What got you interested in WWII submarines?

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by in_vino_vomitus

I imagine that for Americans, the submarine war in the Pacific is as significant as the battle of Britain is to us.

Well, I actually never heard a peep about it until I joined Subsim. We teach the Battle of Britain more than the Sub War.

It's not in our school history books and it's just not a real big part of the war according to the teachers. I wish they'd change that. Not many people realize the significance of the Submarine War in the Pacific.

[in_vino_vomitus]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Well, I actually never heard a peep about it until I joined Subsim. We teach the Battle of Britain more than the Sub War.

It's not in our school history books and it's just not a real big part of the war according to the teachers. I wish they'd change that. Not many people realize the significance of the Submarine War in the Pacific.

Now that really does surprise me..........

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by in_vino_vomitus

Now that really does surprise me..........

I know. There isn't a whole lot out there about it.

It's something that I believe should be included in the Pacific War chapters of the history books.

My last book didn't even hardly mention anything about the Battle of the Atlantic either! It just said "U-boats sank British Shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. The British used the Convoy System to protect it's ships" and that was the end of that.

[TorpX]

Well, I actually never heard a peep about it until I joined Subsim. We teach the Battle of Britain more than the Sub War.

Now that really does surprise me..........

It's true. Most of what I read about submarines before coming here, was about German U-boats torpedoing Allied ships in the Atlantic.

[in_vino_vomitus]

That's interesting. I still know virtually nothing about the history of British submarine operations in WWII, but I don't think that for us they were such a significant part of strategy. As a kid I had an inkling that US submarines had a role that was important, but I had no idea how important. I knew there were torpedo issues, but I had no idea of the scale of that problem either.

When I was at school, I read a book about US Submarines in the Pacific. I remember that USS Trigger was mentioned in it, and I remember a piece about refining shooting techniques to use less torpedoes and frustration with the system that discounted missed torpedoes as long as some of the spread hit. I also vividly remember the account of a motor burning out in the ice cream maker, because it was working during a battery charge - Apparently after this, a standing order was issued stating that no battery charging was to be done without advising the Officer in Charge of Ice Cream..... I'd bet heavily that somebody on here is going to know what that book was, and I'd be grateful to anyone who could remind me of the title - I'd like to read it again...

[razark]

Originally Posted by in_vino_vomitus

I also vividly remember the account of a motor burning out in the ice cream maker, because it was working during a battery charge - Apparently after this, a standing order was issued stating that no battery charging was to be done without advising the Officer in Charge of Ice Cream..... I'd bet heavily that somebody on here is going to know what that book was, and I'd be grateful to anyone who could remind me of the title - I'd like to read it again...

I've read that book. I remember the bit about the ice cream.

Try Submarine! The Classic Account of Undersea Combat in World War II by Edward Beach. I seem to recall it being in there. The book jumps between Beach's personal story on Trigger and the stories of other boats.

Edit: Thank you, Amazon... Ice cream is covered in chapter seven.

[in_vino_vomitus]

Yep! - That's it - Thanks