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Title details for Thunder Below! by Eugene B. Fluckey - Available

Thunder Below!

The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II

by Eugene B. Fluckey
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The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker.

Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey.

This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen. And in a fascinating twist, he uses archival documents from the Japanese Navy to give its version of events.

The unique story of the Barb begins with its men, who had the confidence to become unbeatable. Each team helped develop innovative ideas, new tactics, and new strategies. All strove for personal excellence, and success became contagious. Instead of lying in wait under the waves, the USS Barb pursued enemy ships on the surface, attacking in the swift and precise style of torpedo boats. She was the first sub to use rocket missiles and to creep up on enemy convoys at night, joining the flank escort line from astern, darting in and out as she sank ships up the column.
Surface-cruising, diving only to escape, "Luckey Fluckey" relentlessly patrolled the Pacific, driving his boat and crew to their limits. There can be no greater contrast to modern warfare's long-distance, videogame style of battle than the exploits of the captain and crew of the USS Barb, where they sub, out of ammunition, actually rammed an enemy ship until it sank.

Thunder Below! is a first-rate, true-life, inspirational story of the courage and heroism of ordinary men under fire.

A Main Selection of the Military Book Club. Winner of the Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature given by the Naval Order of the United States, New York Commandery.| A Main Selection of the Military Book Club. Winner of the Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature given by the Naval Order of the United States, New York Commandery. — Naval Order of the United States, New York Commandery
|Eugene B. Fluckey, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.), was a 1935 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. For his valor under fire, Lt. Cdr. Fluckey was awarded four Navy Crosses and the Congressional Medal of Honor, unequalled by any living American. The crew of the USS Barb received the Presidential Unit Citation and Navy Unit Commendation. In 1989 the U.S. Navy honored Fluckey by naming the nuclear submarine Combat Systems Training Center, the largest and highest building in New London Connecticut, Fluckey Hall, the only building there named for a living person. His last active duty was as NATO Commander in Chief of the Iberian Atlantic Area in Lisbon, Portugal, from which he retired in 1972. In June 1991 he did research for Thunder Below in remote villages on the coast of China. Of his many citations, Fluckey said he was most proud of the one medal no member of his crew was ever awarded: the Purple Heart, given to those wounded under fire.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 1, 2013

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780252097447

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780252097447
      • File size: 11927 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 29, 1992
      The USS Barb was the Navy's most successful submarine in WW II. Operating mainly in the South China Sea, the Formosa Strait and the forever mysterious Sea of Okhotsk, the Barb sank at least 29 Japanese ships and climaxed its final patrol with an audacious commando raid on land during which the crew destroyed a 16-car train. This was the sole U.S. military landing on Japanese soil during the war. Drawing on ship's logs, letters, interviews, diaries and his own memory, Fluckey, a retired rear admiral, reconstructs every attack by and against the sub from its eighth through its 12th and last patrol. This was the 15-month period when he served as the Barb's skipper, winning the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses for his daring exploits. Fluckey is a fine writer with a lively, colorful style. His book is packed with action and suspense and is rich in details about the day-today operation of a submarine in combat. Photos. Military Book Club main selection.

    • Library Journal

      September 1, 1992
      Medal of Honor holder Fluckey relates the story of his wartime command, U.S. submarine Barb, in a well-told and -researched narrative of undersea resourcefulness and courage. Barb set an unparalleled record of exploits in the naval war against Japan, and Fluckey has used both U.S. and Japanese naval records to re-create the vessel's story. The quality of his writing is far above the usual wartime memoir. This title will appeal to readers of both military history and Tom Clancy-style technothrillers. Highly recommended for World War II collections. Military Bk. Club main selection.-- Stanley Planton, Ohio Univ.-Chillicothe Lib.

      Copyright 1992 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      September 15, 1992
      One of the World War II memoirs long awaited, at least by submarine buffs, has now appeared. Commanding the USS "Barb" for five patrols during 1944-45, Fluckey sank a formidable total of Japanese ships (including an aircraft carrier), carried out rocket attacks against and put landing parties ashore on the Japanese mainland, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor for penetrating shallow water off the Chinese coast to attack a Japanese convoy. His is the most detailed account yet of the "Barb"'s exploits, and the able and effective Fluckey tells it vigorously. Purists may object to his use of reconstructed conversations, but that is the only significant problem with a book likely to find a good many readers among naval history buffs. ((Reviewed Sept. 15, 1992))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1992, American Library Association.)

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  • English

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