. However, as a primary source I'd find another book.
Its not that the stories of the patrols aren't interesting or at times amusing. I laughed over the missing-in-transit gold bar from the Philippine treasury. I wondered aloud about a certain Skipper's need for prostate massages 'for health reasons' between patrols. And, I appreciated the by example description of submarine service's organizational behavior as it evolved described in the patrol chronology.
The technology of the submarine conflict is adequately covered. I was not aware that code-breaking was as instrumental in the Pacific War as it was in the European theater. The role of the 'fleet' boat and its rise to prominence was covered well-enough. Although I'm hazy on the relationship between its major systems. For example, I can't recall any description of surface speed, submerged speed and cruising range, or how it compared to then contemporary surface men-of-war and commercial shipping. The defective torpedo problem was well covered. I would have liked an explanation of the relationship between hostile and friendly wartime air power to submarine operations. Also tonnage could have been more clearly described, what was a 'small freighter'?
My harshest criticism is the author's failure to clearly describe and summarize fleet boat tactics, general operations, and strategy during the beginning, middle and end-periods of the war. It turns the title into a misnomer.
One clear description of the tactics of an 'ideal engagement' using bow then stern tubes would have greatly contributed to understanding the patrol logs. Operations such as 'wolf packing' are barely covered. I can't understand how Allied commerce could be punished in the Atlantic by German wolf packs, but American wolf packs were not employed until mid-war. Submarine strategy suffered most. A high-level discussion of submarine blockade of the Japanese Home Islands would have been a welcome addition. Why the "Luzon Strait" was so important would have been more obvious with high-level summaries of the Japanese-used sea lanes and the patrol regions (South China Sea, Polar Region, Indochina, etc.).
In addition, the tactics and capabilities of the Japanese Navy are discussed only incidentally. The enemy shapes the conflict. In this case the Japanese, despite the code-breaking, was a cipher.
Map usage was adequate. There are some photographs of merit, but too many 'head shots' of submarine officers. Use of charts and diagrams was non-existent. Summaries of 'tonnage per month' per region would have been appreciated.
I did not learn what I expected to learn from reading this book. It was the 'trees' of the submarine war in the Pacific, not the 'forest' view. The primary object was the officers who served and their relationship to each other and the service during the period of conflict. (Enlisted personnel were barely mentioned.) This book migh be helpful as a supplementary text to someone who was already read-up on the tactics, operations and strategy of 'The Silent Service' during the Pacific War. However, as a primary source I'd find another book.
November 24, 2015
This is the definitive account of the USN’s submarine war in the Pacific theater in WWII. Why should you read this book? According to the United States Strategic Bombing survey “the war against [Japanese] shipping was perhaps the most decisive single factor in the collapse of the Japanese economy and logistic support of the Japanese military and naval power. Our submarines accounted for the majority of the vessel sinkings and the greater part of the reduction in tonnage.” In fact, the author explains that the Submariners made up less than 2% of the USN but accounted for 55% of Japan’s maritime losses. I believe this book chronicles every mission conducted by USN submarines in the Pacific. Also, you will learn about each one of the three problems that plagued the USN’s torpedoes. The author calls “the torpedo scandal of the US submarine force in WWII … one of the worst [scandals] in the history of any kind of warfare.” The bureau of Naval Weaponry denied there was a problem and said there weren’t enough torpedoes available to re-test them. To me this negligence was criminal and it took about 1.5 to 2 years to fix. There is also quite a bit of information about code breaking and how important this was to the submarine campaign. Just be prepared for a commitment. The book is 885 pages long and while it is well written and fairly readable it can get monotonous at times. This is especially true after the tide has turned and the USN has worked out all the bugs in the torpedoes and finally employed a sound strategy by wolfpacking. It is almost hard to read as the ships of the IPN are like fish in a barrel over and over again.
This book stands as a tribute to the men of the Silent Service. I am glad that Clay Blair Jr. made the effort to put this definitive account together for people like me to read. God bless the USN and the men of the Silent Service and thank you for the sacrifices you made so that we can live as a free society. I get chills down my spine when I think of brave men such as Mush Morton, Dick O’Kane, Moon Chapel, and George Grider etc. Many of these men and their crews gave their last full measure of devotion so that we may live free.
"Tenacity Dick, stay with the bastard till he's on the bottom.”
Mush Morton to Dick O'Kane.
