CLASSIC DIVING BOOKS - Submersibles, and early submarines.

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CLASSIC DIVE BOOKS - Submarines and submersibles.

Please note: The books are listed for collectors interest only, and not offered for sale.
See also Military Operations and Navy Diving.
See also Oceanography and Deep Water Exploration.

AGAINST ALL ODDS
Midget Submrines Against the Tirpitz.

BACK FROM THE DEEP.
The Strange Story of the Sister Subs Squalus and Sculpin.
Carl LaVo.

BATTLE BELOW
Robert J. Casey
Written in 1943 with the encouragement and the special co-operation of the US Navy Department. Its publication was then held up by the Navy censorship, and released on June 8, 1945. I could more details but the info came from an eBay sale where I have not come across more parochial drivel that the description for this book. By the author of Torpedo Junction.

BLOW ALL BALLAST! THE STORY OF THE SQUALUS
Nat A. Barrows.
Publisher, date?
Hardcover, dustjacket, well illustrated.

DARING DIVES OF SUBMARINES AND SUBMERSIBLES
Gillian Hancock.
Published 1980 by Kaye & Ward, London.
Hardcover, dustjacket, 124 pages.
Covers the dives of several early 'submarines' including the Turtle, followed by more recent 20th century events involving U-Boats, British and American submrines. It is by no means a classic and appears to be aimed at the teenage market, although this may be an injustice to the author.
[ps]

FEW SURVIVED. A history of submarine disasters.
Edwyn Gray. Publisher: Leo Cooper, 1986. Illustrated with some photographs.
A comprehensive account of every peacetime submarine disaster from 1774 to the time of publication. The author examines most of the important sinkings in considerable and describing the attempts made of rescuing the crew and or the vessel.From submersibles of the late 18th century down to the nuclear powered monsters of today, the authot describes in parallel the developements of underwater rescue operations and survival techniques. Several of the incidents in this book appear in print for the first time, others, such as the sinking of the Thetis have been told many times before, but lose nothing in the telling. Among the more extraordinary episodes may be mentioned that of the affray, the whereabouts of which were revealed by a ghost, and of Operation Jennifer, in which Howard Hughes was asked by the CIA to assist in the recovery of a soviet missile submarine.

HELL AT 50 FATHOMS
Charles A. Lockwood.
U.S.Navy submarine disasters that led to modern survival and salvage methods.

ONE OF OUR SUBMARINES
Edward Young.
Published by Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1952.
Hardcover, presume dust jacket, 320 pages, mono plates.
Biography of operations in a British submarine, HMS Storm, by the commander.
(Image is of title page)

ONLY FOUR ESCAPED
C.E.T. Warren and James Benson
Originally published 1958, many later editions, and retitled, THE ADMIRALTY REGRETS, and THETIS - THE ADMIRALTY REGRETS (currently available).
Hardcover, fully illustrated.
The true story of the account of the sinking of the Royal Navy Submarine, Thetis, on June 1, 1939. (Same year as the sinking of USS Squalus). Only four men survived out of a crew of 103. A truly tragic event in the history of Submarines.

THETIS - THE ADMIRALTY REGRETS.
C.Warren & J.Benson.
Softcover reprint of the classic. Publishers: Avid Publications, UK. Circa 1997.
Foreword by Derek Arnold, a survivpr's son. Postscript by David Roberts, maritime historian (who republished this edition)
From the Oceans Enterprises' catalog:
This is a truly remarkable book; I just couldn't put it down once I started. It tells of the suffering of the men trapped in the hull as failed attempts were made to secure the submarine and rescue the men. It tells of the courageous, and lucky escape, of four men, and how four others died a horrible death. It tells of the conspiracy to hush up the true events that took place, the buck shoving, and lack of responsibility of the Royal Navy. And of course, it tells of how such a tragedy could have occured in the first place, and the suibsequent succesful salvage of the submarine. Was the Admiralty more concerned about saving the submarine, rather than rescuing the civilians and navy men on board? Softcover, 240 pages, mono plates.

THE ADMIRALTY REGRETS...
The Story Of His Majesty's Submarines Thetis and Thunderbolt.
C. E. T. Warren & James Benson.
Published by George G. Harrap, London, 1958, 1st edition.

THE RESCUER
The extraordinary life of the Navy's "Swede" Momsen and his role in an epic submarine disaster.
Peter Maas.

