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""I am just one of many who experienced life on a submarine duringWorld War II. Silent Running is a story sincerely told--free of anyrevisionism or cynicism--and I commend Vice Admiral Calvert forsharing this dramatic personal account of that difficult andexciting time."" --President George Bush ""Hardened old sub vet that I am, I still felt the need for twoweeks R&R after reliving Jim's only too realistic warpatrolling adventures."" --C. W. Nimitz, Jr., Rear Admiral, USN(Ret.) ""I believe it is the best personal account yet written on U.S.submarine operations in the Second World War. [Calvert] writes withlucidity and a rare candor. We get an extraordinary sense of whatit was like, feeling the tensions and emotions, sharing thesuccesses and disappointments, ... This is a true story with tealpeople, always gripping and sometimes tender. It is exciting toread and hard to put down. --J. L. Holloway, Admiral, USN (Ret.)President, Naval Historical Society, Chief of Naval Operations,1974-1978. ""I knew Jim Calvert Throughout the war, and in this book he hastold the submarine story in a way that catches the flavor and tangof the real thing. This is the way it really was."" --Frederick B.Warder, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.) Legendary W.W. II skipper of theSeawolf.

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9780471127789

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A sturdy, often affecting memoir of service on and off an American submarine in WW II's Pacific theater. A retired vice admiral and sometime superintendent of the Naval Academy, Calvert recalls joining the USS Jack as a newly married ensign almost fresh out of Annapolis. On its maiden voyage in the waters off Tokyo, the Jack sent at least four Japanese cargo vessels to the bottom despite severe engine damage from an escort's attack. Power-plant woes forced the Jack to cut short its second war patrol. By early 1944, however, a complete refit equipped the ship for battle in the South China Sea; in this target-rich venue, it sank six more enemy craft, including four oil tankers. The Jack went on to compile a record that placed it ninth on the list of the 200-odd US submarines operating against Japan (in terms of tonnage sunk). In addition to engagements with hostile forces, Calvert had to survive a moral crisis. On the first of his shore leaves Down Under he fell deeply in love with the daughter of a local doctor. They eventually decided it would not be right to continue the unconsummated affair at the cost of the author's marriage. Calvert narrates this brief, bittersweet encounter with a sure touch that suggests not quite all is fair in love and war. When two atomic blasts (for which he remains perdurably grateful) accelerated the arrival of V-J day, the war-weary author was on his eighth patrol as executive officer of a new sub, the Haddo. After he and his shipmates escaped courtsmartial for an unauthorized tour of defeated Japan's capital city, they were homeward bound, in Calvert's case, to continue his military career in a putatively peaceful world. A standout in a genre notable for first-rate entries. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

JAMES F. CALVERT, Vice Admiral, USN (Ret.), was one of the Navy's most decorated officers in World War II. After the war, he became the second skipper to command a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine. In 1959, his ship, the Skate, broke through the ice to surface at the North Pole--the first ship of any kind to reach that part of the earth on the surface. In 1964, he became the second-youngest rear admiral in the Navy's history. Admiral Calvert served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and head of the Pacific fleet. After his retirement from the Navy, he became assistant to the chairman of the board of Texaco. Admiral Calvert is the author of Surface at the Pole, The Naval Profession, and A Promise to Our Country.

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