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Norman Friedman
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U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History (Illustrated Design Histories) Hardcover – January 1, 1995

by Norman Friedman (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 49 ratings
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This series offers detailed descriptions of the evolution of all classes of the principal U.S. combatant types. Each volume is fully illustrated with deck plans, outboard profiles, sketches from major design studies, and numerous detailed photographs. The appendixes contain a wealth of information on ship characteristics and equipment.

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  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Naval Institute Press
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1995
  5. Dimensions
    8.75 x 1 x 11.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1557502633
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1557502636
  8. See all details
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About the Author

Norman Friedman is a prominent naval analyst and the author of more than thirty books covering a range of naval subjects, from warship histories to contemporary defense issues. He is a longtime columnist for Proceedings magazine and lives in New York City.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Naval Institute Press (January 1, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1557502633
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1557502636
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.98 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.75 x 1 x 11.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

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Norman Friedman

Norman Friedman

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
49 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

MstrMac
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2014
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If you are interested in submarine development in the US, Buy This Book! I have read and reread the book as a research tool and it has helped me to understand the complexities of naval undersea warfare develpment. I am currently working on a project about the S boats and this volume has really made my work easier. Great research, great information, great writing.
2 people found this helpful
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tallcharlie
5.0 out of 5 stars More than you want to know
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2011
Verified Purchase
This book is excellent. It covers not only the physical descriptions of US subs, but the engineering, political, and other factors that contributed to the various design features.

Expect to spend a lot of time referring back and forth between chapters in order to gain a complete understanding of not only what these boats were like, but why they were built the way they were.
One person found this helpful
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dickl42
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for the aficionado
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2013
Verified Purchase
If you're not interested in naval vessels of the U. S. Navy, this would be a terrible book. If you are interested in U. S. naval vessels, it's indispensable. I have several of the authors illustrated design histories already (battleships, aircraft carrriers, destroyers, and the post-1945 submarine volume, and they are all great.
2 people found this helpful
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Floyd R.
5.0 out of 5 stars Book arrived in excellent shape. The book covers submarines that were first ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2015
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Book arrived in excellent shape. The book covers submarines that were first introduce to the US Navy up to 1945. Covers all aspects of the submarine. Would have liked more pictures of WWII subs.
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Apun
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2017
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Dad loves to read it he was on the USS Drum
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Daryl Carpenter
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitive and essential but a hard read
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2020
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For all the accolades showered upon his work, Norman Friedman has always been kind of an acquired taste. As in-depth and definitive as his books tend to be, they also tend to be rather dry, academic affairs, written for naval professionals rather than casual readers*. This, the seventh volume in his "illustrated design histories" of American fighting ships, tends to bring out his peculiarities as a writer, and the Naval Institute Press as a publisher, to a rather extreme extent - for better and for worse.

Like the other books in the series, this one delves deep into previously classified, or extremely obscure, official documents to produce an unprecedentedly detailed study of the design and development of American submarines in the first half of the 20th century. On a technical level, it goes far beyond John Alden's "The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy." Every submarine designed during the period is described in some detail, as are torpedoes, sonars, periscopes, diesel engines, batteries, fire control equipment, and sonar decoys. The lessons of both world wars are also described, as is American exposure to foreign submarines, particularly German U-boats after World War I. It's also one of the few books to describe Simon Lake's submarines in detail, and also explains how Lake's "gold-plated" designs, poor finances, slow building times, and Electric Boat's patents, all contributed to his demise as designer and builder.

Beyond the boats that were actually built, there's also quite a bit on unbuilt designs. Although many are merely stepping stones on the way to the finished product, there are some truly unique concepts, including steam-powered fleet submarines, an improved Balao with a topside rudder and six tubes for anti-escort homing torpedoes, and a massive 20,000-ton cruiser with battleship guns, 14 torpedo tubes, and six inches of armor. There are dozens of profile and cross-section diagrams by Jim Christley, and Norman Friedman also provided numerous sketches of unbuilt designs. There's also plenty of photographs, including many dockyard images with wartime alterations and improvements circled. Keep in mind, though, being a mid-90s Naval Institute title, the photo quality sometimes leaves something to be desired.

The main problem with this book is, as kids today might say, it's a bit of a hot mess. There's simply so much information thrown at the reader, sometimes in a clunky manner, that processing it all can be a chore. The main text, by itself, doesn't do a particularly great job of explaining the nitty-gritty details of the subject. I found myself reading a chapter at a time, then going back and reading all of the photo and diagram captions in that chapter, going over the tables, reading both appendixes, and FINALLY, skimming through the 54 pages of footnotes. The footnotes by themselves are an absolute treasure trove, with enough detail for a fairly substantial book. Maybe in the future, there'll be a revised edition that incorporates some of the "juicy bits" from the footnotes and captions into the main text. It'd certainly make it a less jittery, caffeinated read.

Still, this book is definitely worth buying if you're a hardcore submarine enthusiast. It's not an easy read, but you're unlikely to find a more in-depth study of the subject out there. If you can find them at a reasonable price, I'd recommend reading Alden's book and Friedman's "Submarine Design and Development" before tackling this one.

*Me? I'm just a nerd.
10 people found this helpful
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S Brannan
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018
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Good book with many technical details.
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Michael J. Mcclure
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2018
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Great book
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Top reviews from other countries

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Lars Scharff
1.0 out of 5 stars Buch könnte interessant sein - aber um welches geht es hier?
Reviewed in Germany on May 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
Bei Amazon haben zuletzt mehrere Händler statt "U.S. Submarines Since 1945" (über die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg gebauten Boote) "U.S. Submarines Through 1945" verkauft - wie hier auch durch das falsche Titelbild angedeutet. Ich empfehle besondere Vorsicht - und da ich drei Mal das falsche Buch bekommen habe, kann ich auch über das richtige sonst nichts sagen.
One person found this helpful
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