THE TERRIBLE HOURS
The Man Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History
Peter Maas. Copyright 1999. Hardcover with dust jacket, 260 pages. First published USA by Harper Collins, 1999. Paperback edition publsihed year 2000.
On the eve of World War II, America's newest submarine plunged helplessly to the North Atlantic bottom during a test dive. Miraculously, thirty-three crew members still survived. While their wives and girlfriends waited in nearly unbearable tension on shore, their ultimate fate would depend on one man. In this thrilling true narrative of terror, heroism and courage in the depths of a malevolent ocean, prizewinning author Peter Maas brings us in vivid detail a blow-by-blow account of the disaster and its uncertain outcome. The sub was the Squalus. The man was a U.S. Navy officer, Charles "Swede" Momsen, an extraordinary combination of visionary, scientist and man of action. Until his advent, it was accepted that if a submarine went down, her crew was doomed. But Momsen, in the face of an indifferent, often sneering naval bureaucracy, battling red tape and disbelieving naysayers every step of the way, risked his own life again and again against the unknown in his efforts to invent and pioneer every escape and rescue device, every deep-sea diving technique, to save an entombed crew. With the crippled, partially flooded Squalus lost on the North Atlantic floor, Momsen faced his personal moment of truth: Could he actually pluck those men from a watery grave? Had all his work been in vain? The legacy of his death-defying probes into our inner space remains with us today, and in this depiction of the perseverance and triumph of the human spirit, Swede Momsen is given his rightful place in the pantheon of true American heroes. This is truly an excellent book. (eBay description.) [ps-soft]
Paperback edition still in print. Available from Oceans Enterprises.

PREPARE TO DIVE - The Story of Man Underwater. J.Coggins
Published by Bailey Brothers and Swinfen Ltd, Fokestone (England), 1973; and Dodd, Mead & Co, New York.
By no means a classic, it is still a very readable and interesting book, covering early diving bells, through to submarines and underwatwer research vessels. Many line drawings throughout, no photographs. Hardcover, 128 pages, dust jacket.
[ps]

RAIDERS OF THE DEEP. Lowell Thomas.
William Heinemann Ltd. London. First published February 1929.
The development of the submarine and subsequent sinkings and ememy action. Includes the sinking of the battleship Triumph, and liner Lusitania, inclduing an account from the German side. Quite a bit on the U-Boat side. Hardcover, no dustjacket (my copy), 362 pages, index, many historic mono photogaphs.
[ps]
Title page shown. Black cloth boards.

SHIPS BENEATH THE SEA:
A HISTORY OF SUBMARINES AND SUBMERSIBLES.
Robert F. Burgess.
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, London etc. 1975.
Robert Hale & Co., London. 1975.
The best book I have found on the subject, concisely written, factual and interesting. Introduces Dr. Cornelius Van Drebbel, one of the inventors of the submarine in the seventeenth century; the Eagle and the Turtle of the eighteenth century, and later developments of submarine and submersibles. Hadrcover, dust jacket, 260 pages, many mono photographs.
British edition (right) published in 1975 by Robert Hale and Company.
[ps]
See authors page: Robert Burgess.

No cover image.

STAND BY TO SURFACE
Richard Baxter. Published 1944 by Cassell and Company, Ltd, London.
Stories of the men nd ships in th submrine service, including the ships Safari, Sealion, Truant, Trusty and many others. Predominantly on the British service, also covers Polish, Dutch, Greek and American submarines.

SUBSUNK - The Story of Submarine Escape. Captain W.O. Shelford.
First published in Great Britain 1960, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, London.
Hardcover, dustjacket, 256 pages, mono plates throughout, drawings.
Includes 'the first escape ever'; Thetis, Squalus; rescue bells, escape apparatus. A very interesting book. (Christopher Deane collection).
The first half of the book describes successful escapes from sunken submarines from early periods, one as early as the 1850's. The second half is the author's personal experiences of pioneering many methods of submarine escape from 1941 when he was appointed to command the Royal Navy's Submarine Escape Training Unit. All types of submarine escape apparatus known up to that date are also described with detailed drawings.

THE WONDERS OF THE SUBMARINE AND OTHER UNDER-WATER INVENTIONS.
T.W.Corbin. Seeley, Service and Co. Limited, London. 1918.
A delightful book with several excellent mono photographs, covering the early development of standard rig diving, diving bells, caisson work and the submarine, submairne weapons, disasters and escape from a submarine. It is of historic interest because of its age, and its content. Hardcover, no dust jacket, 164 pages.

No image
available.

WARFISH
George Grider and Lydel Sims.
Published 1958 by Cassell & Co, London.
I havn't read it yet, and without a blurb it is not possible to give a reasonable summary. Appears to cover submarine operations in th western Pacifc area in World War 2, after the loss of th British ships Repulse and Prince of Wales. American submarines Wahoo and Hawkbill are mentioned.
Hardcover, dustjacket (I presume), 214 pages, no photographs.

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