Sub - Ron Five Equatorial Cruise 1938. Souvenir of the Cruise to the Netherlands East Indies

Manila (?): The Squadron, 1938. First edition. Oversized Paperback. Good. Thin quarto (over size). Wear to edges and corners of lllustrated covers, eps to spine. Book still bound by the strng binding, but a bit fragile. Tape redisue on cover. 80 p. w/ many b&w photographic illus. A survey of the cruise of this US submarine squadron and their support ships with a brief history.before WWII. Sub-Ron 5 consisted of the submarine tender CANOPUS, the submarine rescue ship USS Pigeon, and 6 submarines, S-36 thru S-41. During WWII CANOPUS and esp. PIGEON did outstanding service in both supplying submaries and supporting US forces defending Bataan and Corregidor. PIGEON was the first ship of the war to win a Presidential citation, and won a second before its destruction. The submarines of the squadron all fought in the Philippines during the first part of the war, with 2 of the boats lost on hitting rocks with minimal loss of crew, and others doing further war cruises out of Australia or the Aleutians until 1943, when all except S-38 were made training boats in the US. S-38's last war cruise was 1944 after which was then deactivated. Uncommon.