The Last Patrol / Harry Holmes / American submarines lost in WWII / SubmarineBooks.com / R.A. Cline Publishing

An excellent operational history of the 52 American submarines lost during World War II. Using the latest information available, author Harry Holmes covers the historic and tragic tales of America’s lost boats. Their successes, their failures and their final dive when the sea closed over them forever. The “Silent Service” suffered the highest percentage of losses of any branch of the American armed forces, with almost one in five vessels failing to return. Their epitaph––“Overdue presumed lost.” However, their achievements are legendary as submarine crews, while representing only two percent of the Naval personnel, accounted for over 55 percent of Japanese shipping losses in World War II. Of the submarines which were reported as lost, some were famous with high-scores and commanders renowned for their audacious attacks, while others were less well-known and lost before they could make their mark in history. This is the story of those submarines, their officers and crews. One chapter on each U.S. submarine! A must have for your submarine and naval library.

This is a Hardback edition, with dust jacket. 212 pages, with a staggering 124 B/W photos, plus an impressive 16 page appendix and index. This book is out-of-print!

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BOOK REVIEWS

"This book is not intended to be an exhaustive account of the 52 American submarines lost in WWII, but provides a concise basic reference. There is a brief chapter, in chronological order, for each sub giving a summary of its war history, a description of how it was lost and two and a few photographs of the sub and perhaps some of its crew and related ships (e.g., Japanese ships it sank). Appendices include a summary of all the losses in two pages and a summary by submarine of the losses each one inflicted on the Japanese. One important missing element in the submarine loss charts is an analysis of the cause of loss; a significant number were actually lost to sea conditions (e.g., running aground), systems failures or friendly fire, as opposed to combat. While the precise cause of loss, if known, is included in each sub's story, it would be enlightening to also have a summary in the appendix. Also a chart mapping the loss locations would provide another useful perspective. Recommended as a reference for looking up the "quick story" of each of these gallant crews and boats." C. Ryan

"This book gives 2 or 3 page brief accounts of the launching, service history, and demise of every U.S. submarine lost in WW2, including the old S-boats left over from the 'between wars' years that saw action in the early days of WW2. The author has done a thorough job of corroborating theories of how certain submarines "died" by comparing official US Navy documents with IJN reports. While the writing doesn't compare with the "you are there" styles of "Thunder Below", "Clear The Bridge!", and "Wahoo" by other authors, this book does do a good job of reporting the too-brief combat careers of U.S. submarines. Pictures accompany the text for each submarine and are in black and white. The chapters are short and easy to read, and you won't need to possess any particular knowledge of how submarines operate to understand how the boats were destroyed. Submarine fans will want a copy. Naval historians will want a copy. Anyone who's played a submarine game and enjoyed it will want a copy. But if you're looking for action, you might try "Run Silent, Run Deep" or any of the numerous sub commander memoirs that have been published (including the ones mentioned in this review). Troy Whigham

The Author

Harry Holmes was born in Royton, Lancashire, in 1936. After service in the Royal Air Force he joined A. V. Roe & Company Limited (Avro) in 1958. He worked in the Marketing Department until 1980 when he transferred to Public Relations. Now, as part of British Aerospace, Holmes is the Public Relations Manager for the Manchester factories. In addition to his love of aviation, Holmes has studied the operations of United States submarines during World War Two since the mid-1950s. Harry Holmes is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Royal Air Force Club, the U.S. 8th Air Force Historical Society and the United States Naval Institute. He is a frequent contributor to both the aviation and naval press and is the author of a number of specialized books on aviation.