Patrol Reports

This site has posted the microfiche copies of the war patrol reports for every USN submarine during World War II. While you might think reading ships' logs would be boring, it's anything but. Some of the captains were excellent writers with a dry wit.

For example, here is an excerpt from the first war patrol of the USS Wahoo in September-October of 1942, LCDR Marvin "Pinky" Kennedy commanding. The Wahoo had earlier encountered a Japanese aircraft carrier, but was unable to obtain a shot at her. They had tried for several days to get a contact report off to Pearl Harbor in hopes that other submarines could be vectored to attack the carrier, but a powerful Japanese transmitter in the area was effectively jamming their signal and they could not get a receipt verifying that their message had been received. I'll let Captain Kennedy pick up there:

October 8- 0120(K) Having made three tries at getting off our message without success, using all the high-priced help and mechanical aids, we felt pretty discouraged and had ordered the usual radio silence. The radioman on watch, on his own initiative, tuned in on 4235 KCs and listened. He states that suddenly reception on that circuit became exceptionally strong, so he grabbed the message, called Pearl, sent the message and got a receipt. He then reported his violation of orders. Held mast and gave him a reprimand for his offense, and advanced him one grade in rating for his loyalty, initiative, and ability to get results.

The reports are full of anecdotes like that. They're an absolute gold mine for aspiring fiction writers. David Drake, one of my favorite sci-fi authors, once said that there is no point in fabricating stories from whole cloth. History is full of fascinating tales more fantastic than anything a single individual can dream up. All you have to do is find the stories, then change the names and put it in a future context. Well, here are thousands of stories ready-made for the telling.