In the words of 'Moose' Hornkohl,..."the submarine's graceful lines and lethality an alluring combination."

Mikes writing of WWII events and memoirs of former crew recounting the consumption of torpedo juice and the terror of depth charging by the Japanese leads the reader sadly to the tragic mysterious loss of USS Gudgeon and her officers and crew.

Peter Mutton,Brisbane,Australia

I have read almost every sub book written. This book has the right personal touch. The emotion and the action bring the reader back to a time when we fought wars the right way. Integrity and courage are abound. Join one mans quest to find his uncles past, and uncover the story behind one of the best world war II submarines to sail the south pacific. From enlisted to Officer this book covers it all. In this book the GREAT GENERATION LIVES ON !!! THANKS MIKE

Capt. Brian Koschak
Rowlett Fire Rescue

Having made 6 war patrols aboard the Gudgeon, and 3 war patrols on other boats, I am well aware of what constitutes excellence in a fighting submarine than one without the aggressiveness and resolve found in Gudgeon and her crew.We were a team, and in my estimation no one, without exception, was more important than another. This was made clear to the author who followed our description of events to the "T". This is the true
story,without embellishments, or aggrandizements, of one of the fightingest submarines that ever existed.I am proud to have been part of this history, and even more proud of it's excellent narration by the author, Mike Ostlund

Historically, it seems to be an accurate accounting. A mysterious loss? Hardly...it was a wartime loss pure and simple, as were many. The writing is VERY dry, read more like an encyclopedia. I you are a war nut, it's OK, but not revealing in the least, and tends to wander.

Incredible. I expected yet another historical account of military action and was completely consumed by the personal stories of the Gudgeon's crew. The research and interviews that rounded out this book gave me a better understanding of the times they lived in and, more importantly, a deeper appreciation for their sacrifices. I would recommend this book to anyone. I stand in awe of these men and I applaud the author for telling their story in such a conversational way.

This book is one of the best researched WW2 submarine books Ive read in a long time. Not only does the author do all the standard research but interviewed as many of the enlisted crew as he could find. Adding to the story with their information as well as others who interacted with them gives a well rounded account of the Gudgeons war. All too often the lives of the enlisted men on warships are ignored, but without these men no submarine would have gone anywhere. Much less achieve as much of the maritime and warship destruction that helped so greatly to bring the Japanese Empire to its defeat. Full of information but never long and tedious it is as full an accounting of the Gudgeons war patrols as possible. His discovery of information that pinpoints the probable time and place of her loss makes the book important to submarine history.
Mike Hemming MM1(SS) USN 62-68

Review: FIND `EM, CHASE `EM, SINK `EM
Author: Mike Ostlund
Reviewed copy: Hardback-471 pages-1st edition-Signed
Publisher: The Lyons Press of Guilford, Connecticut-2006
Reviewer: Ron Martini


....I approach most submarine works that deal with WWII with trepidation. I have been burned by too many self serving books written by those who seem to be writing for their Academy classmates. Then there are those written as strict history and really grind on your resolve to finish them. The exceptions, in the first case, are Admiral Fluckey's "Thunder Below," and the example of the strict history type is Silent Victory and Hitler's U-Boat War by Blair.


....So I approached "Find `Em" with caution. Wow! I was amazed at this work. The book Is so well researched (it took 5 years), that I am going to use it forever as a model for anyone asking me what or how a book and what is involved. I get about 2 requests per month from authors who are hoping to write the ultimate WWII book. This is not that book but its real close. It contains a huge human touch or pathos, humor, drama, history and that déjà vu feeling all submariners get when reading about the world we lived in.


....Most books have 3-4 interviews of principals who are discussed in the work. This book never ends with them. From nursing home beds to children and grandchildren, the work is amazing in its attention to detail and reliance on proof and interviews to fill in the period of this submarines eleven patrols.


....This story is about the USS Gudgeon SS 211. It tells in detail the events of each of the 11 patrols and the last 100 pages attempt to find the boat lost on it's 12 war patrol presumably west of Iwo Jima. But it just isn't about the patrols, the torpedoes fired, the 5" shells pounded into Japanese ships, but also about the return of the boats to port. The fun the crew forced themselves to have to forget the 300 depth charges the boat endured in the short three years of it's life. The times at the Royal Hawaiian and their Gilly stills to the thrills and funny stories emanating from Australia will not be forgotten by this reviewer.


....The book does not hold back in criticism of those men who did not live up to their oaths or who did not have the fortitude to charge forward at all costs. Even the couple of cooks who deserted and were never heard from again. I hope they find this book.


....The author's uncle was a lieutenant on board the Gudgeon for her last 3 patrols and one of many lost on the 12th patrol. This is the authors five year search to find the boat, find out as much as he could about the men who served with her and the search for its remains. Unfortunately, the boat probably lies in the canyons of the Marianna's Trench at over 4000 feet depth. The author has done a great job in bringing some measure of finality to the families of those lost in that war.


....A great read and highly recommended to all readers of submarine lore and history. My copy is being donated to the USSVI National Library at North Little Rock, Arkansas near where another great WWII submarine now is on display.

Ron Martini

Very well researched material for the book on WWII sub warfare. In-depth about the lives of those that served on the sub Gudgeon. Really surprised that the book was mostly about the lower ranks - their thoughts, emotions - when at war. Most books just care about the high-ranking people and forget about the ones under them. Very good description of the smells and the fear the sailors felt when being depth-charged. It was interesting to find out how torpedoes work and how the men found out how to make a drink out of the propellant. This is a must-read book for those interested in WWII history and many others.

Mike is masterful in weaving the lives of the men and their stories into a totally enjoyable, readable book about submarine warfare during WWII. His Uncle Bill would have been very proud of him.

Mike Ostlund did a fantastic job writing and researching this book. My uncle Harry Nickel was always talked about when I was growing up. I was born 3 years after he was lost in the submarine. I found the entire book extremely interesting and I now have a better understanding of what happened. My only wish is that My Grandmother and my Mother were still alive to share this great book, they were the last of my family to know Harry Nickel during his short life. Bravo Mike !!!!!!!

As Tom Brokaw called them, this was 'The Greatest Generation.' We have to stand amazed at what these people did.

On Friday nights a group of us usually meet at a local watering hole for a couple of beers before going on to other things. One man, who doesn't usually say much was finally convinced to tell his story of the war.

He was a mechanic before the war. So he enlisted in the Navy to work on aircraft engines. Of course he wound up on submarines. He went on four war patrols. Then he came down with appendicitis. He was in the hospital when the boat went on their fifth war patrol, from which is didn't return. His boat, like the Gudgeon is, as the submariners say, 'On Eternal Patrol.'

It was fascinating to read in this book what these men went through. Here is how life was on those crowded, hot (or freezing), stinking (everything smelled of diesel fuel) boats.

But perhaps the best part of this book is Chapter 13, the story of chasing down (almost certainly) the story what really happened to the Gudgeon. While officially the cause of the loss of the Gudgeon is unknown, the work by the author has been accepted by most people. It is the only cause that uses Japanese reports of sinking a sub that matches.

Good job Mr. Ostlund.

Mike Ostlund's Find 'Em, Chase 'Em, Sink 'Em: The Mysterious Loss of the WWII Submarine USS Gudgeon could also have been reviewed in our 'true adventure' section, but earns a spot here for being the first to recount the loss of the sub in a treacherous patrol area during the war. The author's uncle was aboard that ship, providing the impetus for a research project which involved patrol reports in both U.S. and Japanese naval archives, interviews with veterans of the ship before its last journey, and interviews with relatives.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Tang, Bowfin, Silversides, Wahoo. As the son of a submariner and an amateur W.W.II history buff, these names are very familiar, and deservedly so. U.S. submarines accounted for more enemy tonnage sunk than all other types of fleet vessels combined. If an army truly moves on it's belly, it was the "pig boats" that insured that the enemy would be in constant short supply. Much has been written about individual boats and their captains but now, finally, the skill, dedication, and contributions of the entire crew aboard a fleet submarine is taken into account in Find "Em, Chase "Em, Sink "Em. This is the book I've wanted to read for a lifetime and it was well worth the wait.
Gudgeon (SS-211)had been largely forgotten until now. On December 11th, 1941 she sailed on her, and America's, first offensive war patrol in the Pacific. Her crew, although highly trained, were untested in battle but what they learned on this first patrol would help shape submarine doctrine in those early months of the war. Along the way, Gudgeon would become the first American submarine to patrol Japanese home waters (the dangerous Bungo Straits) and also become the first American vessel of any type to sink an enemy warship (I-73). During her illustrious 3 years career, her total tonnage sunk would place her 15th on the honor roll. She also received 11 Battle Stars and earned the coveted Presidential Unit Citation.
All that said, this book offers so much more. Mr. Ostlund has written a fine tribute to not only the brave crew of Gudgeon, both the surviving and those who remain on eternal patrol, but to all the dedicated young men of the Silent Service who served their country in her time of need.
As for the mystery surrounding her disappearance, I won't say a word. Instead I'll urge you to read, in my humble opinion, the finest book ever written about a U.S. submarine in W.W.II.

This book reads like a novel, full of adventure and stories of individual young men who served on, and in some cases were lost on, this WWII submarine, yet it has all the military details that an avid submariner could possibly want. A hefty book, so it's worth the cost of hardback, and leaves haunting images and memories of what war time service was like for men who were basically still children on a war-duty submarine. Unlike some submarine books, this one is interesting to not just the military literature audience, but to anyone who might pick it up. Perhaps it is the author's personal link to his "Uncle Bill", who was lost aboard the sub during it's last mission, but it is a story that pulls at every human emotion it is possible to feel--pride, grief, wonder, awe, terror, and joy, plus there are some tremendously funny reminiscences from men who served aboard the sub but were lucky enough to transfer off before the sub disappeared on it's last patrol. The author was also able to develop a well-researched and extremely viable theory of what actually happened on that last patrol and where the heroic sub and its crew may lie on the ocean floor, including the actual Japanese plane that sunk it. Great Read! Highly recommend!