War Fish

by George Grider, Lydel Sims

1964

Genres: History

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1958

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

There seems little doubt that the submarine service produces the highest return for the resources expended. In both World Wars in Europe, the German U-boats came very close to winning the war for Germany, as they came close to starving out the British. In the Pacific theater, the amount of damage done to Japan by US submarines was significant. Over 1,300 merchant and 200 warships were sunk by submarines. Overall, the Japanese Imperial Navy lost 334 warships and 2000 merchant ships in World War II. In both case, roughly two-thirds of the ships sunk were by submarine.
This of course the effectiveness of the submarines is not without cost. Approximately 22% of the US Navy men in the submarines were lost at sea. For the German submariners in World War II, 75% did not survive the war. These were the highest death rates of all the services. Conducting the war in a submarine was a dark and brutal business, stealth and cunning were the skills most needed.
However, as submariner officer George Grider points out several times, in some cases success is more a matter of luck. This book is his recollection of his time in a submarine operating under combat conditions in the Pacific theater of World War II against the Japanese. He was an officer, eventually rising to the level of commanding his own boat. There were many times when his ship torpedoed and sunk a Japanese ship, yet there were few face-to-face encounters. In most cases, they moved in for the kill, dodged depth charges for a while, and then after escaping, if they had more torpedoes, they went back to the hunt.
Despite the tremendous success rate of the submariners in both World Wars, their exploits are generally not given the credit and exposure that they should. For their work was the most dangerous and achieved the most damage to the enemy. In this book, the reader is exposed to the tedium and terror of the submariner.

[Robin Kuritzky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was introduced to this personal account of submarine warfare in the Pacific by Ian Toll’s wonderful and gripping trilogy on the war in the Pacific, in which he gives a great account of submarines, and describes grippingly the exploits of Morton in the Wahoo and Dick O’Kane in the Tang, among others. Grider served with both and gives a nice personal view of that conflict, though, I have to say, not as astonishing as Toll’s amazing book.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent memoir about submarine warfare in the Pacific. Some of these sub captains were amazingly daring. How does anyone have the nerve to torpedo a ship knowing that what follows immediately is being depth-charged?

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book when I read it as a teenager. Humorously written and historically relevant to WW2.

[Sweetwilliam · Rating 4 out of 5]

War Fish is George Grider’s personal account of his WWII experiences serving on four different submarines. It is called War Fish because the USN names her Submarines after fish.

Having a good sense of humor is a very important attribute of a submariner, according to Grider, and his book contains more than a few examples of corny but entertaining WWII humor.

By reading this book you will learn about the cat and mouse game that the submarines play with the convoys and their escorts. Many times the subs would be spotted but they would persist and maneuver for an attack anyway. After a torpedo attack the submarine would surely be detected and attacked by the escort vessels. However, the American subs had the audacity to stick around to sink the other ships or finish off cripples. Every daring attack was rewarded by a good drubbing of depth charges.

I happen to be reading two accounts of the submarine war at the moment. I have Clay Blair’s Silent Victory on my night stand right now. War Fish is very different kind of book. Silent Victory is heralded as the definitive account of the US Subs in WWII. War Fish, on the other hand, is at times a light hearted account. It is amusing, and an easy, quick read. Excerpts from Grider’s book are contained in Clay Blair’s Silent Victory. However, War Fish is much less of an investment of your time and it may even make you smile on occasion. Choosing between Silent Victory and War Fish is like choosing to take two semesters of Physical Chemistry or skating around that requirement by taking one semester of Materials for Engineers instead.

I should also mention that in War Fish, Grider reflects on his relationship with the Silent Service hero Mushmouth Morton. Grider served with Morton on the Wahoo early in the war when Mush was a new submarine captain and Grider was the 3rd officer. Grider is eventually promoted out of the Wahoo and works his way into the billet as the skipper of his own boat the Flasher. Later, when the Wahoo is lost, Grider theorized as to why this happened. Grider said Mush Morton pushed the envelope but Dick O'Kane (the XO of the Wahoo) and Grider could talk him out of things. After all the original officers were promoted off of Mush's sub (by this time Mush was a national hero and a legend among the Submariners) there was no one willing to second guess him or talk him out of a fool-hardy attack. This was Grider’s theory. Mush set the bar real high and much of Mushmouth’s daring did rub off on Grider. By the war’s end, Captain Grider would set the record for the most tonnage in a single patrol and I think O’Kane sank the highest number of ships (or something like this).

At any rate, These men were brave and deserve our deepest gratitude.

[D]

Commander Grider was there, experienced the action, survived the war in the Pacific and then told his story by writing a book about it. First hand history is always fascinating to me. For the most part, this story gets into everyday facts that one doesn't read or hear about. Good for research, good for just reading.