Clear the Bridge!: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang

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 her crew. 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 rare twice that of any other U.S. submarine. Despite a short career, Tang's sinkings ranked first among U.S. boats and made Richard O'Kane the leading submarine skipper of the war. Tang also developed new tactics in sub-air rescues, 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 (but Tang's cited all patrols). 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 of the Pacific War. 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, Clear the Bridge is a classic in the literature of the sea.