Photo de l'auteur

A propos de l'auteur

Peter Sasgen, who worked closely with the sub's commanding officer on this project, is an expert on submarines. He has written both fiction and nonfiction of the subject, including several thrillers and a nonfiction book, Red Scorpion, on World War II submarine warfare. He lives in Florida.

Comprend les noms: Peter T. Sasgen

Œuvres de Peter Sasgen

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Sexe
male

Membres

Critiques

Red Scorpion, Peter Sasgen, 1985, Bluejacket Books of a Naval Institute Press original printing, 367 pages, photos, maps, appendices, index ISBN 1-55750-404-0

This is an excellent account of the building, training and war patrols of the USS Rasher (SS-269), a highly successful Gato-class submarine based mostly out of Fremantle. The author is the son of Peter Joseph Sasgen, LtJG, USNR, who, as a plank owner of the boat, served as an engineer and earned the Silver Star as Chief of the Watch during the third patrol. He later was promoted to ensign. He made all wartime 8 patrols of the Rasher and was aboard when she came back to the States. The author had access to his father's diary and other notes, as well as ships logs and other primary documents.

The writing style was engaging, with the author quickly grabbing and holding my interest and he moved the story chronologically, weaving in quotes and experiences form other crewmembers. The maps (charts) made it easier to follow the dialog, although dates along the track could have helped. The only photos were of the boat's captains, found with their biographies in an appendix. There were mention of other photos but I suspect they were in the original Naval Institute Press version and were removed in the Bluejacket Books printings.

All in all, an interesting well written book.

10/10
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
Slipdigit | 1 autre critique | Feb 15, 2022 |
After 18 months in an NKVD jail for “treason,” i.e. showing more intelligence than his commanding officer, Yuri Nosenko, is suddenly released, fed and treated medically, and given his old rank of captain back. He’s become far more cynical during the course of the war.

“His arrest by the NKVD after Smolovici exposed the treachery, the lies, the twisted logic of Party doctrine, its fear and paranoia. Stalin’s death mills came into sharp focus during his encounter with Soviet justice. Never more than after witnessing Colonel Antonov’s vengeful, fabricated testimony against him—dereliction of duty, disobeying a direct order. And how members of the tribunal hearing his case had, without a moment’s deliberation, returned a unanimous verdict. Guilty of all charges.”

Nosenko learns the reason behind his release is his knowledge of german and Berlin where he had been stationed before the war. The Russians desperately want him to find General Heinrich Müller (known as Gestapo Müller) who has escaped both the NKVD and American intelligence after faking his death during the fall of Berlin. He has documents showing the Russians had committed atrocities against the Poles at Katyn Forest (Nosenko doesn’t know this, only that the Russians are fearful the documents will fall into Allied hands. Müller is ostensibly negotiating with the Allies, but no one knows his location except it’s in Berlin somewhere.) It’s a seemingly impossible task.

To make matters worse, Nosenko’s old nemesis, General Antonov, is now his boss and wants him to fail. Nosenko’s search becomes a descent into never-never land, trudging through the ruins of Berlin, trying to stay ahead of Antonov, but forced to make daily reports. But just what can he report? If he didn’t report the hidden room at Seelingstrasse 509, it might prove useful later, though how he didn’t know. Failure to report it might prove dangerous if Antonov already knew about the room and was waiting to see if Nosenko had found it—a test. If Antonov knew about the room, what else did he know? Had the NKVD planted the wedding dress? The map fragment? If they had, it likely meant that Antonov and Fitin knew that Katarine still lived in the apartment. Another test?

There’s a scene to warm the hearts of all librarians in which Nosenko needs to find some files in the Gestapo archives. The Germans were meticulous record keepers and he believes the files will help him locate Müller. Unfortunately, Gestapo headquarters is a shambles and many of the boxes have been rained on. But he, with the help of another “reprieved Soviet” scour the files and after hours manage to locate what they are looking for.

The story and writing are above average except for short occasional passages of maudlin sentimentality that don’t fit. Great story.

Historical note: Müller is the only high command German who was never captured and whose death has never been confirmed. He had worked his way up through the police to become head of the SS counter-intelligence units and investigated the assassination of Heydrich in Czechoslovakia. He was last seen in Hitler’s bunker the day after Hitler’s suicide.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
ecw0647 | Dec 13, 2015 |
In the same vein as Blind's Man Bluff and its ilk, Stalking the Red Bear dives into the history of U.S. submarine operations during the Cold War. Unlike the others, however, Sasgen tells his stories through a made-up submarine (the "Blackfin") conducting an intelligence-gathering mission in the early 1970s. It makes for a tidy narrative structure, but students of history and military operations will find it a little frustrating since it cannot be mapped and cross-referenced with other sources.

Cold War submarine operations buffs will catch some errors. For example, Sasgen mistakenly calls the operation to recover the sunken Soviet Golf-class ballistic missile submarine (K-129) Project Jennifer. The op was actually Project Azorian, as was concisely explained in the eponymously titled book.

This is a quick and enjoyable read, halfway between pure fiction and pure history.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
JLHeim | Aug 30, 2014 |
Fast read, good integration of personal storres and vignettes into a good story about a submarine that was successful and survived the war.
 
Signalé
jamespurcell | 1 autre critique | Apr 27, 2011 |

Listes

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi

Statistiques

Œuvres
9
Membres
189
Popularité
#115,306
Évaluation
½ 3.5
Critiques
4
ISBN
25
Langues
1
Favoris
1

Tableaux et graphiques