This book stands as a tribute to the men of the Silent Service. I am glad that Clay Blair Jr. made the effort to put this definitive account together for people like me to read. God bless the USN and the men of the Silent Service and thank you for the sacrifices you made so that we can live as a free society. I get chills down my spine when I think of brave men such as Mush Morton, Dick O’Kane, Moon Chapel, and George Grider etc. Many of these men and their crews gave their last full measure of devotion so that we may live free.
"Tenacity Dick, stay with the bastard till he's on the bottom.”
Mush Morton to Dick O'Kane.
January 26, 2014
I read this on the way to Hawaii on vacation and finished it on the way back home to Texas. Great read and great information on our US Navy subs against Japan during WWII. Made me a big fan of reading more sub books by the men who served them. Also made me a big fan of Clay Blair, Jr.
May 13, 2014
This is *the* comprehensive, two-volume history of America's submarine war against Japan's Navy and Merchant Marine, with a blow-by-blow account of virtually every war patrol - written in a crisp, engaging style. Blair includes a dozen Appendices, listing a record of every submarine's patrol, with the number and tonnage of ships sunk - and with rankings of subs and skippers by number of ships sunk and total tonnage sunk. At the end of each year's narrative, Blair includes an overview of that year's combat results for: 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945.
In 1942 and early 1943, the patrol results represented an almost continuous and demoralizing litany of failure, retreat, torpedo malfunction, retreat, magnetic exploder malfunction, retreat, lack of aggressiveness, and even failure of the contact exploder - on the depressingly rare occassions when the torpedoes ran true and actually hit their targets. The record of the Mark 14 torpedo and its flawed Mark IV magnetic exploder represents an extremely black mark against the Bureau of Naval Ordinance for its failure to properly test these weapons, and meanwhile to condemn any criticism of them, despite the ever-mounting evidence of their operational deficiencies.
Eventually the various flaws of the submarine force's Mark 14 torpedoes were corrected: the torpedoes' deep-running tendency was compensated for, the magnetic exploder was permanently deactivated & discarded, and the overly-delicate and fragile design of the contact exploder mechanism was corrected, finally resulting in a reasonably-reliable weapon - after a year and a half of desperate warfare! The third year of the war saw the character of the war against Japan's merchant marine transform almost completely, so much so that nearly every Japanese convoy encountered multiple packs of US submarines, which conducted attacks with such fearlessness and ferocity, that it seems amazing that Japan could find *any* crews willing to risk such voyages.
Even so, a torpedo might still experience a directional-control malfunction, sending it on a circular run and endangering the submarine itself. The second-highest-scoring US submarine in terms of number of ships sunk (24), the U.S.S. Tang, skippered by the top-scoring individual captain, Commander Dick O'Kane [Medal of Honor, Naval Cross (x3), Silver Star(x3)], was itself sunk by one of its own torpedoes on a circular-run, resulting in the loss of all but 9 of its crew, who togther with O'Kane, spent the remainder of the war as POWs.
For an even more comprehensive review of the latest edition of this 40-year old classic, check out the following weblink:
http://www.subsim.com/books/book_sile...
In 1942 and early 1943, the patrol results represented an almost continuous and demoralizing litany of failure, retreat, torpedo malfunction, retreat, magnetic exploder malfunction, retreat, lack of aggressiveness, and even failure of the contact exploder - on the depressingly rare occassions when the torpedoes ran true and actually hit their targets. The record of the Mark 14 torpedo and its flawed Mark IV magnetic exploder represents an extremely black mark against the Bureau of Naval Ordinance for its failure to properly test these weapons, and meanwhile to condemn any criticism of them, despite the ever-mounting evidence of their operational deficiencies.
Eventually the various flaws of the submarine force's Mark 14 torpedoes were corrected: the torpedoes' deep-running tendency was compensated for, the magnetic exploder was permanently deactivated & discarded, and the overly-delicate and fragile design of the contact exploder mechanism was corrected, finally resulting in a reasonably-reliable weapon - after a year and a half of desperate warfare! The third year of the war saw the character of the war against Japan's merchant marine transform almost completely, so much so that nearly every Japanese convoy encountered multiple packs of US submarines, which conducted attacks with such fearlessness and ferocity, that it seems amazing that Japan could find *any* crews willing to risk such voyages.
Even so, a torpedo might still experience a directional-control malfunction, sending it on a circular run and endangering the submarine itself. The second-highest-scoring US submarine in terms of number of ships sunk (24), the U.S.S. Tang, skippered by the top-scoring individual captain, Commander Dick O'Kane [Medal of Honor, Naval Cross (x3), Silver Star(x3)], was itself sunk by one of its own torpedoes on a circular-run, resulting in the loss of all but 9 of its crew, who togther with O'Kane, spent the remainder of the war as POWs.
For an even more comprehensive review of the latest edition of this 40-year old classic, check out the following weblink:
http://www.subsim.com/books/book_sile...
July 3, 2011
Although I give this five stars, this book is not for everyone. It is a dry account of facts, what US Navy Submarines sailed from where and when, and what happened to them. If you can stick with it, patterns emerge in the chaos and you will come away with a 180 degree understanding of the one you probably currently have of the Battle of the Atlantic. It took us a long, long, long time to get this weapon up to speed and functioning. So unnecessary, so much waste.
You will also become witness to the US Bureau of Ordnance Torpedo Scandal, which for security reasons never came to light at that time, ruined the careers of some, and lost the lives of many others US Submariners. Our early torpedoes were so shitty we were lucky to get them to scratch the paint on their targets. It wasn't like the movies, wasn't like the movies at all.
7/3/11. Just read it again, both volumes, wanting to keep current in my mind how submarine activities affected naval battles in the Pacific. I watched the HBO mini series and read some of the source material. Nasty business.
You will also become witness to the US Bureau of Ordnance Torpedo Scandal, which for security reasons never came to light at that time, ruined the careers of some, and lost the lives of many others US Submariners. Our early torpedoes were so shitty we were lucky to get them to scratch the paint on their targets. It wasn't like the movies, wasn't like the movies at all.
7/3/11. Just read it again, both volumes, wanting to keep current in my mind how submarine activities affected naval battles in the Pacific. I watched the HBO mini series and read some of the source material. Nasty business.
Want to read
October 21, 2011Pretty exhaustive, and readable, although it is definitely a book you move through 20 pages at a time. I just ordered a used copy as there is no way I am going to knock off all 1000+ pages before it is due and I am too forgetful to renew it. I'm reading this for background when I play the wargame "Silent War," which takes about 150 hours to complete (in campaign mode). Realistically, I'll probably play 10 hours of it and then sell it, as that will scratch my itch and it is quite popular.
October 20, 2012
if you have any interest in US submarine warfare during World War II i would highly recommend this book. It is a very detailed account of American submarine operations in the Pacific Theater. The first 200 or so pages are a bit tedious, but beyond that that book moves along much faster. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the key role the Silent Service played in the US victory in the Pacific.
August 12, 2009
The comprehensive, hardcover, two-volume history of America's submarine war against Japan's Navy and Merchant Marine, with a blow-by-blow account of virtually every war patrol written in a crisp, engaging style.
Lists every submarine's patrol with the number and tonnage of ships sunk. An overview of each year's results is given for 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945.
Lists every submarine's patrol with the number and tonnage of ships sunk. An overview of each year's results is given for 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945.
January 13, 2015
Outstanding book. It covers the entire sub war in the Pacific, including the decades leading up to the war and the decisions regarding the submarine forces. Truly a monumental work, detailing virtually every mission of the war.
May 30, 2009
I had no idea of the role that submarine warfare played in the Pacific. This is Vol 1 of 2
May 6, 2012
A total review of US submarine operations in the Pacific. Interesting, having read widely on the topic. Worth the read for the new insights.
Want to read
August 10, 2014This book was recommended in one of the "Bookmarks" magazine's issues of either: (Nov/ Dec 2007) or (Jan/ Feb 2008). It was originally 2 volumes.
November 17, 2020
This book is an enormous achievement. The fact that it is voluminous collection of WW2 submarine facts plays second fiddle to Blair's ability to make the read feel nearly like an adventure story.
June 14, 2015
Great one-volume resource if you want to understand the US sub war in the pacific.
June 30, 2025
So many, many books have been written about World War II. Pick any topic, any battle, and you can find an endless number of works covering the subject from any number of angles. I’m curious, how many books can be said to be the unquestioned authoritative account of its chosen subject?
