Summary of Eugene B. Fluckey's Thunder Below!

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I had radioed the rest of my wolfpack, the subs Herring and Golet, to assemble so I could explain the search plan I wanted them to follow. I had known the former skipper of the Barb when he was skipper of the S-45 in Panama. She was not credited with sinking anything on her first six war patrols.
#2 I was assigned to the Barb, a submarine, as its captain. I was excited, but the fates were still gambling with me. Admiral Lockwood sent me a message stating that he would visit Midway and want to talk with me on 20 May, the day before we were scheduled to depart for the Barb’s eighth patrol in the Okhotsk Sea north of Japan.
#3 The Barb, Herring, and Golet were assigned to cover the whole of the Okhotsk Sea jointly. Whenever anyone made a contact with a convoy, the Wolfpack Commander was to be the Barb. I was confident I would do well.
#4 The crew of the Barb was extremely excited and ready to sink the five ships. They had never fired any stern torpedoes, but they were going to do it.

Sujets

• Military
• Général

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 24 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669363842
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Eugene B. Fluckey's Thunder Below!
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I had radioed the rest of my wolfpack, the subs Herring and Golet, to assemble so I could explain the search plan I wanted them to follow. I had known the former skipper of the Barb when he was skipper of the S-45 in Panama. She was not credited with sinking anything on her first six war patrols.

#2

I was assigned to the Barb, a submarine, as its captain. I was excited, but the fates were still gambling with me. Admiral Lockwood sent me a message stating that he would visit Midway and want to talk with me on 20 May, the day before we were scheduled to depart for the Barb’s eighth patrol in the Okhotsk Sea north of Japan.

#3

The Barb, Herring, and Golet were assigned to cover the whole of the Okhotsk Sea jointly. Whenever anyone made a contact with a convoy, the Wolfpack Commander was to be the Barb. I was confident I would do well.

#4

The crew of the Barb was extremely excited and ready to sink the five ships. They had never fired any stern torpedoes, but they were going to do it.

#5

The battle stations’ gongs resounded through the boat. Men scurried to their stations. I let them pass and crossed the passageway to my cabin. I picked up my binoculars and gloves and headed aft.

#6

The scout plane was supposed to be on station to cover the convoy, but it was foggy at Matsuwa, so the planes didn’t see the ships. The three ships dispersed: the Madras Maru headed south, the Koto Maru west, and tail-end Charlie, the Hokuyo Maru, east, returning to Matsuwa.

#7

I was on the deck of the USS Tang, ready to fire the torpedoes against the Japanese transport ship Kasima Maru. I shouted directions to the crew as they prepared to fire.

#8

I pushed the firing plunger near the helm. The Barb shuddered as the torpedo was ejected by high-pressure air and roared off. The tube then vented inboard to avoid a large air bubble rising to the surface.

#9

The battle was over, and the Koto Maru had been sunk. We had tracked her all the way to the Kurile islands, and then ended around her. We had fired torpedoes, and they had hit their target.

#10

I needed a prisoner who knew the area. In half an hour, I found flotsam and a few survivors on top of the floating wooden hatch bails. Sadly, most of them were suffering from hypothermia. As we slowly moved through the human wreckage, none of the officers had survived.

#11

The prisoner, Kito, told me that the Herring had sunk the destroyer, but nothing else. Since we had sunk two ships, the Herring was probably chasing the surviving ship. We hadn’t picked up any interference from Herring’s radar since early afternoon, so she must be chasing toward Matsuwa.

#12

The Barb’s performance was flawless. The numerous failures of torpedoes to explode were solved. Admiral Lockwood fired torpedoes against cliffs and dropped some with inert loads onto concrete pads without their exploding.

#13

The Barb’s crew celebrated the double sinking of the destroyer Ishigaki and the merchant ship Herring by having a cake in the control room. Then, they all went to their bunks to sleep. Tomczyk, however, kept writing in his diary.

#14

The Japanese reported that the Koto Maru was sunk at 1745 the previous day, and that the submarine that sank her was sunk by her air cover two minutes thereafter. The Hiburi Maru and Iwaki Maru anchored in the open, narrow harbor at Matsuwa for safe haven.

#15

The Barb was sent to the Aleutians to train newly commissioned reserve officers in S-boats. The first time I ever saw an ocean or a submarine was when I reported to the S-30 in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

#16

The S-30 may have survived because the gun wouldn’t fire. There are supposed to be shore batteries on Matsuwa Island, but no surfaced submarine would last long in there.

#17

I was fast asleep when the buzzer above my head woke me up. Captain, radar contact at 10,500 yards. Sound BATTLE STATIONS TORPEDOES! The words boomed out over the loudspeaker followed by the Gong-Gong-Gong-Gong that drove everybody from their bunks. In 30 seconds, I was in the conning tower.

#18

The Chidori chased down the torpedo tracks with all guns blazing. She put her depth-charge racks and sidethrowers into action, dropping 12 depth charges. They exploded some mines, which blew columns of water into the air. Following that came the automatic explosions of the torpedoes at the end of their run.

#19

The Okhotsk Sea is a deep ocean basin that jumps up vertically to the Siberian shelf in the north. It is surrounded by volcanoes and currents that sweep ships around. The Pacific Ocean tides fill or empty this Japanese teacup.

#20

I was excited to see icebergs, but was also surprised to find a cord belt maker on board. I was fascinated by Kito’s dexterity as he tied knots with his fingers and toes at the same time.

#21

We spent the next few days slowly working north along the Japanese Karafuto Island to the Siberian half, Sakhalin. Drift ice became a problem: 5 to 10 feet above the surface, leaving 45 to 90 feet below.

#22

The seventh wedding anniversary of the captain and his wife was June 6. The couple had had a long courtship, and the captain had written 20 love letters to his wife before they left. They were unable to contact either the Golet or Herring, and they were lost.

#23

The crew of the Barb was surprised to find themselves surrounded by beautiful white seals while searching for the ice pack. The ice pack was a mirage, but what if the trawlers were Soviet.

#24

I was almost sane again when Jim reported an ice field on the starboard bow. It was there! I decided to turn in and take stock of myself. I prayed for the Golet and Herring, knowing they had gone down on eternal patrol.

#25

We were able to sink a small, high-speed ship with the torpedo running-depth set at five feet. Yet it was a heartbreak to use up our precious diesel fuel in a five-hour chase without furthering the war effort.

#26

The Barb was tasked with finding and sinking enemy fishing boats that were supplying Japan with much-needed protein. One of these boats was the only one I had ever seen sunk by gunfire without being hit.

#27

The ship's crew was excited about imminent action after the tedious 10-hour chase. They were closing in on the targets at 200 yards per minute.

#28

At Paramushiru Island, the largest naval base in the Kuriles, the Chihaya Maru and the Toten Maru loaded out for departure at 1100 on 8 June. One hundred seventy-three soldiers and 260 tons of military cargo were on board. Other cargo consisted of salted fish and miscellany.

#29

The Chihaya Maru, the second ship, was sinking fast. The Barb, the first ship, was closing in on her. The situation was changing rapidly. The Barb would pass close by on the opposite course, then position for a stern shot.

#30

The crew celebrated the sinking of two ships and the magazine explosion of another by sharing cake. They had become very confident and sure of their roles, so they didn’t wake me as often.

#31

The Japanese convoy was heading towards Soviet waters off Sakhalin Island. The transport Takashima Maru was carrying 600 troops and was heavily armed. The escort was a destroyer, Hatsuharu. The basic plan to counter the wolfpack was to cross the Okhotsk in steps and stairs, using 90 degree base course changes every four hours.

#32

The Barb had three successful attacks and twice was way out in left field, and the targets escaped. I wanted to shoot for a sure sinking at about 1500 yards. The destroyer, at higher speed, was patrolling close ahead, working back and forth from beam to beam.

#33

The ship had a phosphorescent bow wave that was visible from far away. It was a huge target that would be hard to miss. The ship turned right at us, and we had to dive to avoid being hit.

#34

The ship proceeded to drop depth charges on the transport, which was sinking. The escort came after them again and again. It was extremely nerve-racking for all.

#35

The Barb sank a large transport full of troops. The Barb had to wait almost two hours for the ship to sink, while the destroyer escort attempted to plaster them with ashcans.

#36

The Barb sank the Takashima Maru, a passenger-cargo transport and icebreaker, on 13 June 1944. The Japanese reported the ship sunk. The destroyer Hatsuhara reported that we had fired four single torpedoes at her while she was alongside removing troops. We did not.

#37

We were able to close to about 100 yards off the target’s track in order to identify her and still be out of reach of her Y-gun depth-charge throwers and stern racks.