UNDER SEA WARFARE

Richard Humble

BCA 1981

Under Sea Warfare is a sobering yet compelling account of the evolution of the modern fighting submarine, from its debut in 1914 to the 1980s and what could turn out to be the eve of World War III.

Assisted by 200 photographs, maps and charts, Richard Humble traces the development not only of the submarine but also of its weapons, revolutionary power plants and it’s strategic role in war and peace, drawing revealing balance sheets of the leading navel powers at significant dates in modern history.

Until 1944-45 the undersea war was fought mainly by submersible boat which had to surface regularly and frequently for ventilation and to recharge batteries. Countermeasures to the submarine relied heavily on this weakness, and thus a high proportion of submarine attacks and sinkings were made on or near the surface.

Then came the power revolution. The Walther U-boat engine made possible the prototype of the modern submarine, and the nuclear-powered USS Nautilus of 1955 made it a reality. The technique of firing rocket missiles from under water (again pioneered by Nazi Germany) ushered in the Polaris era, giving the submarine a role which no other warship type has ever known – that of a global deterrent.

And yet, as Richard Humble forcefully argues, the tools for undersea warfare in the 1980s do not consist solely of giant nuclear-powered submarines, constantly patrolling unseen beneath the world’s oceans and waiting for the order to destroy multiple targets with nuclear missiles. The traditional role of the submarine – as a commerce destroyer – is more viable than ever, and could well prove that the trump card in a ‘conventional’ World War III. To anyone tempted, in the Trident era, to forget the lessons of the two World Wars, undersea warfare will be compulsive reading.

Apart from a minor split to the rear lower cover (1cm) both the book and the dust jacket are both in very good condition. Illustrated in both black and white. Of interest to anyone studying undersea warfare.