J.T. McDaniel Official Website
American Submarine War Patrol Report Series
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As anyone who has read my fiction can instantly tell, I have a considerable interest in submarines and World War II. Naturally, any historian likes to have access to primary source materials. This is equally true of any historical novelist.
So I view it as a privilege to be named Series Editor for Riverdale Books' American Submarine War Patrol Reports series. The goal of this project is to publish, over the next few years, the complete text of every war patrol report for every American submarine that sailed into harm's way between 7 December 1941 and the end of the war. It's a somewhat daunting task, if only because it requires transcribing the reports from microfiche—frequently barely readable—and putting them into book form. During 2006, the National Archives made this process slightly easier when they started supplying the reports as jpg scans on DVD media, though at times these aren't that much easier to read.
Obviously, I didn't write any of these reports. Rather, my job is to supply an introduction, add footnotes where necessary, and fix obvious spelling errors. I also get to guess at any missing words, with the results of that guess put in square brackets so that it may be easily recognized as an interpolation and not part of the original report. In some cases, other stylistic departures from the originals may include things like spelling out "yards" where the original had "yds," though I'll also leave quirky spellings where they represent a clear preference on the part of the commander.
These books are likely to vary considerably in length. The first off the press, U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238), was only 132 pages in the first edition. The second, U.S.S. Cod (SS-224), came in at 332 pages. Both of these boats made a total of seven war patrols, but Wahoo's commanders were rather more concise, while Cod's went into much greater detail. The third book, U.S.S. Tang (SS-306), which was released during the second week of June, 2005, runs 172 pages. Wahoo, in the new second edition, is also 172 pages, and has gained a new introduction and an article on "Mark 14 Torpedo Problems." Barb ran to 436 pages, including front matter, with the actual reports and endorsements running 419 pages.
Barb differs from the previous books in having a Foreword by Everett "Tuck" Weaver, who was one of Barb's officers on several war patrols. Where possible, I do try to get some input from surviving crew members, though this is unfortunately becoming more difficult as time thins their ranks.
Argonaut, Barb, Cod, Wahoo, and Tang are available for sale, and Trigger and Drum should be available in 2007. While there is no absolute schedule on the others, these are the books currently in process, and will probably be released in this order:
U.S.S. Argonaut (SM-1) & (SS-475): American Submarine War Patrol Reports,
6 X 9 trade paperback, 128 pages, ISBN: 978-1-932606-15-7, $14.95
is available from:
Amazon.com
Powells.com
U.S.S. Barb (SS-220): American Submarine War Patrol Reports,
6 X 9 trade paperback, 436 pages, ISBN: 978-1-932606-10-2, $25.95
is available from:
Amazon.com
Powells.com
U.S.S. Cod (SS-224): American Submarine War Patrol Reports,
6 X 9 trade paperback, 332 pages, ISBN: 978-1-932606-04-1, $24.95,
is available from:
Amazon.com
Powells.com
U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238): American Submarine War Patrol Reports,
6 X 9 trade paperback, 172 pages, ISBN: 978-1-932606-07-2, $18.95,
is available from:
Amazon.com
Powells.com
U.S.S. Tang (SS-306): American Submarine War Patrol Reports,
6 X 9 trade paperback, 172 pages, ISBN: 978-1-932606-05-8, $18.95,
is available from:
Amazon.com
Powells.com
All original content © 2001, 2007, by J.T. McDaniel. All rights reserved. Riverdale Books is a trademark of Riverdale Electronic Books, Inc. Used by permission.
