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A Tale of Two Subs: An Untold Story of World War II, Two Sister Ships, and Extraordinary Heroism
On November 19, 1943, the submarine USS Sculpin, under attack by the Japanese, slid below the waves for the last time in what would become one of the most remarkable stories in U.S. Naval history. Not only did several crewmembers survive the sinking - an extremely rare event in World War II submarine warfare - but several were aboard a Japanese aircraft carrier enroute to a POW camp when it was in turn torpedoed and sunk by the Sculpin's sister ship, the USS Sailfish.
At the end of World War II, several unlikely survivors would tell a tale of endurance against these amazing reversals of fortune. For one officer in particular, who knew that being captured could have meant losing the war for the allies, his struggle was not in surviving, but in sealing his own fate in a heartbreaking act of heroism which culminated in the nation's highest tribute, the Medal of Honor.
Sculpin Lt. Commander John Phillip Cromwell was one of the few who knew that American Naval Intelligence had succeeded in cracking Japan's top-secret codes. Cromwell also knew that if the Japanese confirmed this by torturing him, it would force Naval Intelligence to change their encryption, which would potentially change the course of the war. This is Cromwell's story as well.
The incredible interconnection of the Sculpin and the Sailfish has been thoroughly researched by Jonathan McCullough. Through access to the few living survivors, scores of oral histories, never-before translated Japanese war documents, and interviews with Navy veterans, McCullough delivers a gripping and, intimate account for the reader.
At the end of World War II, several unlikely survivors would tell a tale of endurance against these amazing reversals of fortune. For one officer in particular, who knew that being captured could have meant losing the war for the allies, his struggle was not in surviving, but in sealing his own fate in a heartbreaking act of heroism which culminated in the nation's highest tribute, the Medal of Honor.
Sculpin Lt. Commander John Phillip Cromwell was one of the few who knew that American Naval Intelligence had succeeded in cracking Japan's top-secret codes. Cromwell also knew that if the Japanese confirmed this by torturing him, it would force Naval Intelligence to change their encryption, which would potentially change the course of the war. This is Cromwell's story as well.
The incredible interconnection of the Sculpin and the Sailfish has been thoroughly researched by Jonathan McCullough. Through access to the few living survivors, scores of oral histories, never-before translated Japanese war documents, and interviews with Navy veterans, McCullough delivers a gripping and, intimate account for the reader.
294 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
September 22, 2017
The title of the book is very misleading as large parts of this book is not about the two submarines, USS Sculpin and USS Sailfish, but is about code-breaking during the Pacific Campaign. Though interesting on it's own by giving background on the submarine war, it breaks up the story of the submarines a bit. The "action" sequences in the book are also a bit forced and does not read well.
December 6, 2015
A solid account of a critical time in WWII, which pays tribute to the impact US code breakers had on the outcome of the war, both tactically and strategically. Intertwined is the tale of two submarines, their crew and commanders who paid a terrible price to act on and also protect the information the code breakers gave them. It's easy to glance over the implicit horrors that were experienced and the sacrifices that were made as you read this book. Take a moment as you do to think about how difficult life truly would have been for the crew of these subs and their victims on the surface.
August 11, 2008
This is an excellent book about the men of the submarine service in WW 2. It also tells how dangerous subs were.
February 21, 2013
While the story at the heart of this book is interesting to anyone who enjoys reading WWII submarine lore, McCullough spends the first 70% of the book describing routine patrols and constantly referring to impending doom, while seemingly never getting around to it. It was very frustrating for the author to always be hinting, but never telling (at least until the last 1/3 of the book, and even then he can't resist suggesting what comes next in vague, bookish terms). It really felt like McCullough had taken a writing course on how to interject suspense into a story and this was his first attempt.
The parts on the effort required to break the Japanese Naval codes was also interesting and perhaps the best written part of the book, but as several other reviewers noted, it makes for a very disjointed flow. In addition, there were enough people to keep track of between two similarly-named submarines; adding all the people involved in the code rooms made it even more confusing.
As someone who reads a lot of WWII history and lately quite a few submarine memoirs/histories, I was disappointed in this book and doubt that I will pick it up again.
