U.S. Submarines Through 1945
Subtitle: An Illustrated Design History
By: by Norman Friedman ; ship plans by Jim Christley and Norman Friedman.
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Annapolis, MD
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 379
ISBN-13: 9781557502636
Subjects: United States. Navy -- Submarine forces -- History -- 20th century.; Submarines (Ships) -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Other titles: United States submarines through 1945
Description: This large-format book, the seventh in Friedman's acclaimed design history series, is lavishly illustrated. Detailed inboard profiles of every distinct type of submarine the U.S. Navy bought between 1900 and 1945 (and also types exported by U.S. builders) show how the submarines changed. The accompanying text and extensive captions show why.

For example, cross sections reveal how, before 1919, the Electric Boat Company used its patented inventions to gain and maintain superiority over its main rival, the Lake Submarine Company. Numerous drawings of abortive designs illuminate the choices actually made.

.

The period covered by this book was one of radical change for the U.S. Navy. When the modern navy first considered buying a submarine in 1887, it was a coast defense force confined to the Western Hemisphere. The United States became a world power just as its new submarines offered a way of defending its most distant possession, the Philippines, without tying down an expensive fleet. World War I found U.S. submarines in an unexpected role, countering German U-boats in British waters.

Then the situation changed again with unexpected speed.

As arms limitation treaties and American politics drastically limited both naval growth and the ability to defend outlying possessions, the United States began to face the real possibility of having to fight across the Pacific. Submarines turned out to be an important part of the solution. They were effective partly because they were backed by brilliant technologists, but more so because the submariners showed enormous imagination.

One of their own, Chester Nimitz, commanded the U.S. naval forces that won the Pacific.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-366) and index.
Table of contents: title: List of Tables; title: Preface; title: List of Abbreviations; label: 1
title: Introduction; label: 2
title: Beginnings: The Age of Manpower; label: 3
title: Holland and His Rivals; label: 4
title: Harbor Defense; label: 5
title: The General Board's Coastal Defense Submarines; label: 6
title: Fleet Submarines; label: 7
title: The S-Boats; label: 8
title: World War I; label: 9
title: Submarines for a Pacific War; label: 10
title: Submarines for Mobilization; label: 11
title: Detour: The Return to Limited Dimensions; label: 12
title: World War II; title: Appendices; label: A
title: Submarine Propulsion; label: B
title: Periscopes; label: C
title: U.S. Submarines Through 1945; label: D
title: Submarine Data; title: Notes; title: Index