1- Thunder Below:
The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker. Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey. This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen. And in a fascinating twist, he uses archival documents from the Japanese Navy to give its version of events.
2. Blind Man's Bluff:
Blind Man's Bluff is an exciting, epic story of adventure, ingenuity, courage, and disaster beneath the sea. This New York Times bestseller reveals previously unknown dramas, such as: The mission to send submarines wired with self-destruct charges into the heart of Soviet seas to tap crucial underwater telephone cables. How the Navy's own negligence may have been responsible for the loss of the USS Scorpion, a submarine that disappeared, all hands lost, in 1968. The bitter war between the CIA and the Navy and how it threatened to sabotage one of America's most important undersea missions. The audacious attempt to steal a Soviet submarine with the help of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, and how it was doomed from the start.
3. U.S.S. Seawolf:
The USS Seawolf was one of the greatest submarine raiders of all time. Having narrowly avoided the attack on Pearl Harbor the Seawolf set out for the seas of the Pacific to wreak havoc on Japanese shipping. Joseph Melvin Eckberg was on the Seawolf from her maiden voyage and remained with her until January 1943. As chief radioman he was instrumental in assisting Captain Frederick Warder to find and destroy enemy targets. From the claustrophobia of being trapped under water and the overwhelming fear of depth charges to the joys of aiding the war-effort and the camaraderie on the ship, Eckberg’s account, told to the authors Gerold Frank and James Horan, gives remarkable insight into submarine warfare of the Second World War.
4. Red November:
Riveting and eye-opening, Red November offers an intimate look at the lives of those who participated in our country’s longest, most expensive underwater war during one of the most dangerous eras in world history. Reed provides never-before-revealed details about some of the most dramatic episodes of the secret conflict—from the harrowing underwater cat-and-mouse chase in October 1962 that almost kicked off World War III to the desperate hours when the USS Seawolf sat grounded by engine failure at the bottom of the sea during an espionage mission in Soviet waters.
5. The War Below:
Focusing on the unique stories of three of the war’s top submarines—Silversides, Drum, and Tang—The War Below vividly re-creates the camaraderie, exhilaration, and fear of the brave volunteers who took the fight to the enemy’s coastline in World War II. Award-winning journalist James Scott recounts incredible feats of courage—from an emergency appendectomy performed with kitchen utensils to sailors’ desperate struggle to escape from a flooded submarine—as well as moments of unimaginable tragedy, including an attack on an unmarked enemy freighter carrying 1,800 American prisoners of war.
6. The Trident Deception:
The Trident Deception is a page-turning thriller with a fast pace sustained from beginning to end. The best parts of The Trident Deception are those with which the author is clearly the most familiar – those involving submarine personnel, operations, tactics and strategy. For this reader, the level of detail was just right; enough to be thoroughly convincing and yet explained clearly enough for a neophyte to follow. The tense atmosphere, especially in the submarine Kentucky, but also in the other vessels, planes, and command centers, is well maintained, supported by frequent and convincing reiteration of the high stakes involved.
The USS Seawolf was one of the greatest submarine raiders of all time. Having narrowly avoided the attack on Pearl Harbor the Seawolf set out for the seas of the Pacific to wreak havoc on Japanese shipping. Joseph Melvin Eckberg was on the Seawolf from her maiden voyage and remained with her until January 1943. As chief radioman he was instrumental in assisting Captain Frederick Warder to find and destroy enemy targets. From the claustrophobia of being trapped under water and the overwhelming fear of depth charges to the joys of aiding the war-effort and the camaraderie on the ship, Eckberg’s account, told to the authors Gerold Frank and James Horan, gives remarkable insight into submarine warfare of the Second World War.
4. Red November:
Riveting and eye-opening, Red November offers an intimate look at the lives of those who participated in our country’s longest, most expensive underwater war during one of the most dangerous eras in world history. Reed provides never-before-revealed details about some of the most dramatic episodes of the secret conflict—from the harrowing underwater cat-and-mouse chase in October 1962 that almost kicked off World War III to the desperate hours when the USS Seawolf sat grounded by engine failure at the bottom of the sea during an espionage mission in Soviet waters.
5. The War Below:
Focusing on the unique stories of three of the war’s top submarines—Silversides, Drum, and Tang—The War Below vividly re-creates the camaraderie, exhilaration, and fear of the brave volunteers who took the fight to the enemy’s coastline in World War II. Award-winning journalist James Scott recounts incredible feats of courage—from an emergency appendectomy performed with kitchen utensils to sailors’ desperate struggle to escape from a flooded submarine—as well as moments of unimaginable tragedy, including an attack on an unmarked enemy freighter carrying 1,800 American prisoners of war.
6. The Trident Deception:
The Trident Deception is a page-turning thriller with a fast pace sustained from beginning to end. The best parts of The Trident Deception are those with which the author is clearly the most familiar – those involving submarine personnel, operations, tactics and strategy. For this reader, the level of detail was just right; enough to be thoroughly convincing and yet explained clearly enough for a neophyte to follow. The tense atmosphere, especially in the submarine Kentucky, but also in the other vessels, planes, and command centers, is well maintained, supported by frequent and convincing reiteration of the high stakes involved.