The parts on the effort required to break the Japanese Naval codes was also interesting and perhaps the best written part of the book, but as several other reviewers noted, it makes for a very disjointed flow. In addition, there were enough people to keep track of between two similarly-named submarines; adding all the people involved in the code rooms made it even more confusing.
As someone who reads a lot of WWII history and lately quite a few submarine memoirs/histories, I was disappointed in this book and doubt that I will pick it up again.
February 25, 2017
It was a great book to read. The only issue I had was that the author wasn't adding details about the tragedy of the submarine. It's sort of a weird because in one chapter he's talking about and in the next few talk about something totally different and it wouldn't add up to the title of the book. When I selected this book I thought it was going to be all about the submarine tragedy, but instead he talks about others things which like I said before it doesn't add up with the title of the book.
July 10, 2020
Informative but confusing
McCullough writes a stirring tale, but confuses the reader jumping back and forth between the Pearl Harbor intelligence challenges to break the Japanese radio code and Asian Submarine Fleet. A reader without an understanding of U.S. Naval operations during World War UK would be lost. The content requires prior reading. Additionally, the author focuses on minutia that takes away from the history.
McCullough writes a stirring tale, but confuses the reader jumping back and forth between the Pearl Harbor intelligence challenges to break the Japanese radio code and Asian Submarine Fleet. A reader without an understanding of U.S. Naval operations during World War UK would be lost. The content requires prior reading. Additionally, the author focuses on minutia that takes away from the history.
January 11, 2012
Tale of Two Subs by Jonathan J. McCullough. It is hard to put this book down. The two subs, Sculpin and Sailfish (originally christen Squalus), twin sisters that were built during the 1930's, were sent to the Pacific before Pearl Harbor. The crews risked their lives shooting dud torpedoes during the first half of the war. Much of the book tells of Naval intelligence and how the Japanese code JN-25 was broken. The crew in the intelligence office called Hypo, located in Pearl Harbor, worked long hours even days on the code to almost having it given to the Japanese by a newspaper. The officer in charge, Joe Rockford, who broke the code, told Admiral Chester Nimitz when and where the Japanese Navy was going to attack Midway. His work was not appreciated by higher-ups in Washington, DC. He was transferred to a dead end job due to political insiders jealosies. The book ends with the sinking of the Sculpin and lost of half the crew and capture of the remaining crew members and their harsh torture. This book helps in understanding how a small part of the war in the Pacific was fought by a few men. I can appreciate this being a retired icebreaker sailor. I recommend reading Joe Rockford's War, and Secret Missions by Ellis Zacharias who were intelligence officers and codebreakers. These books are great reading that gives insight into the workings of top officiers.
September 11, 2022
The story is about two subs fighting in WWII. (The cruelties of the Japanese of that time period never cease to amaze me.) However, this book was interesting for its portrayal of life aboard a sub of that time period. How did anyone survive those? The action scenes were fantastic. The writing style jumped around a little too much which made it hard to keep track of everyone sometimes. Overall I enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading history.
March 16, 2009
A good book, actually two books, and that's a bit of a problem. The author spends too much time on the breaking of the Japanese codes when they are peripheral to the main story. The main story is a very good one of the submariners on the two subs and some of the pages devoted to the code breaking could have included more of the submarine tales. Not that the code breaking isn't interesting, it's just that it is a small part of the story and there are other good books on the topic. Nonetheless, it was a good read and worth picking up.
March 15, 2015
This is a fine telling of the story of sister subs in the Pacific. The one subs inauspicious beginnings having sunk. The trials of early war patrols using torpedoes that were of questionable ability. The strains of being hunted. Also is the story of the codebreakers that were of such a great help with beating the enemy.
January 31, 2014
A book about the fates of two different submarine crews and how they impacted each other on a dark night. and also account of naval code breaking. This book has some good moments and some okay moments, but I would not call it a bad book.
October 16, 2008
Good read. Amazing the life these men faced underwater in a submarine
September 16, 2011
Shows what it was like in submarine in WWII
January 4, 2019
Excellent book.
