by Tom Clavin
First published 2025
Captain Richard Hetherington O'Kane commands the USS Tang, the most successful attack submarine in the Silent Service. His crew has sunk more enemy tonnage and completed more surface attacks than any other American submarine in World War II. On October 24, 1944, the Tang attacks an entire Japanese convoy and destroys it completely. Then disaster strikes. The submarine's 24th torpedo circles back and hits the Tang itself. The mortally wounded boat plunges 180 feet to the ocean floor. O'Kane fights to save his crew as the submarine fills with water. Only nine men from the 87-person crew reach the surface alive. Japanese forces capture the survivors and send them to a brutal prison camp designed to extract military secrets through starvation, disease, and torture. The guards single out O'Kane for special punishment after learning about his submarine's devastating attacks. He must endure months of abuse while his body wastes away. This is the story of how O'Kane survives against impossible odds and what it costs him.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, adventure, action, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, survival
Setting: Japan, United States
Period: 1944
324 pages · Kindle Edition · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: abuse, torture, violence