Gallant Lady: A Biography of the USS Archerfish

Review
"The next best thing to serving on the Archerfish is reading this book. It's a great Navy story about a great ship and crew."--Stephen Coonts



Review
"The next best thing to serving on the Archerfish is reading this book. It's a great Navy story about a great ship and crew."--Stephen Coonts



Book Description
She looked like just about like the other diesel powered, Balao-class submarines crafted in the '40s. But there the similarity ends. Because the Archerfish--named for a fish that kills its victims with a lethal blast of water from below--won a unique, heroic place in military history and the memories of her crew members.

Here is her story: from her assembly in New England, her dedication at the hand of Eleanor Roosevelt, her service in World War II, where she broke the back of the Japanese Navy and sank the largest ship ever sunk by a submarine, to the details of her critical role in the Cold War, crisscrossing the oceans for six years to foil Soviet naval intelligence.

Here too, is the story of her officers and enlsited men, who waited years to serve on the Archerfish. In their own words, these men tell how, against all odds, they sent a Japanese aircraft carrier to the ocean floor . . . served in peacetime in the Navy's only all bachelor crew . . . steered their ship into exotic ports all over the world . . . welcomed B-girls, Japanese war veterans, royalty, Playboy bunnies and a goat aboard ship, with equal hospitality. As they helped their sub outlast fires and even an earthquake, they worked hard, played hard and lived even harder.

An extraordinary real-life odyssey, Archerfish is a vivid, unforgettable portrait of submariners' life.



About the Author
Don Keith is an Alabama native and attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he received his degree in broadcast and film. He has won numerous awards from the Associated Press and United Press International for news writing and reporting, as well as Billboard Magazine's "Radio Personality of the Year" during his more than twenty years in broadcasting. His first novel, The Forever Season, won the Alabama Library Association's "Fiction of the Year" award.

Keith lives in Indian Springs Village, Alabama, with his wife, Charlene, and a black cat named Hershey.



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"She looked like just about every other diesel-powered, Balao-class submarine crafted in the '40s. But there the similarity ends. Because the Archerfish - named for a fish that kills its victims with a lethal blast of water from below - won a unique, heroic place in military history and the memories of her crew members." "Here is her story: from her assembly in New England, her dedication in May 1943, her service in World War II, where she broke the back of the Japanese Navy and sank the largest ship ever destroyed by a submarine, to the details of her critical role in the cold war, where she crisscrossed the oceans for six years to foil Soviet naval intelligence." Here too is the story of her officers and enlisted men, who waited years to serve on the Archerfish. In their own words, these men tell how, against all odds, they sent a Japanese aircraft carrier to the ocean floor...served in peacetime as the Navy's only all-bachelor crew...steered their ship into exotic ports all over the world ...welcomed B-girls, Japanese war veterans, royalty, Playboy bunnies, and a goat aboard their ship - all with equal hospitality. As they helped their sub outlast fires and even an earthquake, they worked hard, played hard, and lived even harder.


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