August 10, 2023
The story of the USS Sculpin and USS Sailfish offers an intriguing narrative as far as the submarine campaign of the Pacific is concerned. Sculpin and Sailfish, both Sargo-class submarines, were remarkable not for their actions in their war patrols but rather the history surrounding each sub. Sailfish conducted herself in spite of her famed 1938 diving incident, when she was still USS Squalus. Sculpin wouldn’t gain her notoriety until she was forced to surface due to depth charge attack during her final war patrol. The story culminates when Sculpin’s crew is captured, taken aboard a light Japanese carrier, only to be torpedoed and sunk by Sailfish; a reunion under unique circumstances. Unfortunately, A Tale of Two Subs fails to properly capture this narrative.
The titular incident of the book is over-looked until the very end. This is due to focus being shifted elsewhere, often leading the reader to ask what relevance the current subject had on the overall subject. As an example, McCullough focuses at various points throughout on the USN’s Station Hypo and its attempts to decipher naval Japanese encrypted radio messages. The spotlight is taken away from the submarines and in shifted towards Hypo’s exploits. While interesting in their own right, they are rather jarring as Hypo won’t become relevant until near the end of the book. Prior to that, the chapters focused on Hypo simply offer a summative re-telling of the actions in the Coral Sea and Midway. Even then, this re-telling felt completely irrelevant. Regarding Hypo, it’s felt this narrative could have been condensed to a single chapter tying up its connections to the sister subs rather than dragging out as long as it did.
The sections focusing on the submarines are intriguing. Sculpin and Sailfish in spite of their unremarkable patrols were still interesting. McCullough brilliantly describes the depth-charging and claustrophobic atmosphere of raw fear nearly perfectly. This is especially done well during the final moments of the Sculpin. Furthermore, a good bit of information is briefly presented to the reader in small bits on the workings of a submarine and its multitude of equipment to give a basic understanding on the functions and running of the vessel. The key word is brief. The reader is not inundated with technical information and the brief explanations come through without stopping the narrative flow.
By themselves, the stories of Sculpin and Sailfish are not particularly remarkable until the culmination of the main event. McCullough presents this much as he follows the patrols of both submarines almost completely separate from one another. As a matter of fact, most of the narrative is on Sculpin with the occasional glance at Sailfish. However, McCullough builds up the stories of both subs in a rather vague manner. There’s a build-up but its vague in its formation. There is nothing to grasp to firmly connect the two subs together other than they were from the same class. Even the way their crews were ran was so similar that there was no true differentiation between one another. There was no firm identity for either sub to truly take on a personality of its own which is expected given the standardization of submarine warfare up to that point. But once again, it runs contrary to the promised premise and to the implied build-up of the ultimate connection between these two subs.
In the end, A Tale of Two Subs is not a bad read if one is simply craving to read about USN submarines in the Pacific War. However, if that’s the only intention, there’s better for books on the subject. While well written an interesting on what it focuses to write, A Tale of Two Subs suffers from a lack of direction in regards to what to focus on and how to create a unifying narrative between three seeming unrelated subjects: the two subs, and Hypo. This results in jarring pacing and multiple narratives which don’t feel relevant to one another. While it’s flaws may be difficult to overlook, A Tale of Two Subs is not a bad read but it’s best to go in not expecting an inter-connected narrative of two sister submarines and their unique connections to one another.
The titular incident of the book is over-looked until the very end. This is due to focus being shifted elsewhere, often leading the reader to ask what relevance the current subject had on the overall subject. As an example, McCullough focuses at various points throughout on the USN’s Station Hypo and its attempts to decipher naval Japanese encrypted radio messages. The spotlight is taken away from the submarines and in shifted towards Hypo’s exploits. While interesting in their own right, they are rather jarring as Hypo won’t become relevant until near the end of the book. Prior to that, the chapters focused on Hypo simply offer a summative re-telling of the actions in the Coral Sea and Midway. Even then, this re-telling felt completely irrelevant. Regarding Hypo, it’s felt this narrative could have been condensed to a single chapter tying up its connections to the sister subs rather than dragging out as long as it did.