This is one of them. The Silent Service has seemingly never received its full due credit for its accomplishments during the war. Part of this was the necessary secrecy during the conflict, both to protect the subs themselves as well as protecting the source of much of their successes, namely the intelligence known as Ultra. While journalists were commonly present at most major battles and campaigns (including on Navy surface ships), there was only one incidence of a reporter on a sub during a war patrol, a Boston Globe journalist who accompanied USS Bullhead in early 1945; when Admiral King found out, he explicitly forbade any repeats. Thus, wartime reporting never reached the level of coverage other services received. Admiral Charles Lockwood certainly never received the attention that MacArthur, Nimitz, Eisenhower, etc., were accorded. However, as Blair writes in this book, the submarine service only accounted for 1.6% of U.S. naval personnel (50,000 men counting staff, about 16,000 of whom actually made combat patrols) yet were responsible for 55% of Japanese naval and shipping losses.
The first pass at laying out the history of the full campaign was undertaken by Lockwood’s operations officer, Richard Voge, who spent the last 6 months of the war and the following year compiling patrol reports and other records into a comprehensive operational history. In 1949, Theodore Roscoe authored United States Submarine Operations in World War II, which was a condensed version of Voge’s report. Blair’s book (published in 1975) took advantage of the intervening 25-30 years to refine Voge’s original record, combine it with other sources published in the meantime, and take advantage of numerous interviews conducted by the author, himself a former submariner. While he made numerous attempts to get records of the codebreaking efforts declassified (the Navy refused), he was able to conduct numerous interviews with codebreakers who were willing to talk off the record, and the presence of Ultra greatly informs the narrative.
I have had this book since August 9, 2002 (Amazon’s purchase history is weirding me out a little) and have read small sections over the years, but this is the first time I’ve read it cover to cover. I realize now in retrospect that I’ve read an abridged version in the distant past, the Bantam War Books version published in 1978.
The book reads very well, despite some of it seeming repetitious with descriptions of patrols and their results. However, as the war goes on, fewer of the patrols are remarked on, focusing more on the results that are more notable from either a tactical or operational standpoint. He opens the book with a good overview of the development of submarines as a tactical weapon in the first decades of the 20th century and focuses well on the US Navy’s development of fleet boats in the years leading up to the war. He also gives good attention to the changes in leadership during the war; the development of bases such as Fremantle, Brisbane and Dutch Harbor; and places the campaign in appropriate context regarding the war as a whole. Obviously, one constant throughout the story is the criminal saga of our torpedoes and the efforts to correct their flaws, generally against the intransigence of the Bureau of Ordnance and even some of the area commanders (notably Ralph Christie).
Excellent book and seems to be the authoritative text regarding the Silent Service in World War II. The surprising thing to me is that in the 50 years since publication there doesn’t seem to be any comparable works that have been published. While there are numerous excellent biographies and memoirs on the topic, I can’t find any books which have attempted to cover the entire campaign in detail, which seems to be exceptional given the volume of scholarship on the war.
Superb book.
This is one of them. The Silent Service has seemingly never received its full due credit for its accomplishments during the war. Part of this was the necessary secrecy during the conflict, both to protect the subs themselves as well as protecting the source of much of their successes, namely the intelligence known as Ultra. While journalists were commonly present at most major battles and campaigns (including on Navy surface ships), there was only one incidence of a reporter on a sub during a war patrol, a Boston Globe journalist who accompanied USS Bullhead in early 1945; when Admiral King found out, he explicitly forbade any repeats. Thus, wartime reporting never reached the level of coverage other services received. Admiral Charles Lockwood certainly never received the attention that MacArthur, Nimitz, Eisenhower, etc., were accorded. However, as Blair writes in this book, the submarine service only accounted for 1.6% of U.S. naval personnel (50,000 men counting staff, about 16,000 of whom actually made combat patrols) yet were responsible for 55% of Japanese naval and shipping losses.
The first pass at laying out the history of the full campaign was undertaken by Lockwood’s operations officer, Richard Voge, who spent the last 6 months of the war and the following year compiling patrol reports and other records into a comprehensive operational history. In 1949, Theodore Roscoe authored United States Submarine Operations in World War II, which was a condensed version of Voge’s report. Blair’s book (published in 1975) took advantage of the intervening 25-30 years to refine Voge’s original record, combine it with other sources published in the meantime, and take advantage of numerous interviews conducted by the author, himself a former submariner. While he made numerous attempts to get records of the codebreaking efforts declassified (the Navy refused), he was able to conduct numerous interviews with codebreakers who were willing to talk off the record, and the presence of Ultra greatly informs the narrative.
