We all know that the United States has been a major naval power since just before the turn of the 20th Century. In both World Wars, its various shipyards launched literally thousands of vessels of all sizes and capabilities to help in the war effort. We all recall and read avidly about the aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers, but these were really just a small percentage of what was built. Amongst the smaller of the the ships, but nonetheless an important part of the fleet were the patrol craft/subchasers.

In both wars these small vessels were instrumental in helping to protect coastal waterways and even to assist in convoy protection, though they really were not meant for operation in the open seas. Though a variety of designs were submitted the ones that were chosen were 110 feet in length with crews around a dozen or so officers and men. A 120 foot version was recommended in a 1937 study, but apparently never built. The book states that many of these ships were mostly crewed by Naval Reserve types whose officers were, for the most part, playboy yachtsmen and so they had a bit of an attitude to go along with serving in these wooden ships. Yep, these were mostly crafted of wood in smaller shipyards that specialized in wooden boat construction. Thanks to their simple design and the skilled workmen who built them, the average time from start to outfitting was around 60 days or so, with some being launched in less time than that.  Though not heavily armed, they did have a decent sized deck gun and depth charges so were able to keep submarines at bay. Their leisurely speed compared to other combat ships was more than sufficient to escort slow transports or chase even slower submarines.

In this latest In Action book, we are given the history of the various types of subchasers built along with detailed information on their layout, power plant, weapons and other aspects of the ship. There is also a smaller section on their action in both the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theaters. You'd have thought there would be more to their battle history, but apparently these were more of the 'preventive' type of ships and didn't really see all that much actual combat.  There are the usual copious photographs of all the different variants and color schemes. Seemingly all of the photos were taken in US waters so apparently they were not heavily photographed in action. We also have a copious number of images of the various details of these small ships, surely something that will interest the modeler.

Overall, a fine book on an often overlooked vessel. I'm sure naval enthusiasts will be pleased with it and the rest of us will find it to be a most interesting diversion from the norm. A book that I can easily recommend to you.