The sections focusing on the submarines are intriguing. Sculpin and Sailfish in spite of their unremarkable patrols were still interesting. McCullough brilliantly describes the depth-charging and claustrophobic atmosphere of raw fear nearly perfectly. This is especially done well during the final moments of the Sculpin. Furthermore, a good bit of information is briefly presented to the reader in small bits on the workings of a submarine and its multitude of equipment to give a basic understanding on the functions and running of the vessel. The key word is brief. The reader is not inundated with technical information and the brief explanations come through without stopping the narrative flow.
By themselves, the stories of Sculpin and Sailfish are not particularly remarkable until the culmination of the main event. McCullough presents this much as he follows the patrols of both submarines almost completely separate from one another. As a matter of fact, most of the narrative is on Sculpin with the occasional glance at Sailfish. However, McCullough builds up the stories of both subs in a rather vague manner. There’s a build-up but its vague in its formation. There is nothing to grasp to firmly connect the two subs together other than they were from the same class. Even the way their crews were ran was so similar that there was no true differentiation between one another. There was no firm identity for either sub to truly take on a personality of its own which is expected given the standardization of submarine warfare up to that point. But once again, it runs contrary to the promised premise and to the implied build-up of the ultimate connection between these two subs.
In the end, A Tale of Two Subs is not a bad read if one is simply craving to read about USN submarines in the Pacific War. However, if that’s the only intention, there’s better for books on the subject. While well written an interesting on what it focuses to write, A Tale of Two Subs suffers from a lack of direction in regards to what to focus on and how to create a unifying narrative between three seeming unrelated subjects: the two subs, and Hypo. This results in jarring pacing and multiple narratives which don’t feel relevant to one another. While it’s flaws may be difficult to overlook, A Tale of Two Subs is not a bad read but it’s best to go in not expecting an inter-connected narrative of two sister submarines and their unique connections to one another.
March 10, 2021
This was a good book but a little scattered and hard to follow. It isn’t just a story of two particular submarines, but of the war in the Pacific in general. The author does a good job of describing how it must have felt serving in a submarine. I can’t imagine what kind of courage it took to serve in our Silent Service.
May 24, 2024
Super Subs
A very interesting and well written book. I enjoyed reading this from beginning to end. I know, from prior submarine books, that much that was written was concluded from things obtained from facts.
A very interesting and well written book. I enjoyed reading this from beginning to end. I know, from prior submarine books, that much that was written was concluded from things obtained from facts.
September 25, 2024
Well written, slow in the middle, got better in the end. Great for the WWII buff.
July 12, 2010
A Tale of Two Subs is a substandard attempt at historical writing however Mr. McCullough missed the mark on his title. In the title he promises to tie the story of the U.S.S. Sculpin and U.S.S. Sailfish (formerly U.S.S. Squalus). The two submarines are tied by fate and misfortune. In 1939 U.S.S. Squalus sank in a diving test in which 26 men lost their lives but the ship was salvaged and renamed as U.S.S Sailfish. In 1943 the U.S.S. Sculpin is sunk by a Japanese destroyer rescuing 42 men from the Sculpin. Some of the Sculpin crewmembers decided to stay onboard for a variety of reasons. The most important person deciding to stay onboard was Captain John Cromwell. This man and and his friendship with the Navy' top cryptographic officer in the Pacific is the heart of McCullough's book not the submarines as advertised in his title.
It was difficult to understand the topic of the second chapter in relation to the title and supposed focus of the book about submarines since the chapter focused on the code breaking effort before and during the war based on one man. This would be acceptable if the main focus of the book was not on the submarines but rather Jasper Holmes the commanding officer of the code breaking effort. McCullough kept on coming back to Holmes rather than focusing as the title promises two sister ships. The story is compelling but the submarine aspect of the book is secondary rather than primary as the title suggests. McCullough kept switching from the Sculpin to Holmes and often included the Sailfish as an after thought and in reality McCullough only discusses the Sailfish's history briefly and only when the Sailfish was something relevant to Holmes and the Sculpin.
