Book Description

The hunter has become the hunted, and thus begins the classic dance of death between destroyer and submarine, which may end with a crashing salvo of depth charges or the zing of a 21-inch torpedo. Packed with the danger, tension and drama of submarine warfare, this scene has been replayed countless times in fact and fiction, but never before with such authentic firsthand detail.Samuel Eliot Morison called Tang "fabulous." Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the submarine force in the Pacific during World War II, described her fifth patrol as "one of the great submarine cruises of all time." Richard O'Kane was Tang's skipper throughout her brief but gallant career, and "Clear the Bridge!" is his account of the life of Tang and the crew who fought her.From the date of her departure on her first patrol in January 1944, to her tragic loss only nine months later, Tang averaged one enemy ship on the bottom every 11 days, a rate twice that of any other U.S. submarine. Despite a short career, Tang's sinking ranked second among U.S. boats and made Dick O'Kane the leading submarine skipper of the war. Tang also developed new tactics in sub-air rescuers, picking 22 navy fliers out of the water while under Japanese gunfire at Truk. For her combat accomplishments, Tang was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations, one of only three ships in the U.S. Navy so honored.Follow Tang from the moment of her launching to her last, fatal patrol, and discover the innovative tactics and calculated daring that made her the hottest boat patrolling. See through her skipper's eyes the taut drama of submarine warfare: the flooding torpedo room that sorely tests Tang's pressure hull, while an enemy destroyer poised overhead listens for the slightest sound; Tang running aground while stalking the enemy submerged in shallow Empire waters and still firing torpedoes with deadly accuracy; the night surface attack off Formosa, when Tang penetrates a convoy of Japanese ships and sinks five of them in 70 seconds while avoiding a ramming merchantman.