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Title: The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas ISBN: 0-06-101459-1 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.41 (116 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Great Story about True Heroism
Comment: Maas has written a thrilling, tightly-written story about one of the great moments of U.S. naval history. It may be curious to consider the rather embarrassing sinking of a brand-new submarine to have any elements of greatness or heroism, but that is the genius of Maas' story. The character of Swede Momsen is so incredible that its difficult to believe he was a real person and not just a fictional creation. Maas takes this man's story and shows the hard, relentless courage it took to overcome bureaucratic inertia and develop entirely new technological systems for the rescue of trapped submariners. This is not the typical stuff of heroic stories, of people running into burning buildings to save children -- this is a different type of heroism, and one that is not often explored in our culture. Its the heroism of seeing that people are dying for no good reason, and deciding that you want to champion their cause. Its the heroism of developing that vision through years of indifference and neglect by your chain of command. After seeing this heroism through Maas' enjoyable and immensely readable story, at the end of the book its hard to tell if you're cheering more for the saved submariners or for Momsen's personal triumph.
Rating: 4
Summary: I Wonder How Close To The Krusk Incident This Book is?
Comment: This book tells two parallel stories that merge together through out the book. The author is detailing the sinking of the USN submarine Squalus in 1939, and the career of Swede Momsen who worked on underwater devises used to help rescue people from downed submariners. I wanted to read the book for the submarine rescue story, but the story of Momsen's fight with his Navy Department superiors and the ingenious gadgets he came up with were very interesting reading.
The author does a great job telling the story of the submarine sinking and the crew that was left to try and be rescued. The author took some time to introduce the reader to the crew. In stead of just a number of sailors we got to know their names and something about them. With this info you really start to get concerned for their lives and the tension grows until the rescue. It reminded me of what we have heard of the sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk. The rescue attempt was so slow that the two groups of surviving crew must have felt the same emotions. You even wonder if the same bureaucratic slow pace detailed here about the rescue was the same problem in Russia.
The recovery of the Squalus and its remaining life are covered at the end of the book and again this is a riveting account of the process. It is just something that a big hunk of steel that big could be lifted from the bottom of the ocean with 1930's technology. Overall this is a wonderful book that offers the reader a great history lesson and a wonderful, suspenseful and exciting rescue tail. The author put together a well-written book. My only complaint was the lack of photos, maps, and diagrams. If this subject interested you I would suggest you read "Blind Man's Bluff", also a very interesting book of USN submarine stories.
Rating: 4
Summary: Courage, Determination & Imagination
Comment: This story illustrates the benefit of those visionary, courageous individuals who put their ideas into action and make the world a better place. In this case, the story is of Charles "Swede" Momsen and the recovery of the crew of the sub "Squalis" in 1939. That story alone is worth the read, but its also interesting to realize all of the rescue, submarine and simple diving innovations that came from Momsen's efforts. Bravo.
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Title: Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Lawrence Drew ISBN: 006103004X Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 06 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Hostile Waters by Peter Huchthuasen, Igor Kurdin, R. Alan White ISBN: 0312966121 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Abandon Ship! by Richard F. Newcomb ISBN: 038081904X Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 30 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton ISBN: 0805066322 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Spy Sub: Top-Secret Mission to the Bottom of the Pacific by Roger C. Dunham ISBN: 0451407970 Publisher: Onyx Books Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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