The Deadly Deep: The Definitive History of Submarine Warfare

by Iain Ballantyne

A fascinating and comprehensive account of how an initially ineffectual underwater boat—originally derided and loathed in equal measure—evolved into the most powerful and terrifying vessel ever invented—with enough destructive power to end all life on Earth.


Iain Ballantyne considers the key episodes of submarine warfare and vividly describes the stories of brave individuals who have risked their lives under the sea, often with fatal consequences. His analysis of underwater conflict begins with Archimedes discovering the Principle of Buoyancy. Our clandestine journey then moves through the centuries and focuses on prolific characters with deathly motives, including David Bushnell, who in 1775 in America devised the first combat submarine with the idea of attacking the British.


Today, nuclear-powered submarines are among the most complex, costly ships in existence. Armed with nuclear weapons, they have the ability to destroy millions of lives: they are the most powerful warships ever created. At the heart of this thrilling narrative lurks danger and power as we discover warfare's murkiest secrets.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction, Military History, Politics, Audiobook

752 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2018

About the author

'Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom - 80th anniversary edition' is Iain's latest book and an updated and expanded new version of the 2016 original, this time published both as an e-book and a shop paperback. His previous book was 'Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron' (Sept 2019), also for Agora Books.

Although he has written several naval history books, including those on the Second World War and the Cold War, Iain Ballantyne has, during the course of his career as a journalist, editor, and author, also covered the activities of land forces.

Those assignments took him to Kuwait, Oman, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Hong Kong, sometimes during times of conflict. Iain has visited WW2 battlefields in company with those who fought there as young men, while also spending hours in conversation with Arnhem veterans.

As a teenager, Iain embarked on an expedition to follow the course of the Rhine, including a pilgrimage to Oosterbeek and Arnhem. He retraced the route of the British Airborne soldiers in 1944 as they tried to take the famous ‘bridge too far’.

Iain Ballantyne’s assignments as a writer on naval affairs have taken him from the Arctic to mine infested waters off war-torn Kuwait, aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier off Libya, into the South China Sea and below the Irish Sea in a hunter-killer submarine.

Iain has contributed to coverage of naval and military issues in national and regional newspapers, and provided analysis and commentaries for radio and television, as well as prestigious publications by NATO and the Royal Navy.

His most recent naval history book was 'The Deadly Trade: The Complete History of Submarine Warfare from Archimedes to the Present' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2018). It was published in the USA in December 2018, as 'The Deadly Deep' (Pegasus Books).

Iain's other books include ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion, 2013), which was published in the USA in September 2019 as 'Undersea Warriors' (Pegasus Books).

Iain won a Mountbatten Certificate of Merit for his action-packed depiction of the pursuit and destruction of Hitler's flagship as recounted in ‘Killing the Bismarck’ (Pen & Sword, 2010).

In 2017 he was awarded a Fellowship by the UK’s Maritime Foundation. One of its top annual awards, it recognised Iain’s immense contribution to the maritime cause since 1990, as a journalist, author of naval history books and Editor of 'WARSHIPS International Fleet Review' magazine from 1998 to the present.

Reviews

[Manolo González · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a trully interesting book, I've never thought that the history of the submarines was this exciting. A lot os stories tied together and so much information that sometimes its overwhelming, but you cant stop.

Needs an update because of the new events of the world, but its definetily not the authors fault, its just an oportunity.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars because 1) This book is NOT “The Definitive History of Submarine Warfare” and 2) a very dry read.
If the book’s title was changed to “The Definitive History of British Submarine Warfare” then it would be accurate. Zero mention of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover and his impact upon the modern nuclear submarine. No mention of the Ivy Bells program. No mention of any Soviet/Russian submarine activities that were not published in Western press. The author gives a slight head nod to the US Navy’s submarine activities in the WWII Pacific theater, but it came across more as a box the author felt obligated to check rather than an earnest effort.
The author’s research into British and German submarine activities in WWI and WWII was very thorough. Events and quotes taken directly from the Captains and crew on both sides of the conflict gave a vivid portrayal of battles during those campaigns.
The second criticism that drove this book to two stars was its dryness. While technically thorough the book lost the human element to the events it portrayed. The book was very clinical and at times tedious.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

For reference, I only read up until the end of WW1 as that's where my interest area ends.

