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ISBN 978-0-7864-4213-3
ix + 366

Acknowledgments; Foreword; Preface; Explanation of Data; tables; Index by Submarine Name; Index by Japanese Vessel Name

Appendix: US and Allied Submarine Minelaying Activities

   Everyone seems to agree Axis Submarine Successes of World War II by Jurgen Rohwer is the ultimate published source for attacks and sinkings by German, Italian, and Japanese subs during 1939-1945. The original version, published in 1983, was updated in a new edition in 1999, and that's the current gold standard on the subject. Although the second edition improved the reliability of data, the overall structure and organization remained unchanged.
   On the other hand, the original Naval Institute Press version of Alden's book, U.S. Submarine Attacks during World War II, published in 1989, has undergone more of a transformation. Now in its fourth edition, and with a slightly different title, Alden's book includes much more data, features an improved layout, and now appears to be the ultimate guide to the topic. While the 1989 edition included a great deal of information, much of it was flagged as uncertain or contradictory, and there appeared to be some holes in the data. Those issues don't dog the latest version, although Alden himself cautions that, especially in regard to translated Japanese material that has come to him second- or third-hand, room remains for improvement.
   How did Alden reach this point? He explains that after his first edition was published by NIP a number of researchers from around the globe began to assist him. Based on that work, an updated edition of 110 copies was self-published in 1999. Following more research and an update to a new database management system, a private third edition of a dozen copies was distributed to a select group of associates. The latest version includes even more information from Japanese sources and brings the book to a new level of accuracy and completeness.

   The primary objective of this book is to provide a comprehensive list of all U.S. submarine attacks for which success was claimed (or was later found to have occurred), together with corresponding information on Japanese and other ship losses during the war. In the interest of completeness, the record has been expanded to include the few attacks made by U.S. submarines in the Atlantic, the attacks made by British and Dutch submarines operating in the Pacific and Indian oceans, those made by Soviet submarines late in the war, and casualties caused by mines laid in the Far Eastern areas by U.S. and Allied submarines.
   Much of the basic information herein was published in 1989 in my book U.S. Submarine Attacks During World War II (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute). As I noted in the preface to that volume, it was "by no means ... the final word on the achievements of U.S. and Allied submarines" during the war. In fact, the objective was to "facilitate the work of future researchers by providing a handy compilation of the data recorded by others, including those entries that have turned out to be false leads in the search for the truth." Many individuals responded with new data, but the bulk of the information that has been added subsequently comes from three sources: originally top-secret ULTRA intelligence information derived from Japanese radio messages intercepted and decrypted during the war; information translated from Japanese publications by William G. Somerville of Lincolnshire, England; and material translated from Japanese and other documents by Erich Muhlthaler of Burghausen, Germany.
   ....
   Users are reminded that this list contains only attacks that were originally claimed as successful or were later determined to have been successful. Approximately an equal number of unsuccessful attacks are not included.
   Note that post-war records have shown conclusively that many claimed hits were actually misses or duds; others were based on very weak visual or audio indications and are unsupported by any records discovered to date. The fact that a claim is listed in this book should never be interpreted as evidence of an actual hit.
   Users are urged to read the...explanatory material before attempting to interpret the records of attacks, which are extremely condensed and use many abbreviations.

   Alden's concluding sentence in his explanation is something of an understatement. While he uses a format not terribly different from Rohwer, and he covers essentially the same kind of operations as Rohwer, Alden's approach is far richer in terms of information. Most importantly, Alden includes for each attack a section of comments, often equivalent of a solid paragraph of text. Alden also uses a substantially broader range of abbreviations, and that's especially evident in his comments, which sometimes read like a secret code. Without taking time to learn some of the essential abbreviations, the tables—and the comments in particular—can be nearly impossible to decipher.
   Almost the entire book comprises data about submarine attacks reduced to a tabular format with standardized entries (all of which, apparently, is currently stored in the database designed by McDonald). The table is made up of nineteen fields or elements. Here they are, quoting Alden's explanation:

1. Submarine hull number and name
2. Patrol number
3. Commanding officer's name
4. Month and year
5. Date and hour
6. Submarine's position
7. Type of target believed attacked
8. Estimated target size
9. Type of attack: torpedo hits and number fired, or gun attack
10. Result claimed: sunk, damaged, or other

The next seven data elements, which appear below the submarine entries, after the attack number, present the attack as reported from the Japanese perspective:

11. Reference Source(s): major ones are noted here, others elsewhere as described in the detailed section
12. Date: usually but not always the same as reported by the submarine
13. Location of attack: this seldom agrees exactly with the position reported by the sub- marine
14. Type of ship actually attacked
15. Tonnage of ship attacked (gross tons for merchant types, standard displacement tons for regular warships)
16. Name of ship attacked {incorrect or non-valid names are in braces}
17. Damage incurred: sunk; heavy, medium, or light damage; undamaged, etc.

