Presumed Lost: The Incredible Ordeal of America's Submarine POWs during the Pacific War

by Stephen L. Moore

When submarines failed to return to port from patrol, they were officially listed by the Navy as overdue and presumed lost. Loved ones were notified by the War Department that their siblings, spouses, and sons were missing in action and presumed lost. While 52 U.S. submarines were sunk during World War II, the Japanese took prisoners of war from the survivors of only seven of these lost submarines. Presumed Lost is the compelling story of the final patrols of those seven submarines and the long captivity of the survivors. Of the 196 sailors taken prisoner, 158 would survive the horrors of the POW camps, where torture, starvation, and slave labor were common. This is the most complete and accurate record of their captivity experiences ever compiled. Author Stephen L. Moore draws on personal interviews with the survivors, as well as on diaries, family archives, and POW statements to reveal new details and correct longstanding errors in previously published accounts. Moore's research brought to light the following facts: Most crewmen from USS Perch endured 1,298 days of captivity without their families ever being told that they were still alive. The Perch and USS Grenadier were so badly damaged by enemy depth-charge attacks that their crews were forced to scuttle their ships. USS Sculpin and USS S-44 went down fighting, with only forty-two men from the Sculpin being taken prisoner and half of them perishing on the way to Japan. USS Tang and USS Tullibee, victims of their own faulty, circling torpedoes, had few survivors, five of whom managed to escape from the sunken, burning Tang when it was 180 feet below the ocean surface. As many as six men survived the loss of USS Robalo after it struck a mine off Palawan, but none of those survived the prison camps. The book includes dozens of rare photos of the POWs, many of which have never before been published. Appendices include final muster rolls of the seven submarines and a complete list of the U.S. submariners who were held as POWs, with details of their various camps of internment.

657 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Presumed Lost is a interesting book in that it looks at the experience of American submariners who were captured by the Japanese. In other submarine history books the treatment of POW's is usually an after thought or barely discussed. In Dick O'Kane's book Clear The Bridge he understandably barely discusses the most trying time in his life. More of O'Kane's experience is revealed in Alex Kershaw's excellent Escape From the Deep however, Persumed Lost puts the entire submarine POW experience into context where one can see the leadership of the three captured captains, Hurt, Fitzgerald and O'Kane into light. These three captains showed leadership and courage in the face of incredible adversity. Their crews suffered horribly under the Japanese and Moore brings these stories vividly to life for the reader.

[John C Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very interesting book and a story that needs to be told. I just found it a bit numbing at times. "Smith was beaten with a baseball bat, then Jones was beaten with a baseball bat, then Thompson was beaten with a baseball bat" etc.

[Jesse]

Book isn't bad. Accurate account of POW experiences, but since it is effectively a bunch of very short stories and anecdotes, makes a better reference book than reading book.