BATFISH: The Champion ""Submarine-Killer"" Submarine of World War II

by Hughston E. & Jack Scott Lowder ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 1980

A warmly earnest but exciting recounting of the seven wartime patrols of the U.S.S. Batfish in the South Pacific, told by the sub's radio/radar soundman. As a teenager Lowder had just joined the Navy when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He requested submarine service and was given training in the brand new science of shipboard radar. That took time, as did the building of the sub, which was not launched until 1943; it's assignment: unrestricted warfare against Japan. There follows a daily log of the ship's activities until V-J day--battle scenes, shipboard decisions, hellbent shore leaves. For the most part the Batfish had a distinguished but not extraordinary career, sinking 14 enemy ships, damaging two others, and rescuing three Army bomber pilots from the East China Sea; but its big claim to fame was dueling with and sinking three Japanese submarines during a 72-hour period, an unprecedented coup which is the book's climax. Today, in commemoration, the Batfish is on display at a memorial park in Oklahoma. Naval buffs will enjoy the tang of shipboard life and appreciate the sense of scale exhibited, the avoidance of overblown action or overwrought emotion.

Pub Date: Aug. 6, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Prentice-Hall

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION