Wolf Pack

In early June 1945, nine American submarines slipped beneath the waves of the Tsushima Strait, picked their way through a dense minefield using state-of-the-art sonar, and entered the Sea of Japan, Emperor Hirohito’s "private pond." Over the next few weeks, these relentless hunters would decimate what remained of the Japanese merchant fleet, already driven to near extinction by coordinated submarine attack groups. It was the culmination of one of World War II’s most successful naval strategies–the wolf pack.

In Wolf Pack,Steven Trent Smith, the acclaimed author of The Rescue, traces the development of the pack from its origins at the end of the First World War, through its devastating use by the Nazis against British convoys, to the key role it played in America’s victory in the Pacific. Drawing from personal letters and journals, ships’ logs, official reports, interviews, and thousands of top secret documents only recently declassified, Steven Trent Smith creates a brilliantly detailed history of the people, ideas, tactics, and technologies that made the wolf pack such an effective weapon.

Bristling with undersea action, compelling human drama, and nerve-jangling suspense, this powerful account of the war beneath the Pacific includes unforgettable portraits of the commanders, officers, and crewmen who carried out these extremely hazardous and complex operations. You’ll meet Blair’s Blasters, Parks' Pirates, Whitaker’s Wolves, and many others as they stalk the "Convoy College" in search of prey, sink hundreds of enemy vessels, and test new tactics and technologies in the constant drive to perfect their deadly skills.

You'll also meet the visionary German and American officers who transformed submarine warfare. Vizeadmiral Karl Donitz developed the first successful German wolf packs; Captains Charles "Swede" Momsen and John "Babe" Brown created a masterly doctrine of coordinated submarine attack; and Vice Admiral Charles "Uncle Charlie" Lockwood struggled to implement the strategy in the Pacific.

This authoritative account of one of the most important, least-explored aspects of the Pacific war also features scores of memorable anecdotes. Entertaining, engrossing, and meticulously detailed, Wolf Pack is must reading for anyone fascinated by submarine warfare; World War II; or the conduct of men whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity are put to the ultimate test.