Submarine Warfare: Today and Tomorrow

The authorsvintage British submarinersinsist that there's no area of geostrategic decision-making in which it is more vitally urgent ""to determine the facts and discard the abundant fictions'' than in underwater warfare. Such is their aim in this wide-ranging and authoritative study, which takes a close look at underwater weaponry and defenses, their present and potential capabilities, and their probable employment in time of war. Moore and Compton-Hall clarify the comparative vulnerability of the land and sea components of the U.S. nuclear triad, as opposed to the U.S. submarine fleet, which they point out is by far ``the most dependable and convincing leg'' of that triad. Further, they consider ``unassailable'' arguments in favor of the U.S. Navy's role as a force maintaining the nuclear balance for the entire free world. Nonspecialist readers will discover in these pages a rich mixture of submarine history, a survey of sub fleets around the world and a thorough explication of the central place of submarines in geopolitical strategy. Photos. (March 31)