This book was pretty good, not perfect (I did find some of the coverage of non-American experimental submarines to be a bit lacking, no mention of the Russians using submarines in the Russo-Japanese War, and a general focus on only the British (with some mention of the Russians) and Germans during WWI. I think Iain Ballantyne did a good job giving a good overview of their operations in the war, especially since the book covers so much. He does have some good sourcing, allowing me to track down more on the Russians especially.

So while some coverage is spotty, and I don't think he covers the "whys" enough, as a general popular history of submarines, at least up until the end of WWI, this is a solid volume.

[Nick Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of submarine warfare from the ancient Greeks to nuclear power.

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lengthy book that took me months to finish but it was definitely worth it. The mental fortitude submariners need on submarines must be insanely high, going by the scenarios covered in the book. If it's not for the threat of enemy subs, mines or surface vessels dropping depth charges from above, it's the huge fear of exceeding crush depth and imploding (the Titan submersible comes to mind), running out of air, or even mutiny on board.

One part that really stuck with me was the topic of 'periscopitis' in which sailors on board surface vessels during the world wars would report "phantom" periscopes poking out of the water - in other words, their minds were playing tricks on them. Can you blame them though? Those on board merchant ships especially, which Nazi Germany relentlessly pursued to knock Britian out of the second world war, must have worried about impending disaster from a submarine every second they were out at sea.

It shows just how much of a psychological weapon they really were. If Nazi Germany directed more resources towards building these Uboats during world war 2, who knows, Britain may have been strangled into capitulation way before the USA entered the war and we'd be living in a totally different, totalitarian future.

Post-war really starts to change things up, especially with the advent of nuclear-powered submarines. Able to stay underwater longer and equipped with a propulsion system quieter than conventional subs, the true covert nature of these subs starts to show. It gets even more real when nucleuar ballistic missile-equipped submarines come into the picture. The book does a good job showing you how close the world was to nuclear annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 60s.

Fast forward to present day and it seems like more and more nations are signing up to these nuclear-equipped submarines (China, India, North Korea, Russia, to name a few) which is frightening, but then you get the paradox in that if you don't sign up, your enemy will. Either way, all it takes is one deluded leader to say "f#@k it" and hit the launch button, and when you mix the covertness of submarines and their nuclear launch capability, you get the real possibility of a nation like Russia ordering a submarine-launched nuclear ICBM off the east coast of the USA via an undetected Russian submarine - well let's hope it doesn't come to that anyway.

Overall this has been a great book for someone with no real prior knowledge of submarine warfare and I recommend it to anyone interested.

[Bruce Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

@IBallantyn #submarine

I'm always a bit skeptical when a book has the phrase "complete history of..." in its title (unless it's sarcasm), as another author will undoubtably come along and fill in a gap. The Deadly Trade, however, lives up to its title.

This is the most comprehensive historical account of submarine warfare I've come across. Almost 1000 pages long, it spans from the initial development of the submarine in the 1600s through to the end of 2017.

Even given its length, I found it hard to put this book down, and read it in only a few days.

The thing the struck me the most about the account of submarine warfare in WWII was the incredible number of vessels sunk - literally hundreds of millions of tons of ships, subs, and supplies went to the bottom. It's a testament to the vast size and resilience of our oceans that there appears to be no long-term impact from all this debris.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in naval history or submarine warfare/technology.

