Summary of Eugene B. Fluckey's Thunder Below!

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I had radioed the rest of my wolfpack, the subs Herring and Golet, to assemble so I could explain the search plan I wanted them to follow. I had known the former skipper of the Barb when he was skipper of the S-45 in Panama. She was not credited with sinking anything on her first six war patrols.

#2 I was assigned to the Barb, a submarine, as its captain. I was excited, but the fates were still gambling with me. Admiral Lockwood sent me a message stating that he would visit Midway and want to talk with me on 20 May, the day before we were scheduled to depart for the Barb’s eighth patrol in the Okhotsk Sea north of Japan.

#3 The Barb, Herring, and Golet were assigned to cover the whole of the Okhotsk Sea jointly. Whenever anyone made a contact with a convoy, the Wolfpack Commander was to be the Barb. I was confident I would do well.

#4 The crew of the Barb was extremely excited and ready to sink the five ships. They had never fired any stern torpedoes, but they were going to do it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669363842

IRB Media

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Insights on Eugene B. Fluckey's Thunder Below!

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I had radioed the rest of my wolfpack, the subs Herring and Golet, to assemble so I could explain the search plan I wanted them to follow. I had known the former skipper of the Barb when he was skipper of the S-45 in Panama. She was not credited with sinking anything on her first six war patrols.

#2

I was assigned to the Barb, a submarine, as its captain. I was excited, but the fates were still gambling with me. Admiral Lockwood sent me a message stating that he would visit Midway and want to talk with me on 20 May, the day before we were scheduled to depart for the Barb’s eighth patrol in the Okhotsk Sea north of Japan.

#3

The Barb, Herring, and Golet were assigned to cover the whole of the Okhotsk Sea jointly. Whenever anyone made a contact with a convoy, the Wolfpack Commander was to be the Barb. I was confident I would do well.

#4

The crew of the Barb was extremely excited and ready to sink the five ships. They had never fired any stern torpedoes, but they were going to do it.

#5

The battle stations’ gongs resounded through the boat. Men scurried to their stations. I let them pass and crossed the passageway to my cabin. I picked up my binoculars and gloves and headed aft.

#6

The scout plane was supposed to be on station to cover the convoy, but it was foggy at Matsuwa, so the planes didn’t see the ships. The three ships dispersed: the Madras Maru headed south, the Koto Maru west, and tail-end Charlie, the Hokuyo Maru, east, returning to Matsuwa.

#7

I was on the deck of the USS Tang, ready to fire the torpedoes against the Japanese transport ship Kasima Maru. I shouted directions to the crew as they prepared to fire.

#8

I pushed the firing plunger near the helm. The Barb shuddered as the torpedo was ejected by high-pressure air and roared off. The tube then vented inboard to avoid a large air bubble rising to the surface.

#9

The battle was over, and the Koto Maru had been sunk. We had tracked her all the way to the Kurile islands, and then ended around her. We had fired torpedoes, and they had hit their target.

#10

I needed a prisoner who knew the area. In half an hour, I found flotsam and a few survivors on top of the floating wooden hatch bails. Sadly, most of them were suffering from hypothermia. As we slowly moved through the human wreckage, none of the officers had survived.

#11

The prisoner, Kito, told me that the Herring had sunk the destroyer, but nothing else. Since we had sunk two ships, the Herring was probably chasing the surviving ship. We hadn’t picked up any interference from Herring’s radar since early afternoon, so she must be chasing toward Matsuwa.

#12

The Barb’s performance was flawless. The numerous failures of torpedoes to explode were solved. Admiral Lockwood fired torpedoes against cliffs and dropped some with inert loads onto concrete pads without their exploding.

#13

The Barb’s crew celebrated the double sinking of the destroyer Ishigaki and the merchant ship Herring by having a cake in the control room. Then, they all went to their bunks to sleep. Tomczyk, however, kept writing in his