McCullough's writing style made me reminding myself I wasn't grading this book or even editing it. McCullough's short biography states he has experience in editing books which this book needed. McCullough switches from first person to third person often and often uses vernacular in trying to describe facts. For example "We do not know where Lieutenant Commander Connaway or Lieutenant Defrees were at this point, only they did not die in the conning tower. Lieutenant George Brown succeeded to command" (page 243 A Tale of Two Subs). This passage is an example of McCullough not being able to maintain which person he is actually using. In future History classes I will use the passage as an example of how not to write History. On page 121 McCullough writes " The disagreements ignited in what could be called a 1940's flame war..." McCullough is depending that his reader will know what a flame war is when some of his readers might not. It was quite clear that McCullough started out interested in the submarines but found a more compelling story which became more interesting to him but chose not to write about what really interested him.
The book could be a good read if the reader isn't reading for any insights into the submarine war in the Pacific or expecting a book about two submarines with compelling stories. McCullough's book held the promise of telling some to be akin to Carl LaVo's Back From The Deep which has covered but never delivered to that promise. It is an interesting book about code breaking which is fascinating but not relating to the title. This book would not be disappointing if it were actually titled with something to do with McCullough's focus.
It was difficult to understand the topic of the second chapter in relation to the title and supposed focus of the book about submarines since the chapter focused on the code breaking effort before and during the war based on one man. This would be acceptable if the main focus of the book was not on the submarines but rather Jasper Holmes the commanding officer of the code breaking effort. McCullough kept on coming back to Holmes rather than focusing as the title promises two sister ships. The story is compelling but the submarine aspect of the book is secondary rather than primary as the title suggests. McCullough kept switching from the Sculpin to Holmes and often included the Sailfish as an after thought and in reality McCullough only discusses the Sailfish's history briefly and only when the Sailfish was something relevant to Holmes and the Sculpin.
McCullough's writing style made me reminding myself I wasn't grading this book or even editing it. McCullough's short biography states he has experience in editing books which this book needed. McCullough switches from first person to third person often and often uses vernacular in trying to describe facts. For example "We do not know where Lieutenant Commander Connaway or Lieutenant Defrees were at this point, only they did not die in the conning tower. Lieutenant George Brown succeeded to command" (page 243 A Tale of Two Subs). This passage is an example of McCullough not being able to maintain which person he is actually using. In future History classes I will use the passage as an example of how not to write History. On page 121 McCullough writes " The disagreements ignited in what could be called a 1940's flame war..." McCullough is depending that his reader will know what a flame war is when some of his readers might not. It was quite clear that McCullough started out interested in the submarines but found a more compelling story which became more interesting to him but chose not to write about what really interested him.
The book could be a good read if the reader isn't reading for any insights into the submarine war in the Pacific or expecting a book about two submarines with compelling stories. McCullough's book held the promise of telling some to be akin to Carl LaVo's Back From The Deep which has covered but never delivered to that promise. It is an interesting book about code breaking which is fascinating but not relating to the title. This book would not be disappointing if it were actually titled with something to do with McCullough's focus.
April 27, 2011
A solidly written book with some good details, but some major flaws.
This is an amazing look at the early war, and the author does a great job explaining the tactical situation with a minimum of ink. The encounters are painstakingly detailed from historical info (and the author clearly mentions when there aren't enough facts available to establish certainty. Daily life aboard a sub is carefully detailed, and quite visceral.
First, the author had a unique style of writing about evasion scenes, using font sizes, capitalization, and italics in an attempt to mimic the sounds a sub would be hearing. Once it was cute (and admittedly, effective), but after 5+ scenes, it got distracting. I agree with the over reviews which complain a good chunk of this book on the code breaking was excellent writing, but didn't really fit the theme to deserve so many pages. Finally, I was a bit disappointed in the haphazard way time was dealt with. If you're writing a book about two subs with three different names, you should have a good reason to write things out of their order in time. Why put the tragic tale of the Squalus in the middle of the narrative of the Sailfish -- the same sub after the Squalous was rechristened? There just wasn't enough reason to make such an odd split.
This is an amazing look at the early war, and the author does a great job explaining the tactical situation with a minimum of ink. The encounters are painstakingly detailed from historical info (and the author clearly mentions when there aren't enough facts available to establish certainty. Daily life aboard a sub is carefully detailed, and quite visceral.
