War in the Boats: My WWII Submarine Battles

[Onkel Neal]

New book review by RedOctober1984

Captain William J. Ruhe describes life on a US Fleet Boat very vividly in his book. He kept a journal during his time on Fleet Boats during World War II. This book is based off of the journal he kept while he was on the S-37, USS Seadragon, and USS Crevalle.

Read the full review here.

Good job, Red

[Cybermat47]

Damn good review RedOctober!

[Red October1984]

Really? I had wondered if it wasn't good enough. I had never written a review before this one.

Neal, it feels pretty darn awesome to see my writing on the subsim front page.

Thanks for the opportunity and i'd gladly do it again if you asked.

[Gerald]

@Red Good read,

[Kapt Z]

I agree. Great read.

Ruhe had some refreshingly frank opinions of the boats he served on and the men he served with and under.

[TorpX]

Coincidently, I just started reading this. It's great so far.

Don't anybody tell me how it ends.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Don't anybody tell me how it ends.

The Finns nuke Washington

EDIT: Using a stolen Irish warhead.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

The Finns nuke Washington

EDIT: Using a stolen Irish warhead.

Dang Cybermat. Why you gotta ruin it?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Dang Cybermat. Why you gotta ruin it?

Because he can.

But look at the bright side: he didn't say what happened to the girl.

[TorpX]

Thank-you for not spoiling the surprise about the girl.

I have a question that has been bothering me. After finishing the first chapter where Ruhe states at the end:

Sometime later S-37's sinking of a ship off Rabaul was confirmed by Japanese intelligence.

I take this to mean intelligence was provided by codebreaking of Japanese radio communications. I happened to have read Silent Victory recently and noted that Blair has patrol listings for the boats giving both "wartime credit" and "JANAC credit". I was naturally curious as to whether S-37 got the JANAC Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. It happens, it did not. Um...OK. The thing is, it did not get wartime credit either (at least according to Blair).

I should note here also, in the 2nd chapter, two torpedos were fired at what was thought to be a cruiser, and hits were heard, but they had to dive and evade. Later, they cruised through the area and detected a large oil slick and chunks of wood. He never states that this was a "confirmed" sinking, though Adm. Christie considered this patrol "successful". Blair's book gives no credit for any sinking on this patrol either.

In light of these differences, I wondering how seriously Blair's figures or JANAC's figures should be taken. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Thank-you for not spoiling the surprise about the girl.

I have a question that has been bothering me. After finishing the first chapter where Ruhe states at the end:

I take this to mean intelligence was provided by codebreaking of Japanese radio communications. I happened to have read Silent Victory recently and noted that Blair has patrol listings for the boats giving both "wartime credit" and "JANAC credit". I was naturally curious as to whether S-37 got the JANAC Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. It happens, it did not. Um...OK. The thing is, it did not get wartime credit either (at least according to Blair).

I should note here also, in the 2nd chapter, two torpedos were fired at what was thought to be a cruiser, and hits were heard, but they had to dive and evade. Later, they cruised through the area and detected a large oil slick and chunks of wood. He never states that this was a "confirmed" sinking, though Adm. Christie considered this patrol "successful". Blair's book gives no credit for any sinking on this patrol either.

In light of these differences, I wondering how seriously Blair's figures or JANAC's figures should be taken. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

That's interesting. I have yet to read Silent Victory. I'm gonna pull it off my shelf and find where it talks about the S-37....

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

The Finns nuke Washington

EDIT: Using a stolen Irish warhead.

Again??

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Again??

IT WAS ALL DOWLY'S FAULT!

Darn that Kerbal Space Program that he's working on. He used it to nuke washington.