Leader of the Pack: The Fleet Submarine USS Batfish in World War IILeader of the Pack recounts the incredible history of USS Batfish, a record-setting American World War II fleet submarine. Batfish entered the pantheon of military lore during its famous sixth patrol in February 1945, where it sank a record three Japanese submarines in seventy-six hours. In addition to offering a rousing and meticulously researched account of the famous sixth patrol, author and military historian Mark W. Allen unravels a nautical mystery that had gone unresolved for over sixty years: the identity of the first Japanese submarine sunk by Batfish skipper John K. Fyfe. Controversy has surrounded the identity of the first submarine almost since the day of the sinking, but Leader of the Pack, through a diligent recreation of the events that unfolded in the days leading up to the sixth patrol, solves the mystery once and for all. Lastly, Allen shares a personal story, never told before in such detail, of Batfish's rescue of three downed aviators who were forced to ditch their B-25 Mitchell bomber after it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during a bombing mission on the Japanese homeland. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | |
A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing | |
Commissioning and the Submarine War Against Japan | |
On the Hunt | |
The Hunter Hunted | |
Mistaken Identity | |
Salvation | |
Passing of the Torch | |
Appendix 1 | |
Appendix 2 | |
Appendix 3 | |
Appendix 4 | |
Appendix 5 | |
Glossary | |
Notes | |
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Leader of the Pack: The Fleet Submarine Uss Batfish in World War Ii Mark W. Allen Limited preview - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
aircraft anti-submarine approach approximately Archerfish attacked and sank Batfish Batfish Rescue Bleicher boat bomber bridge cargo ship Commander convoy crew Dan Hill deck log depth charges destroyer destroyer escort divergent spread downed aviators enemy submarine escort evacuation explosion February February 11 feet Fyfe attacked Fyfe fired gyro angles HIJMS Submarine I-class Imperial Japanese Navy JANAC January 31 January 31 attack knots on course lifeguard Mangeno Maru Merrill mgcs minutes later Navy night northern Luzon officially credited Okinawa Pacific patrol area patrol report periscope periscope depth plane radar depth range to target set to run sinking SJ radar skipper speed starboard track stern submarine attacked submarine Fyfe sank submarine sunk submarine’s submerged target tracked third torpedoes three Japanese submarines Torpedo Attack torpedo hit torpedo run torpedoes were set U.S. Submarines USS BATFISH USS JENKINS USS Ulvert World World War II yards