THE FAR AND THE DEEP.
By CommanderEdward P. Stafford '42, USNR. NewYork: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1967. 384 pp.$6.95.
Commander Stafford has written a dramatic chronology of a series of events in the history of submarines. Grandson of Admiral Peary, the author has served in the Navy since before Pearl Harbor and has had duty In sub chasers, destroyer escorts and as a naval aviator.
After a brief description of the birth of submarines, Commander Stafford launches into the best portion of his book. His portrayal of the boats and the men who commanded them from World War I through World War II is both thrilling and historically accurate. The tales of U-9, the first submarine to achieve notable success in combat, of Lieutenant Commander Nasmith, RN whose E-11 created havoc in the Sea of Marmara, and of the legendary Gunther Prien's exploits in Scapa Flow are related in gripping fashion. The twin losses of USSSqualus and HMS Thetis are described in detail. Kapitanleutnant Otto Kretschmer, Commander Sam Dealey, and Commander Red Ramage appear as very real persons. Space limitations precluded relating in detail the actions of many other brave and inventive men, though their actions are covered in survey form in a separate chapter.
While competently related, the exploits of submarines of the past twenty years suffer by comparison with the earlier portions of the book. No single individual in the history of submarines, for example, has provided more color and drama than the legendary Admiral Rickover. His personality is not projected in The Far and the Deep. The accomplishments of Nautilus and other nuclear submarines lack the flavor of combat; however, they were feats of brilliant and self-sacrificing men who performed their duties out of motivation rather than under the duress of self-preservation. The later chapters echo the words of earlier publications written by those who performed these feats. There is a considerable letdown over the last one hundred pages of this otherwise well-written book. The subject matter is equally fascinating; the treatment is not up to the previous high standards. Minor events are dramatized out of proportion while the significance of the entire accomplishment is not brought out.
Despite the faults of the final portion, The Far and the Deep is a well-written, authoritative, and moving story of the birth, achievements and advances of men and ships who go beneath the seas.
A 1946 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Commanding Officer of the atomicpowered submarine Daniel Webster fromJune 1963 to October 1966, Captain Smithis now Commanding Officer, Fleet MissileSubmarine Training Center, Charleston,S.C.
