Essential and good literature on US submarines in WW2?

[Newinger]

As I wrote in the SH4 forum, I'm currently a bit tired of German U-Boats in WWII. I know a lot about this side after all these years. I now try to get a similar good knowledge about the U.S. submarines in the Pacific, and I find this quite hard. First, the topic seems quite unpopular outside the U.S., so I don't find any books on that topic in German language. Well, that's not such a big problem as I can understand English very well, but I have no idea where to start.

At the moment I'm reading the novel "Bacalao" (2004), but I've got no idea how well researched it is. I'm also only in the 3rd chapter, and I hope its focus will shift from all the technical details to some social factors of life on a fleet boat soon, as this is one of the things I'm interested very much in. As we all know, life aboard a German U-Boat was not just hard, the conditions were just inhuman. Compared to that, from what I've learnt so far, life on a modern fleet boat must have been quite comfortable. But I wonder how hard it really was -- I wonder if American submariners also experienced the dirt, the smell, the boredom, the vulgarities, the agony and fear of death -- and how they dealt with that. The cliché American is always positive and optimistic, but I wonder how it really was.

Anyway ... Basically I'm interested in some kind of comprehensive written history of the U.S. submarines, maybe starting 1900 up to today, similar to a book I own that shows the history of German U-Boats from the past up to today. That gave me a good start some years ago, because it combined technical data with information on strategy and tactics, and put everything in historical context. I wonder if something like that (ideally with deep text, but also many photos) exists for the U.S. fleet, too -- and maybe not _that_ old.

Any suggestions or further ideas to get me started / to make me not miss anything essential?

Thanks!

[Sailor Steve]

For a straight history of American Submarines, you can start here.

For a great collection of photographs of the different types of boats, you can see them all here.

And of course the ultimate in-depth source on the fleet boats.

Beyond that there are hundreds of books and several good online sources describing life on a United States submarine in different eras, as well as the weapons they used.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

For some good book reading about US Subs in WW2 I'd recommend War In The Boats by William J. Ruhe and Thunder Below by Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey.

[Newinger]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

For a straight history of American Submarines, you can start here.

For a great collection of photographs of the different types of boats, you can see them all here.

And of course the ultimate in-depth source on the fleet boats.

Thank you, Steve, that's a great start for getting an overview.

Originally Posted by Kptlt. Neuerburg

For some good book reading about US Subs in WW2 I'd recommend War In The Boats by William J. Ruhe and Thunder Below by Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey.

And that seems a fine read for getting a feeling for the live onboard, thanks a lot! Just ordered these books.

Edit: And while I were at it, I also bought "Gallant Lady. A biography of the USS Archerfish".

[Cybermat47]

Cheers for starting this thread, I too have lots of knowledge of U-boats, but next to none on American subs (or any other country's subs) in WWII. A bit ironic, considering that they actually operated out of my country

[Subnuts]

I would say that Clay Blair's Silent Victory is probably the definitive single volume history of American submarines in World War II. It's also more than 1,000 pages long, so it's definitely not a beach read!

If you're looking for a more technical study, I'd recommend Norman Friedman's two volume US Submarines: An Illustrated Design History, although it's hard to find a copy of the volume two for under $70.