In the bottom line(s), printed in italics, are the following data:

18. Comments: an abbreviated account of the attack as presented in the submarine's patrol report (PR), followed by details from the specific sources and comments by the author [in brackets].
19. Alden Evaluation: Alden's personal overall evaluation of the attack's outcome:
   S for sunk,
   D for damaged,
   0 for not hit, etc.
These are followed by symbols for Alden's estimate of the reliability of the source data. See the detailed section for a full explanation.

   Each one of those fields can have a wide range of values. The "claim," for example, can have eight different codes, ranging from sunk to damaged to "not a valid attack." Abbreviations for ship types go on for almost three columns, including "Wh" for whaling vessel, "Sam" for sampan, "Crab" for crab fishing vessel, and so on. Miscellaneous abbreviations include "b/u" for breaking-up noise, a simple "M" for the ubiquitous maru, and "S" for sank, sinking, sunk, etc.
   How does that look in action? Here are a few typical entries from a page taken at random:

217	GUARDFISH	10	Hammond	Jan 45	24/06	15-44N 135-29E	SS	NG	T2/4TUP	S
3441			Note		24	Sub position	ARS	1089	Extractor	S
			PR says ident as Japanese sub 1-165 class & was told no known friendly forces in area, hits seen, S by bow, ident as USS Extractor, ARS-15, 73 survivors picked up, 6 lost. [Attack not in SORG.]							S1E
403	ATULE	2	Maurer	Jan 45	24/20	36-47N 123-59E	AK	6700	T3/6NUP	S
3442			SM		24	36-42N 123-43E	C-AK	6890	Daiman M. #1	S
			IJ						{Taiman M. #1}
			PR says stern broke off & S, bow hit again & S. WSl says left Wakamatsu 20 Jan for Tsingtao with 7000 tons railway sleepers & 64 tons medical supplies, stopping at Moji, Shishime (Tsushima), & anchorage SW Korea; ca 1700 24th @ 36-4 IN 123-38E was hit by 2 torp in #4 hold & started to S by stern; 30 min later sub surfaced & was hit in conning tower by m/g; sub fired another torp that missed, then withdrew; ship broke in two & rear part S but fwd part floated ca 1 hr; 28 guard force & 29 crew incl captain lost, 47 survivors rescued by warship after 2 days.							S1
236	SILVERSlDES	12	Nichols, J.C.	Jan 45	25/14	31-18N 130-08E	AK	6800	T2/4DUP	D
3443			IJSM		25	31-19N 130-05E	A-AK	4556	Malay M.	S
			PR says hits heard, 2 torp hot runs in tubes. WS1&2 say en rt Moji to Kagoshima with 1939 men of 12th Division, ca 113 horses, 23 trucks, 4 Daihatsu barges &ammo; left anchorage @ Ushibuka 25 Jan, ca 1350 @ 31-18N 130-11E was hit stbd side #2 hold & under bridge & S 1353; in freezing conditions 1493 soldiers, 46 ship's gunners & 37 crew died.							S1

   Our only quibble is the decision to put the commentary in italics (something we haven't done in our examples, above) because that only reduces the legibility of what is already—quite understandably—some rather cramped and tiny text. But that's a small and unimportant caveat in a sea of data carefully refined and displayed.
   Alden and his colleagues have individually and collectively spent scores of years on this project, and it shows. With so much of the original information augmented by Ultra reports and cross-referenced against Japanese sources, it's unlikely that any major revisions will be necessary, although the relentless researchers will doubtless continue to uncover fresh nuggets about some attacks. Perhaps the next step is to put the database on the Web in a searchable, interactive format allowing users to manipulate and view entries in much the same way baseball fans can, for example, access and investigate MLB statistics for the past hundred years or so.
   Until then, the fourth edition of United States and Allied Submarine Successes is gold. If you're into submarines, especially Allied submarines during World War II, you can't live without this. It has an extravagant price tag, but Alden and crew have devoted significant chunks of their lives to this project out of sheer dedication. Even if McFarland sells a ton of copies, the authors' remuneration won't work out to more than a few cents for each hour of labor. Consequently, the least we can do is let them know how much we appreciate their diligence and hard work.
   Thanks, guys. Good job.
   We've added United States and Allied Submarine Successes to our Recommended Reading list.
   Thanks to McFarland & Co, Inc for providing this review copy.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from McFarland.

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Reviewed 25 October 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Bill Stone
May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of Stone & Stone