[Peter Timson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fat book and took a bit of time to get through - but then I tend to have several books on the go at the same time. Good coverage of the whole history but doesn't linger too much on the early stuff. Would have liked even more about allied boats in the WW2 era but it is definitely not all U-boats. The post war period is better covered by "The Silent Deep" by Hennessy and Jinks but the two books compliment each other well and I would recommend both as very readable for those who have a real interest in the subject. So sad we (UK) have so few submarines at present and, worse still, that our anti-submarine defenses have been so criminally denuded with still a long hiatus before they will be even partially restored. Costly experience will also be sadly lost let alone leaving us too dependent on others for even the most basic help. Good for team building maybe but not for what remains a maritime nation.

[J.P. Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as the Deadly Deep (American Audience Version) it is the full history of submarine warfare from ancient times up through now. It’s broken into sections
1. Ancient times - End of 19th Century
2. 1900 - End of WW1
3. 1920 - End of WW2
4. Cold War - Present

In all sections there is something new to learn even for the most well versed enthusiast, military history buff, or veteran submariner. Iain looks at this fascinating stratagem of naval conflict like no other. Though written from an Anglo-centric (Royal Navy) influence Iain goes in depth with every nationality that ever sent a submarine into combat or was forced to fight against them. This is a long book but it’s worth the read, as it reads like a novel and not just give dry facts. It allows you to put your mind easily in the situations described.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ballantyne has undertaken a mammoth task to try and bring to the page a history of submarine warfare. He tracks back to the earliest know attempts at underwater warfare and how it evolved into the modern version we know now.
What I appreciated was that Ballantyne has provided a good mixture of how events unfolded in a through battles, technical advancement and the people responsible for crewing the submarines. This brought out through his exploration of WW2. The focus through out the book is on Britain, Russia and the USA. Other countries are mentioned and covered but not to the extent of what Ballantyne sees as the three main players.
If you want to get a solid understanding of the history of submarine warfare this is a great book to begin with.

[Paul Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of book that forces you to question all the other books that you have given five stars to.
Clearly a lot of time has been spent researching this book. I have never read any military history books before, I now feel like an expert in under sea warfare.
The only criticism that I can make is that despite the vast amount of pictures I still spent a lot of time looking up images of the submarines being discussed.
I will definitely be looking for Iain Ballantynes other books.

[Oscar Puerto Carrillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro muy completo que se centra mayoritariamente en la historia de la guerra submarina desde sus balbuceantes inicios hasta el climax de violència, tragèdia y heroicidad de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Luego dedica un espacio no tan prolijo a la evolución del arma submarina hasta nuestros días. Muy interesante.

[Gary Greenslade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a comprehensive but interesting history of submarine warfare. It has clearly bee meticulously researched but does not get bogged down in technical detail. It's focused on key events and characters rather than technology and is a well written account. I was never bored and found it easy reading.

[Matt Caris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a very good work, it’s full of inaccuracies and largely ignores significant portions of submarine history. But I’m the idiot who read another of this guy’s books after how bad the last one was, so ….

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read was called Deadly Deep which is also the history,of submarine warfare by the same author this was mostly about European subs

[Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to like History and subs or skip this 600 page book. I like both so I found this book packed with insights about the history of subs development.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[Ethan Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good enough book, but certainly focused more on WWI and WWII era submarines. I would have liked a longer account of Cold War era submarine activities.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but could have had been edited down a little.

[Robert Meaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several issues to mention

1. You never mentioned how the sea bed was survived to allow boats Captain s 2 navigate.
2. You skipped by the Vietnam war & how submarines played a part, I served in that war & there were plenty of subs.
3. You learned to much with the British Navy, you are British so that is to be expected.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. However, as others have mentioned, it is very English and German centric. While for WW2 this may be somewhat justified, the more modern chapters are pretty slim on the Russian and American submarine fleets- maintaining is disproportionate space to the British submarines. For example, no mention is made of the Thresher or Scorpion losses. However, despite this, I still found the book interesting and exciting.

[Joshua Friesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been much more interesting and more complete. Lost two stars.