The Submarine Mystery

Doc Savage (Bantam) #63

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), Lester Dent

DEEP SECRET
It might be a hoax, and it might not be. Blood has been spilled! People are dead! The Man of Bronze ably confronts a dangerous crackpot scheme that has a baffled world wondering what will happen next.

Doc Savage investigates modern-day piracy when a Navy sub is destroyed off Boston Harbor, and its only survivor is found to be speaking an obscure 16th-century dialect.

Genres: Pulp, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Science Fiction

121 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1938

About the author

Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:

William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson

Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.

All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Submarine Mystery is a "Doc Savage" novel by Kenneth Robeson. Kenneth Robeson was the house name Street and Smith Publications used as the author of their popular Doc Savage novels. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including: William G. Bogart, Evelyn Coulson, Harold A. Davis, Lawrence Donovan, Alan Hathway, and W. Ryerson Johnson.
I love reading these old pulp novels from time to time. I read about 80%+ of the Doc Savage novels when I was a teenager but that was a very long time ago. I have been trying to find them again in the Bantam editions I read in my youth. I have found several of them in used bookstores and have bought several from online aftermarket bookstores.
In this one, Doc Savage and his men are in the thick of it again. The action is classic Doc Savage, filled with good old-fashioned adventure and gadgets that always seem to be there when the hero needs them. You can relax and escape for a little while. A good read in the Doc Savage series.

[Randy D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished The Secret In The Sky, which was a combination murder mystery with a few science fiction overtones; Doc and his crew were some of the very first literary characters to leave the bounds of Earth and travel on a supersonic spacecraft into the upper reaches of our planet's exosphere, approximately 375 miles above the Earth's surface. The Submarine Mystery, published in the June, 1938 issue of Doc Savage Magazine (I read the Bantam reprint published in August of 1971) deals with a vehicle that is the opposite of the one depicted in The Secret In The Sky; instead of a spacecraft, it is a vehicle designed to cruise under the surface of our planet's oceans. Doc and his guys certainly get around the world, using many forms of transportation.

Lester Dent, the author of The Submarine Mystery, has written another mystery as depicted by the story's title. It was written appropriately five years into the Doc Savage series, just 13 months before World War II began in September of 1939; some of the events of this time period are mentioned in the story.

The Submarine Mystery opens in Long Island, New York, with Doc getting kidnapped along a country road; he spied a gray rock that, as a geologist, he knew was not native to the area. When he slowed down to get a closer look, he and his car were pushed up into a van by a car that was following him; he was taken to an undisclosed location somewhere south of where the incident occurred. While enroute, Doc was able to get a message to Monk explaining his predicament; Monk and Ham with their two pets, Habeas and Chemistry, trace Doc to a house across the East River, south of New York City, in a truck farming community. The mystery deepens as a character named “Prince Albert,” is successful in capturing Monk and Ham, along with Habeas and Chemistry, the latter of which plays a significant role later in the story. Some sort of elaborate caper is in the works, involving a replica of an American submarine; the apparent mastermind, Prince Albert, obviously wants Doc and his crew out the way; he sees them as a threat to the gang's diabolical endeavors.

Prince Albert impersonated Monk and goes to Doc's headquarters, where he kidnaps a woman named China Janes, whose friend, an English Duchess named “Portia Montanye-Norwich,” is a member of English royalty, who speaks sixteenth century “Olde English;” this part of the story's mystery is later explained by the Duchess and a character named Henry, who speaks in like manner. Lester’s elaborately named character eventually adds to the mystery entwined in the story. When Prince Albert tries to subdue the Duchess’ friend, with a hypodermic needle loaded with some sort of knockout drug, one of Doc's elaborate failsafe devices disables him.

So, another mystery, conveniently titled The Submarine Mystery, will be Doc’s, Ham's, and Monk's next thrilling adventure. It’s on to Chapter VI where we will see if Doc and his friends can get out of the minor predicament of which they currently find themselves. They will probably be successful, and partake in a few more scrapes as we’re early in the story; it appears Renny, Johnny, and Long Tom, will miss another thrilling adventure as they are working in Europe.

The Submarine Mystery is quite different from the other Doc Savage adventures I’ve read as Lester writes a good mystery, leaving the reader in suspense until Chapter XVIII when Doc and the Duchess explain everything. But what makes this story different is Lester’s excellent plot twist; it involves Doc’s discovery of the story’s sinister element. Without revealing too much detail, this is a story of an isolated dictatorial society ... it is Lester Dent’s version of Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, which was published in 1935. The Submarine Mystery seems to be relevant in our present day and time as a majority of Americans, including this reviewer, fears our democracy is teetering on the edge of a dangerous precipice. Some of the techniques practiced by the pirates in the story could take place anywhere a dictatorial society exists or is in its preliminary stages.

Without going into too much detail, Doc, Monk, Ham, and a few of the villagers dispose of the pirate gang and the ringleader; as always, the bad guys reap their just rewards. The Submarine Mystery was certainly not the story I thought it would be; the story dealt with the current world conflicts of the day such as Monk mentioning in Chapter XI, his thoughts on “that Spanish trouble and the ‘mess in China.’”1 Doc voices his opinion concerning the “current situation” in Europe.2 The Man of Bronze also mentioned the Spanish pirates used the same tactics along the Spanish Main from the mid to late sixteenth century as the twentieth century pirates were using in this modern day and age … Lester gives the reader an excellent history lesson.3

I must admit I consulted Wikipedia to refresh my memory concerning Doc's soliloquy describing the current situation in Europe and Monk's comments concerning “the mess in China;” Monk was referring to the Spanish Civil War which occurred between 1936 until 1939, with the insurrectionists led by General Francisco Franco, the second Sino-Japanese War of 1937, and a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist and Communist factions, led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, respectively. 4 
It’s interesting that Lester would throw a smidgen of political commentary into his stories for his readers' enjoyment; by doing so, it kept his stories fresh back in the day, and makes this story seem almost contemporary to those of us reading it 87 years later.

All in all, The Submarine Mystery is an excellent Doc Savage adventure worthy of its five-star rating.*****

1. The Submarine Mystery, Chapter XI, p. 60.
2. ibid.
3. Wikipedia, the Spanish Main
4. Ibid; The Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Civil War.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery book begins with a submarine. It has plenty of submarines in the story. I just wanted to get that straight in case anyone was puzzled by the title. Lol. But seriously, a submarine blows up in Boston harbor. However, it is not the submarine that everyone thinks it is. It was thought to be the USS Swordfish. Ironically, the actual USS Swordfish was actually commissioned in 1939, was the first sub to sink a Japanese ship and was sunk in 1945.

This story begins in NYC before traveling by sun to a remote S Atlantic island that is off the usual line of travel. Doc is accompanied by Monk and Ham as well as their pets. Is there a beautiful girl in this one? Nope. There are two of them. Which leads to a rather humorous ending.

This book is as published in June 1938 and was authored by June 1938.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun romp of a pulp novel, that falls apart a little bit at the end.
Mysterious submarines, a complicated plot to capture Doc and his crew, several damsels who may or not be in distress, and an odd group that all speak like bad Shakespearean actors.

It's fun, until they have to explain things and that's when the stumbles happen.

Doc is well written, coming across as crazy efficient, as well as being very personable.
The main damsel, China Jane is great and I'm sad we never see her again after this and the bad guys are interesting and scheming.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulp novel featuring Doc Savage. A submarine explodes offshore of New York City, which leads Doc and his gang into a battle with an enemy that speaks in Medieval English. Much chaos ensues.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truth in titles. This Doc Savage novel from June 1938 is indeed about a mysterious submarine, and while its title and plot are pretty basic, there are a few noteworthy happenings along the way that nudge it beyond the norm (3.5 stars).

I'm fond of this tale, despite the fact that Doc is not in very good form in it. In fact, the Man of Bronze really gets put through the wringer: He's captured four times, shot in the chest at close range (thank heaven for bulletproof undergarments!) and generally given a tough time by the erratic and clever villain Prince Albert. One could mark "The Submarine Mystery" as one of the turning points in the Doc character's continued evolution from unstoppable superhero to flawed, more fragile man. By 1938, Doc's magnificent feats of strength and general infallibility had been less prominent, making for a more realistic hero. By the early to mid-1940s, of course, he would be more frail and flawed.

Anyway, in addition to being captured repeatedly without much of a fight, Doc actually loses his temper a couple of times in this tale (rare for 1930s stories), once shouting at a snarky female who's searching for her apparently kidnapped friend and once breaking out a bit of the old ultra-violence, snapping bones of some bad guys after one of them uses an old-school whip to flay a child.

But the tale is a good one. Here some pirates based on a rocky island are taking advantage of the pre-World War II buildup and international suspicion to have their way using submarines that appear to be of American make. There also are some mysterious guys in armor speaking what's described as 16th-century English.

Of Doc's five aides, only Monk and Ham are present. Lester Dent's writing provides some sharp and often amusing moments with them and others, the author seeming to take particular care to make Doc more human in this one. Doc's exchanges with one of the two fabulous babes (the one he shouts at) who populate this tale are very clever and entertaining.

We also get skirt-chasers Monk and Ham, usually competing for the same woman, wooing two separate women only to find them much too receptive, getting marriage on their minds — to the aides' complete horror. Help us, Doc!

So, submarines, humor, a basic but good plot, some unusual insights into the character of Doc Savage: all told, not classic, epic Doc, but well worth checking out.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Doc Savage story appeared in 1933 and the series ran in pulp and later digest format into 1949. Bantam reprinted the entire series in paperback with wonderful, iconic covers starting in the 1960's. Doc was arguably the first great modern superhero with a rich background, continuity, and mythos. The characterizations were far richer than was common for the pulps; his five associates and their sometimes-auxiliary, Doc's cousin Pat, and the pets Chemistry and Habeas Corpus, all had very distinctive characteristics and their byplay was frequently more entertaining that the current adventure-of-the-month. The settings were also fascinating: Doc's Fortress of Solitude, the Hidalgo Trading Company (which served as a front for his armada of vehicles), and especially the mysterious 86th floor headquarters all became familiar haunts to the reader, and the far-flung adventures took the intrepid band to exotic and richly-described locations all over the world. The adventures were always fast-paced and exciting, from the early apocalyptic world-saving extravaganzas of the early days to the latter scientific-detective style shorter works of the post-World War Two years. There were always a few points that it was difficult to believe along the way, but there were always more ups than downs, and there was never, ever a dull moment. The Doc Savage books have always been my favorite entertainments... I was always, as Johnny would say, superamalgamated!

[Ben Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell that after 62 of these books, and war looming/ on the immediate horizon, the script got a little formulaic.

Still a good escapist novel of the orignal "superhero" and the first one I read that shows him as human, as well as super human. He loses his temper, he's sarcastic, he avoids female interaction. They definitely had passages where they wrote a two sentence discription , and then passages where they wrote 3 pages of descriptions.

This is one of the strongest indication of Cavalier and Klay's take on the superhero genre, which is " not saying they are gay but not not saying that they arnt" in flashing neon lights. The late 1930s sexism doesn't age well and it reads like a newspaper serial.

If you like this stuff, you'll like it. If not, I'm not gonna convice you.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the pulp era heroes few stand out above the crowd, Doc Savage is one of these. With his 5 aides and cousin he adventures across the world. Fighting weird menaces, master criminals and evil scientists Doc and the Fab 5 never let you down for a great read. These stories have all you need; fast paced action, weird mystery, and some humor as the aides spat with each other. My highest recommendation.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In its 1990s comics series, Millenium Comics said 1938 was the year Doc started to crack and show himself more human. Case in point, this story has him lose his temper a couple of times, and he spends almost half the book locked up by the bad guys (though admittedly that's happened before). A clever scheme involving piracy in the pre-WW II years makes for a fun, if low-key adventure.

[bluetyson]

The Submarine Mystery by Kenneth Robeson

[Murray Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The submarine mystery was very good like an old time b movie from the forties fast paced and full of action

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

read some time in 1983