Bacalao
By J T McDaniel
Lieutenant
Lawrence Miller oversaw the building of the submarine USS Bacalao.
When the submarine was commissioned Miller and his crew were sent
to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where they were attached to the Pacific
Fleet. Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941
and war was declared. Miller and his untried crew were immediately
sent into action against the Japanese.
Their
first patrol, an attack on a Japanese troop convoy, was ruined by
defective torpedoes. Then the boat was nearly lost, saved by the
heroics of members of the crew. Miller was subsequently sent to
Australia where he met his future wife, an Australian navy officer.
There followed a year in command of an ancient S-boat in the Aleutians.
He returned to the Bacalao as her last wartime commander.
This
is the best World War II submarine novel since Edward Beach's Run
Silent, Run Deep. McDaniel must join top naval authors such as Edward
Beach and Douglas Reeman. His book will certainly occupy a special
place on my shelf of naval fiction. His should become a classic
of submarine history.
There
is plenty of action. The characters (members of the submarine crew)
are believable with the relationship between the captain and the
crew loyal and human. The author has paid careful attention to historic
and technical detail. The accounts of action are most technically
accurate, vividly portrayed to insure the reader's vicarious participation.
Highly
recommended, not just for the naval action, but also for the human
interest.
|