What do you think?
Rate this book
Hellcats: The Epic Story of World War II's Most Daring Submarine Raid
A heart-stopping true tale of a submarine mission aimed at destroying Japan’s merchant marine lifeline and ending World War II. By 1945, the U.S. Navy's submarine force in the Pacific had sunk over a thousand enemy cargo ships and tankers supplying the food, weapons, and oil Japan needed to continue to fight. Yet this once mighty merchant fleet continued to thrive in the Sea of Japan, where, protected from American submarines by a seemingly impenetrable barrier of deadly minefields, they provided a tenuous lifeline for the Japanese. Senior American commanders believed that if these enemy ships were sunk, Japan would be forced to surrender. Here is the incredible story of Operation Barney, the daring plot to penetrate those minefields and decimate the enemy fleet. The brainchild of the dedicated sub commander Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, the mission would hinge on a new experimental sonar system that would, with luck, guide American submarines safely past the mines and into the open sea. The nine submarines chosen, nicknamed Hellcats, were tasked with the impossible—the combined crews of 760 submariners all knew their chances of survival hinged on an unproven technology and their own nerve. Based on original documents and the poignant personal letters of one doomed Hellcat commander, Sasgen crafts a classic naval tale of one of World War II's most dangerous missions.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 2, 2010
56 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 19, 2021
ALL. THE. STARS!!!! Wow! This was a non stop excitement show! The author has done a masterpiece tribute to these submarines, more specifically Commander Edge and his exciting career. The weaving in of personal letters to wife made me tear up with his love for her and his sense of duty to his country. Absolutely the best submarine book I’ve read yet and will be reading everything in this authors back list I can get my hands on! BRILLIANT!!!!!!!
January 30, 2025
A gripping, epic tale of submarine warfare at the end of WWII. Great use of technical explanations, personal letters, and historical context.
December 30, 2020
In 1945, as Japan was in her death throes, nine American Submarines attempted to finish the job by sinking ships in the Sea of Japan- the last place still safe for Imperial Shipping. Protected by minefields at two openings, and ice at the third, direct shipping between Korea, Manchuria, and Soviet Russia was still plying the sea with impunity- while American and Royal Navy Submarines were wiping out the Marus in the rest of the Pacific. Called Operation Barney, the raid was the brain child of Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood- and required some new technology, called FMS sonar- for mine detection. Peter Sasgen, the Author, has written on Submarines before, and keeps the pace up, weaving personal and military stories well as the raid is developed and then executed, with mixed results. The Japanese were shocked and badly stung, but there was an attack on an ally -and some casualties, so the story is not all success. Still a very Compelling read and very informative on US submarine warfare in WWII.
To tell the story of the specific raid, Sasgen has to tell a lot more of US submarine and WWII Submarine history. The whole Torpedo Crisis of 1941-43 is explored, as are the advances in Radar and Sonar that aided the US undersea effort. I did not know how much Japanese Sonar and Radar had developed in the war and found this refresher class very useful. American doctrine , the technology and the distances are quite different from Atlantic Sub warfare, and Sasgen takes you through the history quite ably. There's also enough content on the human side of navy and submarine life for those more mainstream readers. The tension of sneaking through/around a minefield comes through to any reader.
There is some adult themed content so this is a book best read by the Junior reader over about 13. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, a real boon. Not sure if people are gaming submarine warfare and raids- but if they are, you have all you need for a cool scenario, as well as information on many other cruises. The modeler will get diorama and "dry for wet" ideas for displays. For the enthusiast, the story of a new technology's adoption, training and in field use in the navy context is just too good to pass up. We get to understand the frustrations of a service forced to fight with inferior tools for too long- and their race to make up for that lost time. I really enjoyed the book- but I don't think you have to be a Military History buff to join me, it's for everyone.
To tell the story of the specific raid, Sasgen has to tell a lot more of US submarine and WWII Submarine history. The whole Torpedo Crisis of 1941-43 is explored, as are the advances in Radar and Sonar that aided the US undersea effort. I did not know how much Japanese Sonar and Radar had developed in the war and found this refresher class very useful. American doctrine , the technology and the distances are quite different from Atlantic Sub warfare, and Sasgen takes you through the history quite ably. There's also enough content on the human side of navy and submarine life for those more mainstream readers. The tension of sneaking through/around a minefield comes through to any reader.
