S-Five S-5 / Under Pressure / A.J. Hill / SS-110 / Submarine Book Store

Launched November 10, 1919, the USS S-Five (SS-110) was commissioned in March of 1920. She had an over-all length of 231 feet and displaced 876 tons. Following outfitting and extensive crew training, S-Five departed the Boston Navy Yard on August 30, 1920 to undergo Atlantic sea trials. At 1300 on September 1, she was 40 miles off shore when the the crew commenced a practice "crash dive"—and tragedy sunk. A combination of errors and poor mechanical design caused the submarine to suddenly ingest some 75 tons of ice-cold saltwater and quickly dropped the boat to the ocean floor at a depth of 180 feet. With surface rescue impossible, the crew of S-Five began an incredible thirty-six hour struggle to escape a watery grave. Her electrical systems were shut-down, radio too weak to transmit and one drive motor inoperable. Aided by the compressed air still in the submarine the crew worked feverously in the dimmest of light to plan their escape to the surface. Using only what was inside the cramped sub, the captain, Lieutenant Commander Charles Cooke, Jr. lead his forty-man crew through the unimaginable ordeal. Here for the first time is the true and complete story of the small but gallant crew of S-Five and how the brave men managed to save themselves from certain death.

First Hardback edition (no longer in print) with dust jacket. 239 pages, 13 B/W photographs, one S-boat diagram, and an index. This book has a retail price of $25. Buy today and save, our supplies are limited!

Only $19.95

BOOK REVIEWS

"A. J. Hill is a non-fiction equivalent to Tom Clancy. As a former nuclear submariner, I found myself unable to tear my eyes from the book. While the technical details are well-described and accurate, the marvelous thing about the book is its portrayal of its characters. Savvy Cooke was a tortured man, having suffered and persevered through the sinking of two ships he commanded and the suicide of his first wife. Men like these are the between-the-wars heroes Herman Wouk described in The Caine Mutiny. Hill paints Savvy Cooke with the same brush. When's his next book? Captain Dave Corley, USNR (Ret.).

"I've read tons of submarine story's and prefer the true ones over the fiction so this one already had a plus. The men of the S-Five should have counted their blessing everyday to have gotten out with their lives. Imagine trying to drill through the hull of a sub with a hand drill? not to mention all the other trouble they were faced with, WOW. Very good story that'll keep your attention from front to back, and great photos to go along with it." M. Gentry "subslug," Fort Worth, Texas.

"A great book about the rescue of the crew of the submarine S-Five in 1920. There have been a number of books about the loss of submarine crews but fortunately this book has no deaths (at least in this sinking). Captain Cook or Savvy as he is known manages to keep his crew alive by shifting the water in the sinking sub. He manages to tilt the submarine on end and then drill a hole in the back end of the sub, where he motioned a passing ship to save his crew. The sub turned out to be a total loss but the crew was saved.
There are better submarine books out there, but none that describes this particular sinking. The author is a medical doctor, but he does a great job of giving the reader a thrilling adventure. Great job A.J." From an unknown reader.

"The story of the S-Five is one I've been familiar with my whole life, the executive officer LT Grisham (whose nickname was "Jim" not "Charlie") was my grandfather. He and his wife Mary were not getting ready to start a family, my mother was four years old at the time. I don't want to give away the ending, so I think I needed to make clear that my existence was not predicated on LT Grisham's survival. The book is a real page-turner, I read it in one sitting. Although I was well aware of the outcome, Mr. Hill kept me enthralled. My heart was beating fast and my hands were sweaty. It is an inspiring book, uplifting to read about the honor and valor of men in terrifying predicaments. It's also a graphic description of the conditions aboard submarines in the early days of the silent service. A MUST-READ" Susan B. Sharp, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"Doctor Hill has done a great job relating the tale of a group of true American hero's. He brings the right amount of submarine history and the history of many of the members of this fantastic story. Without this book the story would have been lost." James A, Cook "Jim Cook", Agawam, Massachusetts.