Hello, and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast.

Episode 237, The Thin Gray Line, the U.S. Pacific submarine fleet after Pearl Harbor.

After the second Japanese air strike, left Pearl Harbor, five of the eight battleships

were sinking, sunk, or heavily damaged.

In all, 21 ships were now below the waves.

Furthermore, some 188 aircraft were destroyed with another 159 damaged.

Thus was the American Pacific surface fleet and air arm crippled.

That left the defense of the U.S. Pacific position up to the submarine fleet, a thin gray line indeed.

And coming back to the show is Flint Whitlock to discuss his and Ron Smith's book, The Depths of Courage.

American Samaritans at War, which Japan, 1941 to 1945.

So, Mr. Whitlock, thank you once again for coming back on the show.

My pleasure, Ray. Thank you for having me.

Absolutely. So, when we talked about your latest book, Desperate Valor, Triumph at Enzio,

I searched through your library to see what other books you had written because I enjoyed that one so much.

And I was very excited to come across the one that we're going to talk about today,

which is basically the submarine warfare in the Pacific.

Because since I'm at this point in the timeline I'm at Pearl Harbor,

I was very excited to find that your book pretty much covers what I was looking for.

What, oh what, were the Americans going to do with their surface fleet and air arm

soap crippled after Pearl Harbor?

So, if you could tell us a little bit about your, the book is called The Depths of Courage,

American Samaritans at War with Japan, 1941 to 1945.

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