Bowfin: The True Story of a Fabled Fleet Submarine in World War II

by Edwin P. Hoyt

s/t: The True Story of a Fabled Fleet Submarine in World War II
For the legions of submarine enthusiasts, here is an unforgettable account of submarine warfare.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Naval History, Military History, Military Fiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Edwin P. Hoyt was a prolific American writer who specialized in military history. He was born in Portland, Oregon to the publisher Edwin Palmer Hoyt (1897–1979) and his wife, the former Cecile DeVore (1901–1970). A younger brother, Charles Richard, was born in 1928. Hoyt attended the University of Oregon from 1940 to 1943.

In 1943, Hoyt's father, then the editor and publisher of The Oregonian, was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as the director of the Domestic Branch, Office of War Information. The younger Hoyt served with the Office of War Information during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. In 1945 and 1946, he served as a foreign correspondent for The Denver Post (of which his father became editor and publisher in 1946) and the United Press, reporting from locations in China, Thailand, Burma, India, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and Korea.

Edwin Hoyt subsequently worked as an ABC broadcaster, covering the 1948 revolution in Czechoslovakia and the Arab-Israeli conflict. From 1949 to 1951, he was the editor of the editorial page at The Denver Post. He was the editor and publisher of the Colorado Springs Free Press from 1951 to 1955, and an associate editor of Collier's Weekly in New York from 1955 to 1956. In 1957 he was a television producer and writer-director at CBS, and in 1958 he was an assistant publisher of American Heritage magazine in New York.

Starting in 1958, Hoyt became a writer full-time, and for a few years (1976 to 1980) served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Hawaii. In the 40 years since his first publication in 1960, he produced nearly 200 published works.

While Hoyt wrote about 20 novels (many published under pseudonyms Christopher Martin and Cabot L. Forbes) the vast majority of his works are biographies and other forms of non-fiction, with a heavy emphasis on World War II military history.

Hoyt died in Tokyo, Japan on July 29, 2005, after a prolonged illness. He was survived by his wife Hiroko, of Tokyo, and three children, Diana, Helga, and Christopher, all residing in the U.S.

Reviews

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot of potential, but the author didn’t do a good job. It was like reading a ship’s log.

[John Fairbanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book my wife and I were very fortunate to actually tour this boat when we were at Pearl Harbor to see what the men who were aboard this boats living conditions must have been like was incredible if you like to read history of WW 2. I would definitely recommend this book. I must admit being an Air Force vet I especially like reading about the air war in Europe but this is an especially good book in my opinion.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read this many times since I was a kid and always enjoy it. It was particularly exciting to actually go on board the Bowfin on Memorial Day of 2010. The boat was just as I imagined it, but even more cramped! Hard to imagine living in there for weeks at a time.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging, detailed read of the WWII exploits of one of the most successful US submarines in the Pacific theater.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book where much of the detail comes from war patrol reports, this book is not nearly as dry as I'd expected. The Bowfin provides a great example of a successful WWII submarine, completing nine war patrols that included everything from laying mines, to supplying guerrilla forces in the Philippines, to rescuing downed aviators, to navigating through mine fields to push into the Sea of Japan in one of the last major offensive missions of the war. I had the opportunity to read transcripts of several oral histories from Bowfin crewmen after I finished the book, and it was fun to see where so many of the personal details and highlights originated -- my respect to Hoyt for integrating them so seamlessly with the technical details. I highly recommend this book to anyone who may be visiting the USS Bowfin submarine at Pearl Harbor, it will add a fantastic layer of human stories onto the experience on board the sub.

[Bill V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an Ok book. I'm a bit puzzled as to why this particular submarine was chosen as the subject. While it sank many Japanese ships and ranked highly among American submarines as far as tonnage sunk was concerned, it not rank among the top 10 American submarines during the course of the war for tonnage sunk. It had a few interesting missions, such as penetrating the Sea of Japan and rescuing American fliers but it didn't sink any major Japanese warships.
I did like the contrast the book provides between how American and German submarines and their respective methods. The book also felt very brief and not detailed to a great extent.

[Curtiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of one of America's premier submarines, detailing the results of each of her war patrols, and her subsequent career as a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, just across the harbor from the Arizona war memorial.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Submarine duty in the Pacific was tough sledding. Faulty torpedoes plagued war patrols constantly as did improved Japanese anti-submarine tactics as the the war progressed.