I have had this book since August 9, 2002 (Amazon’s purchase history is weirding me out a little) and have read small sections over the years, but this is the first time I’ve read it cover to cover. I realize now in retrospect that I’ve read an abridged version in the distant past, the Bantam War Books version published in 1978.
The book reads very well, despite some of it seeming repetitious with descriptions of patrols and their results. However, as the war goes on, fewer of the patrols are remarked on, focusing more on the results that are more notable from either a tactical or operational standpoint. He opens the book with a good overview of the development of submarines as a tactical weapon in the first decades of the 20th century and focuses well on the US Navy’s development of fleet boats in the years leading up to the war. He also gives good attention to the changes in leadership during the war; the development of bases such as Fremantle, Brisbane and Dutch Harbor; and places the campaign in appropriate context regarding the war as a whole. Obviously, one constant throughout the story is the criminal saga of our torpedoes and the efforts to correct their flaws, generally against the intransigence of the Bureau of Ordnance and even some of the area commanders (notably Ralph Christie).
Excellent book and seems to be the authoritative text regarding the Silent Service in World War II. The surprising thing to me is that in the 50 years since publication there doesn’t seem to be any comparable works that have been published. While there are numerous excellent biographies and memoirs on the topic, I can’t find any books which have attempted to cover the entire campaign in detail, which seems to be exceptional given the volume of scholarship on the war.
Superb book.
June 26, 2022
A comprehensive summary and analysis of US Navy submarines’ involvement in the Pacific War, Silent Victory is impressively comprehensive in its scope; we get a rundown of seemingly every significant submarine patrol that occurred in 1941, 1942, and 1943 in this first volume of a two-volume set. In addition to these patrol summaries, we get sections that explain and analyze important wider points about the submarine war, such as why the torpedoes had poor performance early in the war, and which patrol areas were most profitable for US submariners. The comprehensiveness of the book tends to make it a bit dry in stretches—prepare to read about torpedoes missing their targets about a million times—as does the nearly infinite detail about ship and officer names. But this also makes it feel like you’re really getting the full view of the war, boring bits and all, and learning about the quirks of both the submarines themselves and the specific officers commanding them does add depth (no pun intended) to the story. Looking forward to reading volume 2, in which the lessons learned by the US Navy by the end of 1943 are implemented, and submarines are made a decisive factor in the Pacific War.
March 26, 2025
This work by Mr. Blair is a comprehensive review of each and every U.S. Pacific submarine patrol in WW II and insights as to the administration of submarine warfare against the Japanese Empire. This book has evaluations of administration command and staffing of all the submarines engaged in this endeavor. This is just a tremendous history undertaking.
I very much enjoyed his plunge into the scandal of malfunctioning torpedoes. Twenty-two months into the war before the Navy's Bureau of Ordinance ("The Gun Club") was forced into contributing a resolution to the numerous problems with torpedoes. These included inaccurate depth, malfunctioning exploders and the delayed introduction of electric torpedoes.
Further, he chronicled the phenomenal contributions of Navy Code Breakers for schedules of Japanese War Ships and Cargo vessels. This gave the submarine force specific routes to intercept. I was also surprised by the revelation of Mush Morton's Wahoo's machine gunning of Japanese soldiers adrift after he sunk a transport.
The submarine effort was credited with the sinking of 4000 Japanese ships totaling more than 10 million tons. This was a major contribution to the war in the Pacific.
I very much enjoyed his plunge into the scandal of malfunctioning torpedoes. Twenty-two months into the war before the Navy's Bureau of Ordinance ("The Gun Club") was forced into contributing a resolution to the numerous problems with torpedoes. These included inaccurate depth, malfunctioning exploders and the delayed introduction of electric torpedoes.
Further, he chronicled the phenomenal contributions of Navy Code Breakers for schedules of Japanese War Ships and Cargo vessels. This gave the submarine force specific routes to intercept. I was also surprised by the revelation of Mush Morton's Wahoo's machine gunning of Japanese soldiers adrift after he sunk a transport.
The submarine effort was credited with the sinking of 4000 Japanese ships totaling more than 10 million tons. This was a major contribution to the war in the Pacific.
August 31, 2024
After reading this entire tome, I feel obligated to write something commemorating the achievement.
