I. J. Galantin (1910–2004)

As I was reading this account of the patrols of Galantin for the U.S. Navy, I could not help recalling a similarly organized book to a German submarine captain, whose name I cannot, at this moment, recall. The German was shown successfully torpedoing one Allied merchant freighter after another, dozens in fact, with little apparent trouble or effort. Galantin described in some detail, for you can tell, if nothing else, he was a meticulous man, lining up his targets, waiting for the perfect show more moment, angle, depth, distance, etc., by which point the weapon would ignite prematurely, miss in front or in the rear, or continue safely underneath the intended victim. On one patrol, in fact, his ship did not sink one vessel, what a waste of diesel fuel and torpedoes. Galatin wants to see the good in every crewman, and, I am sure, he was well liked, where as the German was probably, at most, respected. The question is who understood his role better and did the better job? This guy was eventually made an admiral, which shows a certain political aptitude or, at least, a prime example of the Peter Principle at work. show less

Written well, this book is easy to read. The skipper of USS Halibut describes his career and the service aboard. The Halibut took service during the second world war in the Pacific ocean, aginst the Japanese navy.
After reading this book I was left with the impression the the Japanese did not have such a strong navy at all, I think that the author downplayed they role and abilities a bit too much.
Also the problems with the early models of torpedos are described, something I did not find in show more previous books I read.
I would say, rad it, but only if you are interested in submarines or in submariners. show less