There is some adult themed content so this is a book best read by the Junior reader over about 13. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, a real boon. Not sure if people are gaming submarine warfare and raids- but if they are, you have all you need for a cool scenario, as well as information on many other cruises. The modeler will get diorama and "dry for wet" ideas for displays. For the enthusiast, the story of a new technology's adoption, training and in field use in the navy context is just too good to pass up. We get to understand the frustrations of a service forced to fight with inferior tools for too long- and their race to make up for that lost time. I really enjoyed the book- but I don't think you have to be a Military History buff to join me, it's for everyone.
October 9, 2018
The author takes a rather biased approach to submarine operations, and to Operation Barney (he seems to blindly support them and provides no historical context to back this opinion). He also has a creepy obsession with "the female companions" provided to the captains of the various submarines.
April 17, 2018
Forgot how much I liked submarine stories as a kid.
Great WWII tale of sneaking behind enemy lines with new tech that few people trust until it is all over.
Great WWII tale of sneaking behind enemy lines with new tech that few people trust until it is all over.
April 24, 2018
Little known story of one of the last WW2 submarine missions.
April 14, 2019
Very interesting, using Love Letters, Official Records from both sides, and older books. Gives the reader a little insight to submarine warfare during WWII
July 12, 2022
Excellent WWII
February 22, 2012
They call themselves The Silent Service with pride, as a badge of honor. They labor in silence; invisible to the world above and elusive as smoke. If successful, their exploits are never spoken of, never reported. If they fail, all they leave behind is a pin on a map and a tag that says "Missing - presumed lost".
In the normally clandestine and closed world of WWII submarine warfare, a "secret mission" was a guarantee that no one would ever know of success, failure, or even that an operation occured. In Hellcats, Peter Sasgen gives honorable testimony to the contribution and courage of a group of 800 unknown men who, in the late days of WWII, risked all to press the US attack directly into the heart of the Japanese supply lines in an effort to strangle and starve an enemy who was expected to fight to the last man.
Faced with unreasonable odds, and unreliable equipment, the Hellcats of Operation Barney threaded through minefields and enemy fleets, successfully penetrating the protective net surrounding Japan to show that there was nowhere the might of the US military could not reach. A secret mission, in the late days of a war against a declining enemy who would be utterly defeated by atomic weapons just months after Operation Barney, these men and their mission could easily be relegated to a footnote scribbled in the margin of history. Sasgen delivers a strong telling of the story, as an observer and in their own words, of the men and the mission of Operation Barney, shining a light on a mission perhaps minor in the grand view of the World War, but major in its example of fearlessnes, innovation and commitment to duty.
A recommended read for any WWII or naval history buff.
In the normally clandestine and closed world of WWII submarine warfare, a "secret mission" was a guarantee that no one would ever know of success, failure, or even that an operation occured. In Hellcats, Peter Sasgen gives honorable testimony to the contribution and courage of a group of 800 unknown men who, in the late days of WWII, risked all to press the US attack directly into the heart of the Japanese supply lines in an effort to strangle and starve an enemy who was expected to fight to the last man.
Faced with unreasonable odds, and unreliable equipment, the Hellcats of Operation Barney threaded through minefields and enemy fleets, successfully penetrating the protective net surrounding Japan to show that there was nowhere the might of the US military could not reach. A secret mission, in the late days of a war against a declining enemy who would be utterly defeated by atomic weapons just months after Operation Barney, these men and their mission could easily be relegated to a footnote scribbled in the margin of history. Sasgen delivers a strong telling of the story, as an observer and in their own words, of the men and the mission of Operation Barney, shining a light on a mission perhaps minor in the grand view of the World War, but major in its example of fearlessnes, innovation and commitment to duty.
A recommended read for any WWII or naval history buff.
February 18, 2011
(same subject as Admiral Lockwood's "Hellcats of the Sea") It can come across as dryly historical at times while outlining in detail the administrative/political/technical aspects of the daring submarine mission, and at others times is an interesting summary/account of various ships' experiences. On the other end, it is touching since it covers the MIA stress and tragedies of the families and their struggle for the truth of what went wrong for one of the ships, struggling to discover the fate of their MIA men (Submarines disappear without a trace and usually are "all hands lost"). It strikes, a sometimes dry, balance of researched history and biography, so if you're looking for a "put-me-inside-a-submarine to live the experience" book, try Silent Running by Calvert, which written in the first person, and not a re-tooled summary of an Admiral's book and various ships logs and interveiws, as this book is.
