The Bravest Man: The Story of Richard O'Kane & U.S. Submariners in the Pacific War

Richard O'Kane's story is one of a humble man who did a job few could do even in this so-called peacetime world. Like all WWII submariners, he lived, worked, laughed and suffered in conditions few would or could imagine these days. The men were a special breed and their contribution to the war, especially the Pacific theatre, was immense. Many paid the ultimate price for their commitment and loyalty. An exciting read with a "can't put down" element to it. Again, the revelations of the men about the conditions and command that they served under makes you wonder why the stuck to their posts. Some of the decisions they had to obey will astound you. A top read.

Very engaging. They were special men and women in those days, thank God! I felt I was there in the submarine with those heroes. Well done.

This book is intended as a biography of Richard O'Kane, the legendary submarine captain who first was executive officer of Wahoo under Dudley Morton (himself a legend) and then captain of the Tang during the fateful year of 1944. O'Kane was a famous captain, in that he probably sank more ships than any other submarine captain during the war, and did it with a skill and confidence that made it obvious his successes weren't luck. He was finally brought down (the sub was sunk) when one of the torpedoes the submarine fired malfunctioned, and turned back towards it, hitting and sinking it.Thing is, O'Kane wrote two books: an account of the Wahoo, and another of his time on the Tang (titled Clear the Bridge!). The latter is probably one of the best war memoirs to come out of World War II, and the former isn't at all bad. The question then becomes why write this book? Does Tuohy have anything to add to what O'Kane wrote? Well, he does his best to add context to the events that he's recounting. He spends a lot of time discussing the overall aspect of the War in the Pacific, and even more the submarine war against the Japanese. He also spends a lot of time discussing the politics, tactics and strategy, and technical aspects of the submarine war, much more than O'Kane did. While some of this is reasonable and interesting, it also felt at times like the author was padding what he wrote, or that he didn't know when he should stop elaborating on something.The book is also oddly constructed. It begins with a very long flashback, recounting much of the Wahoo's patrols with O'Kane as Morton's executive officer, then starting out with O'Kane's birth and upbringing, the Naval Academy, and his pre-war service. By the time you get all this sorted out you'll be a bit confused, at least. The author spends a great deal of time discussing O'Kane's command methods and the tactics he used when attacking Japanese shipping, and is generally admiring of his careful thought process.There is a lot here. At times it almost seems as if the author is trying to be Roscoe or Blair, and recount the whole of the submarine war again. At other times, he concentrates on the Tang or on O'Kane, and then the book gets much more focused. It's almost as if he didn't have an editor, or alternatively the editor didn't know what he was doing. In any case, if you can put aside the odd composition of the book, this is an interesting story, and worth reading.

Book is in very good condition.

If you are interested in World War 2 and it’s history then this a great book for you. The author is telling the story of Dick O’Kane, however it is embedded in the history of the “Silent Service” of submarine warfare during this war.

As a 30 year Army officer, now retired, I have read a lot of military history books but very few about the Navy. A friend recommended this book to me and I really loved it. I grew up watching Run Silent, Run Deep and was captivated by this story of incredible bravery and courage in the face of very potential death in the dark depths of the ocean. I almost could not put it down reading it in just a few days. Very well written and gripping story of extraordinary young men dedicated to the task of sinking as many enemy ships as possible. Very highly recommended.

Hardcover book rated "used, very good condition"It is basically perfect, new condition.

Until the atom began to provide energy for submarines, underwater boats were usually named for fish. Shark, Trout, Albacore. And Tang. One would think this powerful warboat was named after a aggressive fish unafraid even of sharks. But tang is a generic word for many species in the scalpelfish family, so named because a bone in their tails can put a dandy slice through your finger. Indeed, numerous representatives of the colorful tang are in the 6 inch class and make a fine contribution to a saltwater aquarium. In The Bravest Man: Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang,Pulitzer Prize winning author William Tuohy weaves a multi-colored blanket of history about the silent service of the early 1940s, and especially about the Tang and her only commanding officer, Commander Richard "Dick" O'Kane, a Naval Academy graduate from the early 30s. Tang sank 27 Japanese ships altogether, the highest kill rate of any American submarine in the war, and on her third patrol alone she took out 10 merchant ships. That kind of record should mean Tang is tied up at a seaport somewhere in the United States where the mind-boggling exploits of her crew can be told and re-told and admirers can tour the cramped insides. First, however, Tang will have to be found on the bottom of the Pacific, re-floated, and made watertight. Tang didn't go down because of enemy action. She sank herself. One of the Navy's dirty secrets during World War II was the high failure rate of its torpedoes. The Bureau of Ordinance in Washington rejected what the captains of the submarines said about the torpedoes, and indeed some of their complaints are not presentable for a family website. The torpedoes sometimes dove far too deeply and passed harmlessly beneath their targets. In other attacks they bounced off the side of Japanese ships as though they were rubber balls, never exploding. And worst of all was when the torpedoes attacked their own mother boats. After nightfall on October 24, 1944 Tang attacked an enemy convoy, sinking and damaging several ships. At 2:30 a.m. October 25, O'Kane decided to fire the last torpedo in his inventory at a ship he had already hit once but hadn't sunk. The electrically powered fish was dispatched from a stern tube, heading straight for the target. But then it turned, and turned some more and its target suddenly became the USS Tang. The torpedo struck with a thundering explosion and the boat went down quickly. No one knows with absolute certainty how many American-made torpedoes sank their own submarines, but it may have been a dozen more. When a submarine is blown up she almost always goes down with all hands and there's no one left to give witness. In the case of the Tang, however, the boat was in fairly shallow water and some of the crew managed to escape from the bottom. Captain O'Kane was on the bridge when his torpedo struck the Tang and was blown over the side into the sea. Later picked up by a Japanese patrol boat, he was transported to Japan and prison camp. O'Kane's weight dropped from 170 pounds to less than a hundred, and he refused to be reunited with his wife and family until he had put on weight so as not to frighten them by his appearance. In March of 1946 O'Kane was ordered to report to President Truman at the White House where the Chief Executive placed around the sailor's neck a blue ribbon with a piece of metal attached to it. Dick O'Kane had been awarded the Medal of Honor. The Bravest Man goes far beyond the story of Tang and her crew. The author details many other war patrols of boats sailing from Pearl Harbor and Midway Island, including that other World War II phenomenon, USS Wahoo. It's never pedestrian writing, but there are parts of Tuohy's immaculately researched book that will be of more interest to serious students and scholars of submarine warfare. The Bravest Man was published by Presidio Press June 27, 2006. Amazon sells the paperback as part of its Prime program for $7.99 and the Kindle version also for $7.99.

Extraordinary

Excellent book very well written

Great book. What a hero for all ages, and especially now in these days.

I have adored to read this book! A lot of information about submariners life, the discovery of the poor ability of higher ranked admirals to imagine ways to use efficiently the subs, and the incredible story of the defective torpedoes imposed to the captains, at least these three points are of great interest. More, numerous attacks are described, with a high sense of suspense. It is very difficult to stop reading.

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