Final Patrol: True Stories of World War II Submarines offers a vivid look inside the perilous world of undersea warfare. During the Second World War, U.S. submariners faced the highest casualty rate of any American service branch, yet played a decisive role in crippling Japanese shipping and helping to win the war.
This book profiles sixteen U.S. submarines and one German U-boat that saw combat and are now preserved as museum ships. Each chapter combines historical background with personal accounts from the sailors who served in these cramped steel hulls, bringing to life the danger, tedium, and courage that defined submarine duty.
Readers are taken into control rooms, torpedo rooms, and bunks barely large enough to sleep in, invited to imagine diving deep beneath the surface in hostile waters. The narrative connects these wartime experiences to the modern visitor experience, showing how these boats have been restored and equipped to honour the men who lived, fought, and sometimes died aboard them.
Final Patrol is ideal for readers interested in naval history, World War II campaigns in the Pacific, and the preserved submarines now open to the public.
