War Beneath the Waves by Don Keith Read Free Book Online

to fight a war.
    So when Millican assumed command of USS Thresher in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in June of 1942, he took a different tack from many of his fellow skippers, regardless of the directives from higher up. He was tired of fighting his own equipment and the miserable elements. He was ready to vent some of that pent-up frustration on the enemy instead.
    He was very impressed with his new vessel. It was much bigger than his previous boat, inside and out. The fact is, when afloat on the surface, most of a submarine lies below the water. They are very similar to an iceberg, with only the decks, the top of the conning tower, and the bridge and shears visible.
    The shears, which gave the World War II-era submarine its distinctive appearance, are the radio and radar antennas, periscope housings, searchlight, flagpoles, and lookout stands that tower high above the decks and water. They are directly above the bridge. Height above the water was important for two reasons. First, it gave the lookouts a better view of the horizon. Second, it got the radio and radar antennas as high in the air as possible so they could launch a better signal and pull in weaker ones.
    While the interior of Thresher was much more spacious than Millican’s old boat, it was still cramped and confining compared to surface ships. Where did all that room go? It is because diesel tanks, ballast, and many other tanks, most designed to withstand tremendous water pressure, make up a huge portion of the vessel. These boats covered a vast range with few opportunities to refuel, so they had to carry a large amount of diesel fuel. Running out of gas was not an option. A submarine out of diesel and dead in the water was an easy target for enemy ships or aircraft.
    The ballast tanks were also a necessity for depth control. Flooding the tanks with seawater would force the submarine to dive or go deeper. Venting—using compressed air to flush out the water—decreased depth or surfaced the ship completely.
    Thresher and her sisters were about the length of a football field, including one end zone—311 feet from bow to stern. They were about twenty-seven feet wide at the broadest point. These submarines could safely dive to about four hundred feet, a specification termed the “test depth.” They were able to steam at twenty knots while they were on the surface but only about nine knots maximum when submerged. Depending on speed, time spent on the surface and submerged, and a long list of other factors, these submarines had an approximate range of eleven thousand nautical miles and typically stayed on patrol for up to about seventy-five days, burning over a hundred thousand gallons of diesel fuel.
    These boats carried eight to ten officers and between sixty and seventy enlisted men. It was tough duty. Few of them got to climb the ladders to spend time on the narrow, slippery decks, getting sun and fresh air. The bridge was cramped and usually occupied by the captain and diving officer. Two or three younger sailors—because of their assumed better eyesight—were on the tiny perches in the shears, keeping lookout. When the deck guns were used, those crew members assigned to the gun crew came topside. But most crew members went for long periods of time without sunshine or clean air. And they did it without touching land while on patrol in enemy-controlled waters, in seas that were often storm-tossed, and while they were constantly under threat of attack from surface ships, aircraft, floating mines, and other submarines.
    It was dangerous to have too many men on deck while on the surface in enemy waters. Should the submarine have to dive in a hurry, there was typically less than a minute for everyone to get belowdecks. Almost always, the only hatch open was the one from the bridge downward to the conning tower. As the ship submerged, that hatch had to be cleared and its watertight cover closed before seawater reached it. Otherwise there was the risk of flooding the ship