"Modern Submarine Warfare" (used book)

Modern Submarine Warfare

by David Miller and John Jordan

About the book

Used book. Hardcover. Dust jacket included. Good condition.

Anyone who thinks a submarine is essentially just a metal tube with torpedoes in the front and a periscope on top will be astonished at the variety of shapes and sizes on display in the central section of this book. The range of sizes is explained by several factors, including the roles for which they were designed and the technological and economic resources available.

The number of variations on a fundamentally cylindrical shape is the result of other factors, which are examined in the first part of the book, where a brief historical introduction and a more detailed look at a handful of the most significant designs in the evolution of the submarine is followed by an examination of the underwater environment in which submarines must function and a survey of particular aspects of submarine technology. Construction, propulsion, weapons, sensors and communications are all discussed in general terms and illustrated by photographs and diagrams showing the function and operation of representative systems. Since all submarine design is dominated by considerations of the threats with which the resulting vessels will have to deal, surface antisubmarine warfare is also discussed in general terms and, again, a selection of representative systems is shown in photographic and diagrammatic form. Finally, since no navy which seeks to recruit personnel of suitable caliber and maintain a healthy level of morale can afford to overlook the possibility of accidents, the section concludes with a chapter on the modern escape and rescue systems that would help  a crew survive in the aftermath of a disaster.

Having explored the technological aspects of submarine design and the specific forms which different builders have produced to meet the requirements and limitations under which they must work, the reader should be in a position to appreciate the tactical aspects of submarine and antisubmarine warfare which form the subject of the book’s final section. Once again, photographs and diagrams combine to present a uniquely informative account of the methods employed by submarine and their hunters.