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Escape from the Deep: A Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Category: EBooks
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $15.44
You Save: $10.56 (41%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 1810
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5451
ASIN: B001B19GO8
Publication Date: April 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
By October, 1944, the U.S. Navy submarine Tang was legendary-she had sunk more enemy ships, rescued more downed airmen, and pulled off more daring surface attacks than any other Allied submarine in the Pacific. And then, on her fifth patrol, tragedy struck-the Tang was hit by one of her own faulty torpedoes. The survivors of the explosion struggled to stay alive in their submerged “iron coffin” one hundred-eighty feet beneath the surface. While the Japanese dropped deadly depth charges, just nine of the original eighty-man crew survived a harrowing ascent through the escape hatch. But a far greater ordeal was coming. After being picked up by a Japanese patrol vessel, they were sent to a secret Japanese interrogation camp known as the “Torture Farm.” They were close to death when finally liberated in August, 1945, but they had revealed nothing to the Japanese-not even the greatest secret of World War II.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
Gripping August 21, 2008
This is not a book made great by the writing. Rather, this book is great because the author didn't get in the way of this epic story. No US submarine sunk more enemy tonnage than the Tang and whether any US sub sunk as many enemy ships is debatable. Dick O'Kane, the Tang's skipper, literally jumps out of the pages as America's foremost sub warrior. Anyone uncertain about what it means to be aggressive, go into harm's way and do all one can to serve one's country will find answers in this book.
 Great story, good book! August 15, 2008
This is a very good book that tells a great story. It is engrossing and draws the reader in from the beginning by painting a compelling portrait of the USS Tang in general and of the U.S. Submarine service specifically. They are portrayed as the miracle workers of their age.
Still the book comes up short in several areas. We don't learn as much about the Tang's patrols before the final patrol. If we learned more about the other patrol the book would have been much more compelling. We are also rushed through the crew's time in the POW camps in Japan. These do a disservice to what could be an amazing book. But rest assured, the book is very much worth the read!
An inspiring story.... August 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As the son of a career sailor who served on submarines (USS Baya, SS-318, USS Menhaden, SS-377, and USS Segundo, SS-398) from the late 40's until his retirement in 1963, some of my earliest memories are of going to work with him and eating ice cream in the galley when the sub was in port. I also attended several dependents day cruises on the Menhaden and loved and respected the crew.
With that background when I saw Escape from the Deep by Alex Kershaw and realized what the book was about I had to read it. Life on a diesel electric boat was truly hardship duty. Though the crews ate well, they still managed to lose weight while on patrol, a fact that says it all about the stress under which they served.
The history of the USS Tang can't be matched by many other submarines in the PTO. Her skipper, Dick O'Kane was considered to be one of the best submarine skippers around, and his list of successes can't be matched by many of his contemporaries. It was on a war patrol that the Tang experienced one of submariner's greatest fears; a run-a-way torpedo that circled back and struck the submarine a death blow. Only nine of the crew managed to escape. They were picked up and finished the war as POW's of the Japanese.
Alex Kershaw's telling of the story of the USS Tang is an historical account of one of America's most successful submarines, with one of America's best trained crews, led by one of Americas best skippers. Having read the Bedford Boys I was already familiar with Kershaw's attention to detail in his storytelling and the quality of his research. However, he surpasses himself with Escape from the Deep.
Dramatic, suspenseful, and emotionally charged, Escape from the Deep is a must read for anyone interested in the war in the Pacific and with submarine warfare specifically.
American submariners suffered the highest casualty rate of any military specialty in WWII. Fully 25% of serving crews were lost while on patrol. Escape from the Deep is an excellent statement about the submariner's courage and sacrifice.
I highly recommend.
Peace always
Masterful Writing July 23, 2008
This an unbelievably well-written book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and I couldn't help wondering what I would have done if I were thrust into a similar circumstance. Calling these guys the Greatest Generation is uttering an understatement.
The Story of America's Most Legendary World War II Submarine July 17, 2008
By the fall of 1944, the USS Tang, commanded by Commander Richard O'Kane, had compiled a war record of astronomical proportions. O'Kane's sub had sunk more tonnage, rescued more downed aviators, and successfully completed more surface attacks than any other American submarine. O'Kane had also been decorated numerous times with countless medals for bravery. However, the Tang still had one more mission left, and this one promised to be even more dangerous than the others.
O"Kane and his crew were ordered to sail to the Formosa Strait to intercept Japanese convoys operating there. But, on their way to the assigned area, the Tang ran into a terrible typhoon with extremely high winds and seas. Although the sub survived the typhoon, the men seemed to sense that this mission was shaping up to be very dangerous.
Arriving on station, the Tang quickly made her presence known by sinking several enemy ships. The sub had expended twenty three of the twenty four torpedoes allocated to her. All that was left was to fire the final torpedo into a wounded enemy vessel and head back to San Francisco. As soon as the final torpedo left its tube, the men began to celebrate. Unfortunately, the last torpedo proved to be the only one that failed to operate correctly. The torpedo malfunctioned, turned back on a circular course, and struck the Tang with such force that half the crew was killed instantly. Commander O'Kane was thrown into the water. The sub was mortally wounded, but the bow stayed afloat in the shallow water due to the air inside. Despite this, the men still alive inside the sub appeared to be hopelessly trapped.
Some of the men managed to escape from the 180-foot depth by using Momsen lung breathing devices. These allowed the men to ascend to the surface without suffering the bends. Nine men out of a crew of eighty-nine survived. The ordeal was just beginning for them, though. Soon, the survivors were picked up by a Japanese patrol boat. Due to the nature of the sub's attacks on Japanese shipping, the Japanese refused to consider the men of the Tang to be POWs, instead classifying them as special prisoners of Japan. No record of the men's survival was passed on to the Red Cross, so their families had no way of knowing the men were alive.
For the next several months, the men were routinely beaten, starved, and humiliated by the Japanese. They became extremely sick and lost lots of weight. Despite this terrible treatment, the men managed to survive until the end of the war.
Despite surviving captivity, the men faced other challenges upon returning home. Some of the men's wives had remarried after learning that the Tang was lost. Others faced constant flashbacks and dreams of being in captivity. Despite these setbacks, the men returned to mostly productive lives and had regular reunions.
This is an excellent book. Author Alex Kershaw does a fine job of describing the life of Commander Richard O'Kane and the USS Tang. O'Kane was a relentless commander who always sought to destroy as much enemy shipping as possible. He accomplished this feat with flying colors, as the Tang was responsible for the destruction of more enemy shipping than any other American submarine. The book is divided neatly into several sections, each dealing with a different aspect of the story. This division makes the book easy to follow.
I give this fine book my highest recommendation; it is a must-read for fans of submarine stories.
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