Southern Bound: Danger runs deep in submariner's tale

Riveting. That’s the best word to describe the white-knuckle tension and drama that Don Keith delivers in “War Beneath the Waves: A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine” (NAL Caliber, $24.95). Keith, a former broadcast journalist and an award-winning author with an interest in military affairs, writes in an engaging, you-are-there style calculated to bring the reader to the edge of his seat.

In “War Beneath the Waves,” Keith relates the saga of the USS Billfish, a relatively new submarine in the fall of 1943, and her young lieutenant, native Alabamian Charles Rush. While on patrol off Borneo, the Billfish was detected by Japanese ships and came under a sustained depth charge attack. As the explosions wracked the vessel, her inexperienced captain came unhinged, and Lt. Rush assumed command, saving the vessel and her desperate crew.

As anyone who has watched “The Caine Mutiny” knows, there are clear lines of authority and protocols that operate aboard U.S. Naval vessels, and one officer seizing control of a ship, no matter what the circumstances, is a potentially fraught act. Nonetheless, combat often requires extreme measures, and Lt. Rush forcefully banished any doubts when he took the helm that memorable day. The captain, to his credit, realized it was for the best, and the two men came to a private pact — Rush kept mum about the incident, and the captain left the submarine service as soon as they returned to port. The full story did not become public until decades later after the captain had died, and Rush was awarded a Navy Cross in 2003.

In recognition of the fact that submarine service is a special calling, the Navy limits it to volunteers only, and anyone who wants to transfer out at any time is allowed to do so, no questions asked. Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict who will crumble under pressure and who will continue to do his job — just because someone wears the captain’s bars, it’s no guarantee that he will be the best leader when the situation deteriorates. That was the case when the Billfish shook and shuddered from the explosions and her captain sank to the floor, incapacitated and muttering prayers.

As to exactly what a depth charge attack feels like to those forced to endure it, Keith leaves nothing to the imagination. First, he explains, “there is the telltale kerchug! of the depth-charge barrels as they hit the water in a circle around where the enemy captain believes the submarine to be. That is followed at once by the increased clack and whine of his screws as he pulls away to avoid the blow of his own ordnance. Then a sharp click! — so much like the pop of a nearby lightning strike — that indicates the charge’s fuse has reached the depth where it was instructed to detonate the ash can’s powerful explosions.” If the blast is close by, “the hunted vessel might buck, sway, and slide violently sideways or tilt its nose downward or upward. Light bulbs pop. Meter faces shatter into spiderwebs. Pipes tear loose from their clamps. Personal items and tools slide along the deck or spring from shelves. Dust and cork shower down from overhead like flour from a sifter. Leaks spray seawater all over a compartment with a high-pitched hiss. Water starts to seep in from myriad unseen places.” The only wonder is that every man jack on the Billfish didn’t react as the captain did.

As the dive officer, Rush was plenty busy during the 15-hour attack, and because he wasn’t in the conning tower with the captain, it was some time before he knew what had happened. When he climbed into the tower, he was stunned to see that the sub had taken no evasive action but rather plowed forward in a straight line, making it an easy target for pounding. “I have the conn.,” he declared and immediately ordered the helmsman to sharply reverse course, which finally threw off the relentless pursuit.

“War Beneath the Waves” is battle narrative at its very best and yet more evidence, if it’s needed, that the men and women who don the uniforms of this nation’s armed services are sometimes tested to the limits of human endurance. That Lt. Rush and the Billfish’s brave crew rose to the challenge is amply proven in these pages.