This booklet is one of a series popular with the general public regarding combat between two opposing entities. In this example, we have an examination of the United States Navy submarine force against the Imperial Japanese Navy's anti-submarine escorts or destroyer force. The author, Mark Stille, is a retired United States Navy commander with a number of Osprey Publishing titles to his credit.
The superficial understanding of the Pacific War tends to be one of aircraft carriers and island invasions, a naval war in which the combatants rarely saw each other and fought at long range with aircraft. Often overlooked is the devastating unrestricted submarine campaign conducted by the United States against Japanese shipping, against which Japan was ill-prepared. Indeed, so successful was the American campaign against the seaborne trade on which Japan's economy depended that it had virtually ceased by the early months of 1945 and hence, the territories seized from the imperial powers (the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands) so swiftly and easily in late 1941 and early 1942 were rendered valueless.
The booklet is organized into a first section that explores the development and employment of submarines and escorts as conceived by the two nations prior to and during the war. With this foundation in place, separate sections then examine the strategic environment in which the campaign was fought, a relatively lengthy section as to the technical specifications of the various classes of vessel used by both sides, a short review of the personnel and their training on both sides, a thumbnail sketch of the American campaign against shipping and the ineffective Japanese countermeasures, and a conclusion.
The production quality of the booklet is very high, with a large number of photographs as well as diagrams and illustrations of the various classes of vessels involved. Every effort has been made to be even-handed in this approach, which succeeds quite well in that regard. Accompanying the illustrations are tables of typical data, such as performance parameters, weapons and dates of construction and similar aspects of relevance and interest.
This is absolutely not an academic book, but it can serve as a rough and ready sketch of the American submarine war against Japan. Its small bibliography can at least initiate the exploration of more comprehensive accounts, but it only represents a start. The analysis provided is high level and is fine as far as it goes but is limited with little nuance. Its merits include brevity and it can serve as a quick introduction and overview to the subject. The booklet is also well produced as is typical of Osprey Publications and will find a ready audience attracted to such offerings.
