Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II audiobook cover

Thunder Below!: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II — When Ramming the Enemy Was the Only Option Left

Rating: 4.7
Author: James Cooper

by Eugene B. Fluckey 🎤Narrated by Corey M. Snow

🟢 Must Listen

✍️ 4.7 Editorial

🎤 4.5 Narration

15h 31m

History & Politics

🎖️

Mission Brief

When Ramming the Enemy Was the Only Option Left

•Comms Quality: Corey Snow delivers clean, untheatrical narration that lets Fluckey's extraordinary story speak for itself.
•Mission Pace: Detailed operational accounts may slow some listeners, but the technical depth rewards those who want the real picture.
•Op Tempo: Authentic WWII submarine warfare with tension, innovation, and leadership lessons that transcend the era.
•Final Assessment: Must Listen

Is this for you?

✅Pick this if: you care about military history and leadership and accept thorough operational detail · you want authentic WWII submarine warfare and don't mind technical depth · you enjoy combat innovation stories and can handle a substantial 15-hour runtime

❌Skip if: you need constant action beats or prefer a quick action story · you want sanitized summaries rather than real operational logs and reports · you mostly listen while distracted and can't follow technical details

📚Best for fans of: Run Silent, Run Deep, Clear the Bridge!, With the Old Breed

Read Time4 min read

Duration15h 31m

Best Speed:1.25x recommended

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Reviewed byJames Cooper

Retired Colonel, 25 years Army. Cried during The Things They Carried.

🎧 Listens during client drives, looks for authentic leadership without the polish, zero tolerance for self-serving military memoirs.

Last updated: Oct 20, 2026

Deployment Zone 📍

"We're going to sink that ship even if we have to ram it." That's not from some Hollywood script. That's Rear Admiral Eugene Fluckey—then Commander Fluckey—giving an actual order aboard the USS *Barb*. And they did ram it. Out of ammunition, they rammed an enemy vessel until it sank. I had to pause the audiobook and just sit with that for a minute. Look, I've read a lot of military memoirs. Listened to even more. Most fall into two categories: either the author is trying too hard to sound humble, or they're polishing their own brass so aggressively you can see your reflection in every page. Fluckey does neither. This is a submarine commander who earned the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses writing about his crew like they were the real heroes. And here's the thing—he's not wrong. ## The Leadership Playbook I Wish I'd Had I spent 25 years in the Army, three combat deployments, and I thought I understood small-unit leadership. Fluckey's approach humbled me. The man built a crew that was genuinely unbeatable by doing something radical—he listened to his enlisted sailors. Torpedomen suggesting tactical innovations? Fluckey tried them. New rocket missile concepts? Let's test it. This wasn't some feel-good management theory. This was a combat commander in the Pacific who understood that the guy loading the torpedoes might have a better angle on the problem than the guy reading the charts. That practical confidence in ordinary men reminded me, oddly enough, of Life of Benjamin Franklin—different uniform, same respect for useful ideas. The operational details here are extraordinary. Surface attacks at night, joining enemy escort lines from astern, darting in and out of convoys like a wolf among sheep. I've studied unconventional warfare my whole career, and Fluckey was doing it in 1944 with a submarine. The *Barb* wasn't just sinking ships—they landed a sabotage team on Japanese-held territory. Submariners. On land. Blowing up a train. That actually happened. ## Corey Snow Gets It Right The narrator handles this material with exactly the right touch. No over-dramatization, no theatrical pauses where they don't belong. He reads it clean and clear, letting Fluckey's own words do the heavy lifting. When the depth charges start dropping—and they drop a lot—Snow's pacing tightens just enough to put you in that control room. I was driving I-35 through Austin rush hour, white-knuckling my steering wheel during an attack sequence. Linda thought I was having road rage issues. (I wasn't. Well, not entirely.) The 15-hour runtime is substantial, and I'll be honest—some sections get deep into the technical weeds. Torpedo angles, approach vectors, the mechanics of submarine warfare. For me? That's the good stuff. I wanted to understand exactly how they pulled off these attacks. But someone looking for a quick action story might find certain passages slower. Fluckey drew from logs, reports, letters, and a torpedoman's illegal diary. You're getting the real operational picture, not a sanitized summary. ## When the Enemy Gets a Voice Here's something that sets this apart from most WWII memoirs: Fluckey uses Japanese naval archives to show their side of events. You're not just hearing about American victories—you're reading Japanese after-action reports describing what it was like to be on the receiving end. That kind of intellectual honesty is rare. Most commanders don't want to humanize the enemy. I went looking for that same disciplined historical distance in History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. IV, though Gibbon and I had a rougher road together. Fluckey understood that knowing your opponent makes you better at your job. Ranger sat through this entire audiobook with me. Fifteen hours of submarine warfare, and he never complained. (He's heard worse from my consulting calls.) By the end, I found myself thinking about the men I served with. The junior soldiers who had ideas I didn't always listen to. The unconventional approaches I dismissed because they weren't doctrine. Fluckey made me a better officer 20 years too late. The *Barb*'s crew didn't just follow orders—they helped write them. That's the lesson here. Not just courage under fire, though there's plenty of that. It's about building a team where everyone's invested in the mission because everyone helped design it. ## Who Should Queue This Up (And Who Should Stand Down) If you care about military history, leadership, or just want to hear about Americans doing impossible things under impossible conditions—essential listening. The detail level might test your patience in spots, but that detail is what makes it real. Skip this one if you need constant action beats; Fluckey's thorough, and he expects you to keep up. These weren't action movie heroes. They were submariners who figured out how to win through innovation, trust, and sheer audacity. Mission accomplished, Admiral. Ranger approved.

After-Action Report 📋

Audio production quality notes that may affect your listening experience

🎙️

Single Narrator

Read by a single narrator throughout the entire audiobook.

💥

Action Packed

Fast-paced with lots of action sequences.

✨

Clean Audio

Professionally produced with minimal background noise and consistent quality.

🐢

Slow Burn

Quick Info

Release Date:August 12, 2013

Duration:15h 31m

Language:English

Best Speed:1.25x

Audio Code:58694736

About the Author

Eugene B. Fluckey

1 book

Eugene B. Fluckey was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and a 1935 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He commanded the USS Barb submarine during World War II and was awarded four Navy Crosses and the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor. After retiring in 1972, he authored the memoir 'Thunder Below!' recounting his wartime experiences.

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About the Narrator

Corey M. Snow

Corey M. Snow is a full-time audiobook narrator and voice talent based in Olympia, Washington. Before narrating, he worked as a typesetter, paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, and software developer. He has narrated and produced over twenty audiobooks across various genres.

3 books

4.5 rating