Of Wives and Submarines

American cold war submarines were much more than vehicles for espionage. They were a community of men who lived and worked together in a metal environment that tolerated no incompetence. Their lives inside the submarine were dominated by the wives they left on shore, because it was the wives who were the men's anchors of happiness. When all was well at home the men functioned well in the submarine, but when things were less than ideal at home there was stress in the submarine.

USS Razorback was a guppy type boat like most of the American submarines of the era. Its crew and officers experienced boredom punctuated by hilarity and terror. A young officer who reported aboard in 1955 was a dead loss. He was there by accident after having squeaked through submarine school on his hidden talent at ship handling. He faced an executive officer who demanded the best of the men, but whose home life was a wreck.

The authenticity of the story propels the reader from one laughable event to the next. But under the good-humored games was a tale of love that exceeded the best of the human condition. What starts as a man's effort to survive in the tough community of submariners ends with a transcendence of spirit that healed the wounds of a broken marriage.

Softback, 350 pages. Fiction based on actual events. $15.95 plus shipping/handling.