I approach most submarine works that deal with WW II with trepidation. I have been burned by too many self serving books written by those who seem to be writing for their Academy classmates. Then there are those written as strict history and really grind on your resolve to finish them. The exceptions in the first case are Admiral Fluckey's "Thunder Below," and the example of the strict history type is "Silent Victory" and "Hitler's U-Boat War by Blair.
So, I approached "Find Em" with caution. Wow! I was amazed at this work. The book is so well researched (it took 5 years), that I am going to use it forever as a model for anyone asking me what or how a book should be done. I get about two requests per month from authors who are hoping to write the ultimate WW II book. This is not that book but it's real close. There is a lot of human touch or pathos, humor, drama, history and that deja vu feeling all submariners get when reading about the world we live in.
Most books have 3-4 interviews of principals who are discussed in the work. This book never ends with them. From nursing home beds to children and grandchildren. The work is amazing with in its attention to detail and reliance on proof and interviews to fill in the period of this submarine's eleven war patrols.
The story is about the USS Gudgeon, SS-211. It tells in detail the events of each of the eleven patrols. On the last 100 pages it attempts to find the boat lost on it's 12th war patrol, presumably west of Iwo Jima. But it just isn't about the patrols, the torpedoes fired, the 5" shells pounded into Japanese ships, but also about the return of the boat to port. The fun the crew forced themselves to have to forget the 300 depth charges the boat endured in the short three years of its life. The times at the Royal Hawaiian and their Gilly stills to the thrills and funny stories emanating from Australia will not be forgotten by this reviewer.
The book does not hold back in criticism of those men who did not live up to their oaths or those who did not have the fortitude to charge forward at all costs. Even the couple of cooks who deserted and were never heard from again. I hope they find this book.
The author's uncle was a lieutenant on board the Gudgeon for her last three patrols and one of many lost on the 12th patrol. This is the author's five year search to find the boat, to find out as much as he could about the men who served with her, and the search for its remains. Unfortunately, the boat probably lies in the Marianna's Trench at least 4,000 feet in depth. The author has done a great job in bringing some measure of finality of those lost in the war.
A great read and highly recommended to all readers of submarine lore and history. My copy is being donated to the USSVI National Library at North Little Rock, Arkansas, near where another great WW II submarine now is on display.
Ron Martini, former submariner
Owner and Operator of "Rontini's Submarine World"
http://messdeck.com/forum/
While there have been many fine books writen about the missions, men, and exploits of the US submarine fleet in WW II, few if any will be able to compete with the sheer detail and personal accounts presented by Mike Ostlund in "Find 'Em Chase 'Em Sink 'Em". In a word this book is comprehensive.
...For years the circumstances surrounding the boat's final cruise have remained unknown. Nonetheless, motivated by a personal connection with the boat's history, the author has brought new light to the story of her final encounter with the enemy--what has until now been a dark, watery abyss of information...
...The strength of the book is the human element so ably described by Ostlund...
...The work offers the reader who is unfamiliar with the literature of the Pacific submarine campaign a wide angle snapshot of all aspects of the submariner's life and struggle during the heated contest...
...In the end, though, this volume represents a first-rate addition to the Naval History bookshelf, especially within the human-interest as the Gudgeon's story easily embodies the toll on life emblematic of the Pacific submarine campaign.
Reviewed by:
Andrew G. Wilson, who is a Ph.D student George Washington University and works for the Department of the Navy.
For the The Naval Institute Press
(To read the complete review see, Naval History, February 2007).
www.usni.org