7. The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation:
Project AZORIAN—the monumentally audacious six-year mission to recover the sub and learn its secrets—has been celebrated within the CIA as its greatest covert operation and hailed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as the twentieth century's greatest marine engineering feat. While previous accounts have offered beguiling glimpses, none have had significant access to CIA personnel or documents. Now David Sharp, the mission's Director of Recovery Systems, draws upon his own recollections and personal records, ship's logs, declassified documents, and conversations with team members to shine a bright light on this remarkable but still little understood enterprise.
8. The Taking of K-129:
In the early hours of February 25, 1968, a Russian submarine armed with three nuclear ballistic missiles set sail from its base in Siberia on a routine combat patrol to Hawaii. Then it vanished. As the Soviet Navy searched in vain for the lost vessel, a small, highly classified American operation using sophisticated deep-sea spy equipment found it—wrecked on the sea floor at a depth of 16,800 feet, far beyond the capabilities of any salvage that existed. But the potential intelligence assets onboard the ship—the nuclear warheads, battle orders, and cryptological machines—justified going to extreme lengths to find a way to raise the submarine.
9. A Time to Die:
A At 11:28 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2000, high in the Arctic Circle under the roiling surface of the unforgiving Barents Sea, Captain Gennady Lyachin was taking the Kursk, the pride of Russia’s elite Northern Fleet, through the last steps of firing a practice torpedo, part of an elaborate naval exercise. Suddenly, the torpedo exploded in a massive ?reball, instantly incinerating all seven men in the submarine’s forward compartment. The horror, however, was just beginning. The full, gripping story of the remarkable drama inside the Kursk and of the desperate rescue efforts has never been told—until now.
10. Ice Station Nautilus:
Russia’s new ballistic missile submarine is being deployed on its first patrol while America’s newest fast attack submarine, North Dakota, is assigned to trail it and collect intel. As the Russian submarine heads under the polar ice cap, its sonar readings reveal the trailing American one…and lead the Russians to begin a radical, evasive maneuver―one that causes both subs to collide and hit the bottom. The Americans immediately set up a rescue mission, sending a new submarine and a SEAL team to establish an ice camp―Ice Station Nautilus―and stage a rescue. The Russians also send a rescue team but their secret mission is to make sure the Americans don’t get any intel. To achieve this, they plan to take over Nautilus―leaving no survivors or traces of their actions. Meanwhile, the men at the bottom of the ocean in both downed subs struggle for their last breath.
Project AZORIAN—the monumentally audacious six-year mission to recover the sub and learn its secrets—has been celebrated within the CIA as its greatest covert operation and hailed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as the twentieth century's greatest marine engineering feat. While previous accounts have offered beguiling glimpses, none have had significant access to CIA personnel or documents. Now David Sharp, the mission's Director of Recovery Systems, draws upon his own recollections and personal records, ship's logs, declassified documents, and conversations with team members to shine a bright light on this remarkable but still little understood enterprise.
8. The Taking of K-129:
In the early hours of February 25, 1968, a Russian submarine armed with three nuclear ballistic missiles set sail from its base in Siberia on a routine combat patrol to Hawaii. Then it vanished. As the Soviet Navy searched in vain for the lost vessel, a small, highly classified American operation using sophisticated deep-sea spy equipment found it—wrecked on the sea floor at a depth of 16,800 feet, far beyond the capabilities of any salvage that existed. But the potential intelligence assets onboard the ship—the nuclear warheads, battle orders, and cryptological machines—justified going to extreme lengths to find a way to raise the submarine.
9. A Time to Die:
A At 11:28 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2000, high in the Arctic Circle under the roiling surface of the unforgiving Barents Sea, Captain Gennady Lyachin was taking the Kursk, the pride of Russia’s elite Northern Fleet, through the last steps of firing a practice torpedo, part of an elaborate naval exercise. Suddenly, the torpedo exploded in a massive ?reball, instantly incinerating all seven men in the submarine’s forward compartment. The horror, however, was just beginning. The full, gripping story of the remarkable drama inside the Kursk and of the desperate rescue efforts has never been told—until now.
10. Ice Station Nautilus:
Russia’s new ballistic missile submarine is being deployed on its first patrol while America’s newest fast attack submarine, North Dakota, is assigned to trail it and collect intel. As the Russian submarine heads under the polar ice cap, its sonar readings reveal the trailing American one…and lead the Russians to begin a radical, evasive maneuver―one that causes both subs to collide and hit the bottom. The Americans immediately set up a rescue mission, sending a new submarine and a SEAL team to establish an ice camp―Ice Station Nautilus―and stage a rescue. The Russians also send a rescue team but their secret mission is to make sure the Americans don’t get any intel. To achieve this, they plan to take over Nautilus―leaving no survivors or traces of their actions. Meanwhile, the men at the bottom of the ocean in both downed subs struggle for their last breath.
