Hellcats

The Epic Story of World War II's Most Daring Submarine Raid

By Peter Sasgen
2010, NAL Hardcover
ISBN 0451231368
Hardcover, 336 pages

Descripton:

In 1945-with no knowledge of the development of the atomic bomb- American submarine commanders, desperate to avoid an invasion of the home islands, believed that if the Japanese merchant fleet was sunk, the enemy would be forced to surrender. The problem: the ships were protected in the Sea of Japan from American submarines by a seemingly impenetrable barrier of deadly minefields. For the first time, Peter Sasgen tells the gripping story of Operation Barney, a suicide mission in which nine submarines, nicknamed Hellcats, were tasked with the impossible-get through the underwater mines and decimate the enemy fleet. Success would hinge on a new experimental sonar system that would-with luck-guide American submarines safely past the mines. Drawing on original documents and the poignant personal letters of one doomed Hellcat commander, Sasgen crafts a classic naval tale of the heroic submariners and one of World War II's most ambitious and dangerous missions.