War Beneath the Waves: A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine

A thoroughly enjoyable read. A must read for anyone who has the slightest interest in marine warfare involving the Pacific Theater during WWII. It took too long for this story of heroism to be published. We owe a great debt to all involved.

This story, based on actual events, wends its way through the preliminary foundation into a fateful day in the life of a submarine crew, many of whom had never been on a war-time patrol, and what it took to survive. It exemplifies the qualities of men who, when faced with overwhelming odds, are able to step up to the challenge, overcome fear and carry out desparate measures to survive. A junior officer among the crew was faced with decisions that went against the established standard of never challenging a Captain and in so doing assumed command, inspired the crew members and lead them through an experience of being on "the other side fo hell" and eventually winning. A page-turner that had no lulls. The story honors the volunteers who make up the "silent service."

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Exciting and Educational Page Turner

Imagine that you're suffocating from poisonous gas being pumped into the chamber you're locked in. You hear explosions and feel concussions all around. You feel helpless as you are thrust down toward a watery grave. Fear is gripping you, and thinking about a terrifying death is pushing you toward madness. Will you drown or pass out from a lack of oxygen?

War Beneath the Waves by Don Keith is not a Hollywood movie or a fictional horror novel, it's the true story of the submarine the USS Billfish and the men who served aboard her during World War II. They lived and fought in horrible conditions so they could defend America by hunting the enemy in stealth.

Some of our submerged predators were commanded by men whose lack of fortitude put our sailor's lives at risk, and some had cunning skippers who inspired valor in their crews and used their boats to deal punishing blows to the enemy. These commanders had to make up the rules as they went along because although submarines weren't new, we had never used them in such a wartime manner and there was no previous experience for predicting the nature of enemy engagements. Dauntless skippers learned from their mistakes, if they lived through them, and then incorporated what was successful into their rule book.

This book is a great read for all and especially our military. The behavior of the officers described in this book must certainly be used as lessons for our current officer corps. Enemies change and evolve and only a military that is adaptable and sometimes daring can be prevail. This book will improve the crucible in which we test our military before they get to war, and the harder they are tested in training the less likely they are to fail in combat.

You will find this book to be an exciting page turner as well as educational!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

One-Sided

I did enjoy reading this book. It is well-written. The plot is entertaining. However, this work is not as objective as the author intended it to be. His sources are too limited. Therefore, this piece seems to be one-sided. However, the author does make an attempt to explain this. Nevertheless, I do recommend this book.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

A good read that could have been better

I liked reading the adventures of our brave submariners during the second world war however I would have enjoyed it more had the author provided maps and more diagrams of the boat. I also found his glossary lacking.
I would recommend it however to Navy and WW11 buffs.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Should have been a short story...

Turned out to be a fairly superficial book. Only covered 2 or 3 war patrols, only one of which was the least bit exciting. Book focused on the sub getting depth charged for about 12 hours and then a junior officer sneaking the sub away after the 2 superior officers had break downs. The crucial decision was apparently to TURN the boat after travelling in a straight line for the past 8 hours. Who woulda guessed?

Save your money, there are far better WW2 submarine books out there.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Gripping

This is a gripping story. On a boat under intense attack, suffering cascading mechanical failures due to said attack and discovering he is one of two junior officers still coherent, Rush pulled himself and Billfish together and survived. One wonders how many boats that didn't return suffered through situations like this and lost the battle. The book gives adequate layman's level explanation of boat systems and how they work and plenty of pre and post episode biographical information but doesn't let itself get off track. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I have read a few sub books.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'd wait until it came on the discount rack.

This would have been an interesting read where in the book the recounting of the actual events of the story held the reader's attention however, to my dismay, that was only a small portion of the book. Don Keith feels it is necessary to provide command details that do not enhance the telling of the story and continually repeats the same information throughout the book. More and more the information seems to be more for filler than to enhance the tale or the eventual correction of the misjustice.
This was my first opportunity with this author and hinted on the subjects I've always been interested in; submarines and their heros. If I had bought this book on the discount rack it would have been OK however, when a new novel hits the rack, and I'm paying full price, my expectations for interest and quality are much higher. Sorry to say this one missed the mark.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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