First, the author had a unique style of writing about evasion scenes, using font sizes, capitalization, and italics in an attempt to mimic the sounds a sub would be hearing. Once it was cute (and admittedly, effective), but after 5+ scenes, it got distracting. I agree with the over reviews which complain a good chunk of this book on the code breaking was excellent writing, but didn't really fit the theme to deserve so many pages. Finally, I was a bit disappointed in the haphazard way time was dealt with. If you're writing a book about two subs with three different names, you should have a good reason to write things out of their order in time. Why put the tragic tale of the Squalus in the middle of the narrative of the Sailfish -- the same sub after the Squalous was rechristened? There just wasn't enough reason to make such an odd split.
August 17, 2010
I did enjoy this book, as it gave me a glimpse into an aspect of WWII I was not so familiar with -- that of submarine warfare in the Pacific. However, I feel the author couldn't settle the tone of the book -- academic or casual, for submariners or the uninitiated. Also, the two halves of the book -- WWII submarines and early WWII radio cryptology -- never really came together. While they were connected, they did not make for a cohesive whole. Each half was very interesting, but it was a disjointed read. If you are looking for just one WWII naval book, look elsewhere; if you are reading a bunch of them, then yes, definitely read this.
I did enjoy that this book discussed two submarines that really had eventful (and tragic) careers which haven't been much written about before; very interesting! But what I mostly got out of this book is the desire to read more in-depth books on early WWII radio cryptology, especially more on the intelligence collected before Coral Sea and Midway, as it whet my appetite for such fascinating efforts but didn't quite satisfy my curiosity.
I did enjoy that this book discussed two submarines that really had eventful (and tragic) careers which haven't been much written about before; very interesting! But what I mostly got out of this book is the desire to read more in-depth books on early WWII radio cryptology, especially more on the intelligence collected before Coral Sea and Midway, as it whet my appetite for such fascinating efforts but didn't quite satisfy my curiosity.
April 12, 2017
I bought this book from the discount shelf, and it met my expectations. A good portion of the book is a re-hash of the World War II Pacific theater with emphasis on American code-breaking. The interaction between the two sister subs is summarized on the back cover, so if you read that, there won't be too many surprises.
The back cover also states that the author "has edited numerous books on a variety of nonfiction subjects, including World War II." If that is the case, why does this book have a lot of places where "after" was used instead of "aft?" The opposite of forward is aft, not after.
This is entry-level history and written accordingly.
The back cover also states that the author "has edited numerous books on a variety of nonfiction subjects, including World War II." If that is the case, why does this book have a lot of places where "after" was used instead of "aft?" The opposite of forward is aft, not after.
This is entry-level history and written accordingly.
March 23, 2015
This book touches on many aspects of WW2 US submarine warfare in the Pacific. It details problems with torpedo detonators, the significant breaking of Japanese codes, documents diving and attack operations and relates personal stories of social interactions among submariners. Some pages near the end provide narrative covering some prisoner of war experiences suffered by captured submariners.
A fairly easy book to read, it provides an overview of most of the above topics, but it doesn't quite deliver the well-honed focus that the title might suggest to some.
A fairly easy book to read, it provides an overview of most of the above topics, but it doesn't quite deliver the well-honed focus that the title might suggest to some.
September 20, 2016
Enjoyable read, naval war story from WWII
I liked the book overall, and I liked the detour to the Japanese code breaking operation. (A detour because it’s not a “tale of the two subs”, yet it was an important part of why submarines were so successful).
I liked the book overall, and I liked the detour to the Japanese code breaking operation. (A detour because it’s not a “tale of the two subs”, yet it was an important part of why submarines were so successful).
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April 6, 20109/15/2008
October 6, 2010
myeh... If I wasn't such a military history dork, this wouldn't have been a good book
April 1, 2011
Ehh, could of been better. The book lacked the drama that i normally look for in a book, and in turn made it not that interesting.
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August 17, 2012i like this book I already read it before for almost 5times since when I was I highschool :)
August 5, 2016
Interesting story about two subs and about cryptography in WWII. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
February 5, 2016
A good follow up read to "The Terrible Hours".
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews