[.ca] Unrestricted Warfare: How a New Breed of Officers Led ... (ISBN 0785821821)

Misleading title: too narrow a focus.:
A book whose title is "How a new breed of officers led the submarine force to victory in World War II" should tell me a lot more than about three or so officers from the USS WAHOO. Granted, Richard O'Kane, Roger Paine and George Grider, were brave, aggressive, and had "cojones grande" and have been honored as such. But there were DOZENS of aggressive submarine officers who rose to command and took the fight to the Japanese equally hard. I would have liked to read more about them in a book so titled. Clay Blair's Silent Victory remains the best study of submarine skippers during World War II and early editions included photos of many of them. The U.S. Naval Institute is reprinting this. Save your money on "Unrestricted Warfare" and buy Silent Victory.

Interesting Account of Submarine Warfare in the Pacific:
This book offers the novice reader an interesting insight to a number of the better-known US submarine skippers of World War Two. I would tend to agree that the book is much narrower in scope than the title suggests but for all that it still offers an exciting account of submarine warfare as experienced by the US Navy in the Pacific. It was revealing to read an account of a war crime committed by crew-members of one American submarine but I suppose that this just goes to show how war can brutalize even the best of men. Overall I found the book interesting and engaging but it did not grab me as fully as previous accounts that I have read on submarine warfare. I did enjoy the accounts of what became of the men in the book after the war. The account of the sinking of the 'Tang' was well done and it really did bring home to the reader how tragic the end of a submarine could be. One minor point that spoilt my reading of this otherwise well written and presented book was that at times I felt the author was belittling the efforts of German U-boat crews, only Americans could do the job properly. Overall though I came away after reading this book thankful of the efforts of these brave men. I hope that if by reading this book people come to realise how many young men lost their lives for the benefit of us all.

Great Read!:
"Unrestricted Warfare" is a fascinating book mainly concentrating on the power team from the USS Wahoo-"Mush" Morton, Dick O'Kane, George Grider and Roger Paine Jr. To put it simply, I doubt whether any of these men particularly Morton and O'Kane would have got a submarine command in peacetime but once war broke out, they became legends. The book examines in detail, the patrols of Wahoo in a way that hasn't been done before and the chapter on its last patrol is hard to put down. The author to his credit does not make plaster saints of Morton and O'Kane but portrays them as the very human people they were. My only regret is that the author did not study other skippers in depth particular Gene Fluckey, Slade Cutter, Ned Beach or Dusty Dornin. A great book that leaves the reader with one query-why didn't Mush Morton get the Medal of Honor-it was awarded for lesser actions in WW2 ie:MacArthur.

Excellent introduction to the US-Japan sub war:
There are plenty of books on the U.S.-Japan sub war, noteably the highly detailed "Silent Victory" by Clay Blair Jr. If you're looking for a good overview of the subject, however, this book is a great start. It primarily covers the leadership of Mush Morton aboard USS Wahoo, who was the first of a new breed of aggressive commanders who took the battle to the Japanese, and the other officers who learned the "Wahoo way" under Morton and went on to successful commands of their own. Next, it covers the patrols of Dick O'Kane, Morton's former XO, as he leads aggressive, successful patrols into Japanese waters. Also covered are torpedo malfunctions and other problems that caused patrols to be less successful than they could have been, but the concentration here is on men who lead the way aggressively taking the war to Japan. A fine volume to get you started on the topic; you might follow with O'Kane's books, "Wahoo" and "Clear the Bridge," and "The Bravest Man" about O'Kane himself.

Best in a long time:
This is an excellent book that traces the history of key officers and men that served first on the USS Wahoo and how they developed the skills to move on to commands of their own. The lineage of officers trained under Dudley Morton is amazing, and extensive. It also has a nice mix of detailed analysis of sinkings, and personal recollections.