Saga
by
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Who were these men that volunteered for submarine service during World War II? Where did they come from? What was their life expectancy in a submarine, when one out of every seven men assigned to a sub gave up his life? Fifty-two subs were lost during the war. Who would have volunteered for this type of service, knowing that there was one chance out of seven that he would give his life? At the start of the war the U.S. had 288 boats. This was less than two percent of the total U.S. Naval strength; however, this small force was responsible for over half of Japan's sea losses during the war. The U.S. Navy destroyed merchant ships at a rate three times faster than Japanese shipyards could turn them out. Submarines also ran numerous special missions such as hauling ammunition, weapons, transporting troops, rescuing refugees from behind enemy lines, and dropping off secret agents and guerrilla fighters. The most rewarding special assignment though was to serve as a lifeguard plucking hundreds of allied fliers from the sea. These fliers had been shot down or otherwise forced to ditch their airplanes in the watery wilderness. The phenomenal success of our nation’s silent service exacted a terrible cost. Fifty-two subs and more than 3500 officers and men did not return from patrol. My story is about one of those submarine men, it’s about my life starting in the mid 1920s.
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About the Book
This book contains a story of a man’s life, starting in his childhood years in the 1920s and the struggle that accompanied him and his family through the Depression, and later on through World War II. It recounts the dangerous but exciting profession that he chose to be a part of as a submarine sailor during the war and then the transition to a peacetime Navy. He served as a crewmember on the submarine Finback that had a wartime record excelled only by a few. The book tells of the rescue of aviators that were shot down by the Japanese, one of whom would later become a President of the United States. The book contains de-classified information, including the complete unabridged patrol report of the submarine Finback on its 10th war patrol in September of 1944.
About the Author
Hubert Ward grew up during the Depression in a small farm town in Illinois. After joining the Navy at nineteen years of age, he completed twenty years of service during World War II and the Korean War. He was aboard the submarine Finback during its historic wartime rescue of a man who would later become a United States President. After retiring from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer, he worked for Chrysler Corporation in a supervisory capacity.