May 28, 2013
This is a reasonably well-written book about submariners in World War II. It suffered from the same malady as many popular World War II histories -- lack of historical analysis. It's not so much that I begrudge the author for not providing a historian's eye, but it makes for less of a vivid story. There were far too many discursions into letters home for my tastes. As a straightforward rendition of World War II history, though, it does what I like the most and focuses on individual sailors' experiences. For what it's worth, I read it mostly for the science/technology elements key to this particular raid. That coverage isn't exactly magnificent, but it's information that as far as I can tell would have been relatively hard to find elsewhere outside of industry or military publications. It's worth a read for anyone interested in submariner experiences in World War II, or in the pre-nuke technology of subs. I wouldn't say it's a standout, but it's a solid entry in the genre.
October 4, 2017
As a former submariner, I enjoyed this. Although the submarines I rode were many times larger and more comfortable than the ones of WWII, there were times when I could identify with some of the feelings of the men on those submarines. I am undecided as to whether the mission was unnecessary or not. Maybe it was for revenge or maybe the higher ups in the sub program wanted to prove the submarines were a very viable weapon if used right. I also wonder how many boats and men were lost because of BUORDs bureaucracy regarding torpedos and blaming the submariners for their failures. I occasionally visit the USS Drum at Battleship Park in Mobile and marvel at the conditions the early submariners endured. It definitely takes a different breed.
January 27, 2011
This is an interesting book documenting a part of the WWII sub operations in the pacific. I would have prefered a little more technical information regarding the subs and equipment although I'm sure it's all 'out there' if I were to search. Mr. Sasgen succeeded in catching my interest in the human side of the story, although there are no doubt thousands of sad stories related to the losses of war.
July 21, 2012
Submarine fans will enjoy this story of a group incursion into the Sea of Japan just before the end of the war.
This military exercise, like some others, is controversial to some today as the second guessing about how the war with Japan should have been brought to a close. Fortunately, only one submarine was lost.
Regardless, the book paints the work of the officers and seamen of this subs with high accord.
This military exercise, like some others, is controversial to some today as the second guessing about how the war with Japan should have been brought to a close. Fortunately, only one submarine was lost.
Regardless, the book paints the work of the officers and seamen of this subs with high accord.
May 11, 2024
Hellcats, Bonefish, Suspense
A very good read. This is one book that I really couldn’t put down for long. I realize, since when I took a history class, in college, and with a small group of classmates, we did research on submarine warfare, in and around the Sea of Japanese. The men in these boats faced great danger each patrol. It’s been so long ago I can’t remember the details of what we found during our study, but it was fascinating, while also frightening.
A very good read. This is one book that I really couldn’t put down for long. I realize, since when I took a history class, in college, and with a small group of classmates, we did research on submarine warfare, in and around the Sea of Japanese. The men in these boats faced great danger each patrol. It’s been so long ago I can’t remember the details of what we found during our study, but it was fascinating, while also frightening.
decided-not-to-read
May 20, 2011Unfortunately, this is one of those popular military history books that can't just stick to the facts, or even stick mostly to the facts with a little clearly labeled speculation to try to maximize the excitement. It has to try to jerk the reader's emotions around by emphasizing all the great and small tragedies of war.
June 18, 2012
A well written account of a monumental shift supremacy in the Pacific. This book delves into the multi-pronged attempts to end the Second World War. A secret mission which, if successful, would break the back of the Japanese and force their surrender. Sasgen blends the strategic with the personal to paint a picture of the heroes of underwater warfare.
February 4, 2016
I'm an avid reader of submarine WWII history in the Pacific theatre and had high hopes for this book.
I found only a few new morsels of history in this book and was saddened to read about what I think was a needless high risk mission such as this book covers so late in the war.
I found only a few new morsels of history in this book and was saddened to read about what I think was a needless high risk mission such as this book covers so late in the war.
July 24, 2022
Very interesting account of developing technology and a daring application. Too bad it happened so close to the eventual end of the war. the book includes an excellent account of the misery of uncertainty for the people who waited for collogues and loved ones to return.
July 25, 2022
SSN Bonefish and related
Great historical research, great storytelling! Worth your time if interested in little known naval activities in the closing days of WW2 Pacific Theater of Operations...
Great historical research, great storytelling! Worth your time if interested in little known naval activities in the closing days of WW2 Pacific Theater of Operations...
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews