Albert Schwartz

If you reached my Amazon author page, it is probably to find out more about my novel, Secret War, and me. In late 2015 I am posting to Kindle a new story, My Trial As A Climate Criminal. If you have read the story and like it I hope you will try my novel.

First, here is a little about my background. I had a Navy career of over 29 years. I commanded USS Haddock (SSN 621), the submarine about which I wrote, but just prior to the time depicted in the novel. I, at that time, August 1991, was in command of USS Michigan (SSBN 727) (Gold Crew). I also served on USS Queenfish (SSN 651), USS Will Rogers (SSBN 659), USS Puffer (SSN 652) as Engineer Officer, and USS Guitarro (SSN 665) as Executive Officer.

Shore assignments were at the Bureau of Naval Personnel and in the Submarine Directorate on the Chief of Naval Operations staff. Additionally I was Deputy Commander of Anti-submarine Warfare Forces, Pacific and Professor of Naval Science at the University of Idaho.

My goal in writing Secret War was to give a realistic picture of submarine operations. Unlike most submarine novels I do not ignore the nuclear propulsion plant that is about half the volume of an attack sub and involves more than half of the training effort, The Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination (ORSE), given about every 15 to 18 months, is the toughest inspection a submarine faces. To be certain I hadn't gone too far in describing nuclear propulsion, I submitted my manuscript to Naval Reactors (NAVSEA 08) for review. They did not offer comments since the book is fiction.

While it is fiction, I tried to be as accurate as possible in depicting operating, casualty and tactical procedures. For example, to remain covert a submarine uses only passive sonar and thereby gets only a bearing (direction) to their contact. By tracking bearings over time as the submarine maneuvers, this information is converted into course, speed and range for the contact. You will see how this is done. It is not simple and mistakes can be disastrous. One submarine once interpreted the point where bearing lines crossed as a minimum range to their contact. It was actually a maximum range. The confusion was costly.

Catherine McDonough, wife of my first Executive Officer on Haddock, Martin McDonough, read the novel and helped me edit. She and her husband offered several suggestions that, I believe, made this book better. Martin went on to command USS Tunny (SSN 682). Her comments after finishing her first reading were:

"As a Submariner's wife, I have heard so much of this activity (barring the torpedo launches of course) before. I read this to Marty exactly as I felt it was meant to be read, as if we were actually onboard. It brought back many memories for us both. The years of hearing phone conversations between Marty and crewmembers especially as Engineer made it all very real again. Even today when Marty is with Submariners whether active duty or retired, all these terms and plant names etc. come to life again.

"Yes there were chapters where I had to read very quickly as Marty was anxious to hear the outcome. Marty often would answer the questions as I read them, in advance of me getting to the next sentence and they were just as you wrote. It was a good test of his memory!"

This was exactly what I was trying to achieve.

So, welcome aboard USS Haddock on her fictional final deployment. I hope you enjoy the ride.