Take Her Deep: A Submarine Against Japan in World War II

On 12 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. I. J. Galantin took command of the fleet submarine USS Halibut on Midway Island. For the next fourteen months, Galantin and his officers and crew would play their part in the Silent Service’s unrepenting attack on Japan’s navy and merchant marine. But it was in Luzon Strait in November 1944 that the submarine and its crew underwent their greatest ordeal, recounted here by Galantin. Detected and driven down while attacking a decoy, Halibut was subjected to an assault of appalling ferocity. Badly damaged by more than 250 depth charges, her position known to her attackers, and with key equipment out of commission, the crippled submarine and crew endured hours of desperate manoeuvring and helpless waiting before the enemy finally gave up and the grievously mauled Halibut managed to surface and reach safety. The Halibut never sailed again.