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05-23-06, 10:53 AM | #1 | |
The Old Man
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Book Review: Operation Drumbeat by Michael Gannon
Hi everyone,
It's time for another installment of Submarine Book Reviews with Daryl Carpenter! I posted this on Epinions.com the other night, but I'm posting it here because epinions is a "pay-per-hit" website and a lot of sites frown upon linking to it. Besides, I don't have much of an ego to bruise. Again, I'm writing for a general audience, so be ready for some "well, duh!" moments. Quote:
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05-24-06, 12:03 PM | #2 |
Chief
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Thanks for posting this! I'll be adding another book to my reading list this summer!
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05-24-06, 01:05 PM | #3 |
Pacific Aces Dev Team
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I read another book on this subject and was appalled at
the unwillingness of the American Naval High Command to adopt a plan in the first half of 42 to protect all those merchant ships. Even after the English, who had been fighting this war for nearly 3 years, told the American Navy what to expect and how to counter it. To me, common sense dicates how the merchants should have handled the crisis. Because the eastern shelf of the USA is so shallow, ships should have traveled by day and put into ports at night. U-Boats rarely were seen during daylight and came in to attack merchat ships mostly under the cover of darkness. Convoys were not implimented till around June 42 even though England advised the USA to do them as early as January 42. It seems that some NEVER learn from the historical mistakes of others.... JIM
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If you\'re not taking losses, you\'re not doing enough. RAdm. Kelly Turner, USN ********************************** www.fairtax.org |
05-24-06, 01:21 PM | #4 |
Ocean Warrior
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I think the Admiralty was just too stuck up to take UK's advice. One admiral(CNO??) (can't remember his name) should have been shot for gross stupidity.
Operation Drumbeat is an excellent book. It's a history book that was enjoyable to read. Should be required reading for naval cadets. |
05-24-06, 01:37 PM | #5 |
Pacific Aces Dev Team
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Admiral King is the name you are thinking off. (Chief of
Naval Operitions) In the book I read, a 2-star admiral repeatedly warned Adm. King about what was happening but it fell on deaf ears. In the first 4 months, the largest ship allowed to combat U-Boats along the east coast was a Coast Guard Cutter?? No military aircraft was utilized during this time, only civilian volunteers in light planes were used for spotting purposes. The name of the book I read: "Torpedo Junction" by Homer H. Hickan, Jr. JIM
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If you\'re not taking losses, you\'re not doing enough. RAdm. Kelly Turner, USN ********************************** www.fairtax.org |
05-24-06, 02:15 PM | #6 |
The Old Man
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After I published my review, I got a comment from another member of epinions, who was a submariner for 20 years, that I seemed to underestimate the effects of Pearl Harbor. Actually, I meant to say that Gannon underestimated the emotional impact of Pearl Harbor. I suppose with 49 years of hindsight, and plenty of beancounting, Gannon could say that Drumbeat was more damaging to the US war effort, but back in '42 it was a purely emotional issue.
I don't have the book on me right now, because I had to return it to the library. Gannon mentions that seven destroyers were in New York Harbor when U-123 arrived off Long Island. They were assigned to escort a troop transport convoy heading to Iceland to relieve the Marines there. If Hardegan had run into mechanical trouble or a bad storm on the way over, the convoy would have blundered right into him! |
05-24-06, 06:22 PM | #7 | |
Ocean Warrior
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