(Part 2) Top products from r/submarines

I'll add one - The Deadly Deep by Iain Ballantyne (American title, for EU it is called "The Deadly Trade"). The author participated in the big AMA we had last year and was very friendly and informative. The book is a "complete history of submarine warfare from Archimedes to the present". It isn't overly technical and it provides excellent commentary on the historical context of various sub-related developments. Ballantyne loves the odd little anecdotes and bits of history that are commonly left out of more focused works.

This book was written by WW2 captain and its awesome!
We had the ww2 battleflag in our mess hall. Pretty awesome.

It seems it's NR-1.

Source. Read the comments, they seem to be unanimous in their agreement and the Wikipedia entry puts the NR-1 at 148 feet.

I'd also recommend you pick up Dark Waters - a great account of the NR-1's career and spy missions!

If you want to get a feel for what's involved in designing a range of large scale submarines and some of the fundamental principles of how they operate (which should apply to all scales of sub), get a copy of Concepts of Submarine Design. Read it cover to cover then decide if you still want to build one.

Not trying to put you off, but they're complex and dangerous beasts and should be treated with respect, they can go wrong fast. If you still want to build one after reading, fair play!

Also maybe get The Astute Haynes Manual, it goes into a surprising amount of detail about the design and build programme of a nuclear submarine.

There are probably better books and videos out there specifically relating to submersibles.

Gray Lady Down is DSRV: the movie. I don't know anyone who wrote harder core sub fiction, maybe Richard P. Henrick?

The fun stuff really isn't talked about in the public eye. Charles Stross did a bit in his Laundry stuff, but I dunno if that's what you want.

edit: https://www.amazon.ca/Ecowar-Richard-P-Henrick/dp/0061006491

this sounds like a winner

What I find kind of funny is the US thought for awhile soviet subs were better because they happened to be always there when they shouldn't be.. come to find out a spy had given out US submarines positions and they had infiltrated naval command. Soviet subs weren't better they just out smarted the US. If I remember right https://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Red-Bear-Submarines-Operations/dp/0312605536 was a good read on it was this book or another that talked about it.

Is this the book you’re referring to? https://www.amazon.com/dp/0304361208/

Is it mainly historical narrative, or does it have technical details as well? I’m much more interested in the latter.

I need to read it again.

Favorite military book for me, read once and then again on station, was Red Army by Ralph Peters, available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Ralph-Peters/dp/1451636695

Whew, I had to go double-check and make sure you weren't talking about this guy:

https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Service-Virginia-Class/dp/0060524383

As a VIRGINIA sailor, I thought it might be an interesting read. It was absolutely horrible and had zero basis in reality. I think I made it an hour in before giving up. I just checked my bookshelf and it isn't there. I may have burned it.

It's so bad, I feel obligated to apologize that this piece of shit is now in your Amazon search history.

Big Red! 3 months onboard a trident nuclear submarine.
Big Red: Three Months On Board a Trident Nuclear Submarine https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060194847/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qig2BbFY4J7P3

The sub sunk in the Atlantic at depth of 6000 meters. Wikipedia quotes this book: https://www.amazon.com/Hostile-Waters-Peter-Huchthuasen/dp/0312966121 which says that when two years after it sunk the Soviets went looking at the wreck, they found some missile tubes open and the missiles gone. If true and the Russians didn't do it, then the US did. But most of the missiles and the two reactors are still at the bottom of the ocean.

Edit: Directly relevant to your question, I haven't read it, and it focuses on A class, not S class, but https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Navy-Submarine-Manual-Alliance/dp/0857333895/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1511644698&sr=8-7&keywords=a+class+submarine might be useful to you; though it's a 1945 boat and would have quickly been altered to conform with the shifting of submarine priorities once the Cold War began.

 

On British submarines at that point (1939) you'd have something like 8 officers I think? Including such roles as:

 

• Captain/CO (actual rank of at least Commander I believe, though due to shortages and "overcautious" older Commanders, Lieutenant Commanders held commanding positions too during the war.)
  
• 1st Lieutenant/XO (2nd in command and actual rank of Lieutenant Commander/Lieutenant, and also doubled as the Electrical Officer; see [NOTE] below.)
  
  Both of these officers would idealy be perisher qualified, war allowing, not only that but they would have at least a basic working knowledge of every position on the submarine.
  
   
  
  
  After that you have officer roles including but not limited to and in no particular order:
  
   
  
  
  
• Torpedo Officer
  
• Engineer Officer
  
• Sonar Officer
  
• Communications Officer
  
• Navigation Officer
  
• Gunnery Officer
  
   
  
  In addition, due to the special circumstances of submarines (limited crew numbers and a high degree of independance) most people aboard, be that officer or enlisted, would have some knowledge of roles outside theirs, with a priority being placed first and foremost on engineering, followed by other vital skills such as torpedo loading and maths (for navigation or attack). [NOTE:] British submarines as far as my reading has made me aware did NOT have electrical officers until the early '50s as they simply weren't needed before then, and the 1st Lieutenant generally held responsibility for electrical engineering prior to the appointment of dedicated officers.
  
   
  
  
  Finally, most of what I've written here I have learned from The Silent Deep - The Royal Navy Submarine Service Since 1945 by Peter Hennessy and James Jinks. I would call it the gold standard in submarine literature - highly detailed and researched, readable, and presented in an excellent style (imo of course). Whilst it does focus on the Royal Navy exclusively, unfortunately for you its subject is the Cold War, and only mentions WWII and prior in order to establish trends in submarine thinking, and the state of play before the Cold War kicked off full time. Not only that but apart from Polmar's work, The Silent Deep has spoiled me - most other literature now seems sensationalist and "page turney" by comparison.
  
   
  
  EDIT: formatting from a phone is hard ;(

Rickover: Controversy and Genius: A Biography - by Norman Polmar and Thomas Allen

Merchants of Treason - by Norman Polmar and Thomas Allen

Breaking the Ring - by John Barron

Family of Spies - by Pete Early

I Pledge Allegiance - by Edward Blum

Cry from the Deep - by Ramsey Flynn

Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718-1990 - by Norman Polmar and Jurrien Noot

Hunters and Killers Vol. I and II - by Norman Polmar and Edward Whitman

British Submarines 1939-1945 - by by Innes McCartney and Tony Bryan

Cool, some look interesting. Links attached.

World Submarines: Covert Shores Recognition Guide By H I Sutton (ISBN: 1541392302) - Link

Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45 (New Vanguard) by Mark Stille (ISBN: 1846030900) - Link

Axis Midget Submarines: 1939-45 (New Vanguard) by Jamie Prenatt/Mark Stille (ISBN: 1472801229) - Link

Soviet Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers (New Vanguard) by Edward Hampshire (ISBN: 1472817400) - Link

Hostile Waters by Peter A. Huchthausen/Igor Kurdin/R. Alan White (ISBN: 0312169280) - Link

The Deadly Trade: The Complete History of Submarine Warfare From Archimedes to the Present by Iain Ballantyne (ISBN: 1409158519) - Link

Confederate Submarines and Torpedo Vessels 1861-65 (New Vanguard) by Angus Konstam (ISBN: 1841767204) - Link

Soviet Cruise Missile Submarines of the Cold War (New Vanguard) by Edward Hampshire (ISBN: 1472824997) - Link

U.S. Submarines Since 1945, Revised Edition: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman (ISBN: 1591145996) - Link

US Submarines 1900-35 (New Vanguard) by Jim Christley (ISBN: 1849081859) - Link