Books Highlight SEALs, U-Boats,Sub Gun Battles, Royal Navy Ships

摘要

Stealthy submerged attacks by torpedo were the preferred tactic for U.S.submarine operations during World War II, but the force frequently engaged enemy ships and boats in gun battles on the surface. The author fills in a gap in history by documenting the gun actions, which rose in number early in the war because of design flaws in the U.S. torpedoes and increased as the war progressed and torpedo-worthy targets declined. The 1,014 documented gun actions often were up close and vicious, unlike the impersonal efficiency of torpedo attacks. Surface actions also presented to the sub skippers the dilemma of killing survivors or rescuing them and hosting prisoners, some of whom spent long periods with the crews.