I started into this book after being inspired by Ian Toll’s trilogy, reading the oft told stories of the Wahoo, Captain Slade Cutter, and the likes, and wanting to find out more about the submariners of WW2. This book is C O M P R E H E N S I V E. I knew it was time to grind out the rest of this book after my kids started referring to it as my ‘Bible’.
Coolest things I learned:
- the war on Japanese Merchant Marine vessels was likely the unheralded decisive factor in the war in the Pacific.
- no one likes being wrong, but especially if you work in the naval ordinance department. The issues with our torpedos was atrocious. There’s no telling how much shorter the war would have been if people were less concerned with their egos, and more with doing the right thing
- the idea was floated to have voluntary appendectomies for all submariners, because of the potential deadliness of getting appendicitis while on patrol. Ultimately, more than once were emergency surgeries performed by ship pharmacists.
I started into this book after being inspired by Ian Toll’s trilogy, reading the oft told stories of the Wahoo, Captain Slade Cutter, and the likes, and wanting to find out more about the submariners of WW2. This book is C O M P R E H E N S I V E. I knew it was time to grind out the rest of this book after my kids started referring to it as my ‘Bible’.
Coolest things I learned:
- the war on Japanese Merchant Marine vessels was likely the unheralded decisive factor in the war in the Pacific.
- no one likes being wrong, but especially if you work in the naval ordinance department. The issues with our torpedos was atrocious. There’s no telling how much shorter the war would have been if people were less concerned with their egos, and more with doing the right thing
- the idea was floated to have voluntary appendectomies for all submariners, because of the potential deadliness of getting appendicitis while on patrol. Ultimately, more than once were emergency surgeries performed by ship pharmacists.
February 1, 2018
This book is a mixed bag, on one hand it is a highly detailed and account of practically every mission carried out by US submarines against Japan during WW2, there are great anecdotes and stories about event in individual missions, how technological problems and progressed affected the war, and how important the decoding of Japanese military codes were to the success of American submarines. that is the positive.
on the negative side there is practically zero detail given on description of tactics or strategies used by the submarine captains or the submarine command in general, to me this would be much more interesting than page after page describing each individual mission in such vague ways as
' submarine so and so commanded by Captain what's his name ran across a japanese freighter, 4 torpedoes were shot, 2 hit' which constitutes the vast majority of the size of the book.
Unfortunately it reads much like an accountant report of just the facts of what happened, some analysis of be welcome.
on the negative side there is practically zero detail given on description of tactics or strategies used by the submarine captains or the submarine command in general, to me this would be much more interesting than page after page describing each individual mission in such vague ways as
' submarine so and so commanded by Captain what's his name ran across a japanese freighter, 4 torpedoes were shot, 2 hit' which constitutes the vast majority of the size of the book.
Unfortunately it reads much like an accountant report of just the facts of what happened, some analysis of be welcome.
August 30, 2025
Clay Blair Jr.'s Silent Victory: The US Submarine War against Japan is some heavy reading. And this is only the first volume. Laden with detail, Blair's work is recognized as the foremost reporting of US Navy's submarine battle in the Pacific. Blair doesn't cut any corners when providing information regarding leadership, skippers, execs and crew, battle plans and the boats themselves. At times, challenging to work through, wading (pun intended) through the month-by-month details of every subs' actions, or inaction, as was often the case in the early years, reading Silent Victory is still time well spent. Most readers of World War II history may be able to recite the surface battles won and lost in the Pacific theater, but few are fully aware of how significant the submarine impact on Japan. Silent Victory will get one caught up, not easily or quickly, but more knowledgeable in the end.
April 4, 2023
The "definitive account," but definitive in the sense that it is encyclopedic in coverage. Enlisted Rates rarely appear, a woman appears, in passing, once, and Japanese voices are almost silent. The submarine war is a tale of courage, folly, and moral ambiguity deserving of an actually definitive account...
July 15, 2017
Excellent and comprehensive book about the US submarine war against Japan, though one has to remember that this book was written in 1974, closer to WW2 than to today, so some information may be outdated.
July 23, 2018
The most comprehensive and well written history of the U.S. Submarine Force operations in the war against Japan. Complete listing of war patrols, tonnages, and major participants. A must read for anyone wishing to understand the campaign across the Pacific.
Read
March 21, 2020Definitive account of the U.S. submarine campaign against the Japanese during World War II, complete with a history of the politics of the U.S. Navy command and the technical difficulties faced by the skippers.
December 19, 2018
Very good and authoritative book! I cannot wait to read volume #2
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