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**"Sasgen vividly recounts the pulsating drama of the Hellcats." - *Naval History* ** In 1945, American sub force commanders believed that if the Japanese merchant fleet was sunk, the enemy would be forced to surrender. The problem: the ships were protected in the Sea of Japan by a barrier of deadly minefields. Here, Peter Sasgen tells the gripping story of Operation Barney, a daunting mission in which nine submarines, nicknamed Hellcats, were tasked with getting through the mines and decimating the enemy fleet. Drawing on original documents and the personal letters of one doomed Hellcat commander, Sasgen crafts a classic naval tale of the heroic submariners and one of World War II's most ambitious and dangerous underwater raids. ** ### From Booklist A worthwhile addition to most naval collections, this is the uncensored story of the 1945 penetration of the Sea of Japan by nine U.S. submarines. Penetrating heavy minefields with the aid of a new short-range (and not wholly debugged) sonar, the submarines sank 28 Japanese ships in attacking Japan’s connection to the Asian mainland. Having received extraordinary cooperation from the operation’s survivors and their descendants, Sasgen gives eloquent and accessible accounts for the general reader of the development of the FM sonar, the picking of the submarines, and Operation Barney itself. He also gives a memorable and moving portrait of Laurence Edge, captain of Bonefish, the one submarine lost, and of his family. He suggests that the operation was not really worthwhile, coming as late in the war as June 1945, yet admits that Admiral Lockwood, commanding Pacific Fleet submarines, probably could not have known that. Deserves the commendation well done. --Roland Green ### Review "Sasgen vividly recounts the pulsating drama of the Hellcats... well-written, engaging, and fills in the last chapter of the Navy's submarine war against Japan." -*Naval History* "A worthwhile addition to most naval collections...Sasgen gives eloquent and accessible accounts for the general reader of the development of the FM sonar, the picking of the submarines, and Operation Barney itself...memorable and moving ...Deserves the commendation *well done*." -*Booklist*