| The Luck of the Draw: The Memoir of a World War II Submariner: From Savo Island to the Silent Service | 
 enlarge | Author: Usn (ret.), Captain C. Kenneth Ruiz
Publisher: Zenith Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 457309
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0760321566
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5451092
EAN: 9780760321560
ASIN: 0760321566
Publication Date: June 27, 2005
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Product Description
A coin flip likely saved the life of Kenneth C. Ruiz. It was August 1942 and he was fresh out of the U.S. Naval Academy. He and a classmate flipped a coin to see who would stand watch on the bridge of their heavy cruiser, the USS Vincennes, off Savo Island as the Marines were landing on Guadalcanal. Ruiz was on the bridge when the ship took a direct hit and sank. He ended up in the Pacific without a life jacket, but his classmate and the entire radio room crew perished in the attack. "The luck of the draw" is a recurring theme in this powerful memoir. Following the demise of the Vincennes, Ruiz volunteered to serve on submarines for the balance of the war and had numerous harrowing experiences. He spent most of his time on the USS Pollack, which was sub-standard in terms of technology, but was still deadly and made a significant impact on Japanese shipping in the far reaches of the Pacific. A worthy addition to the litany of WWII books on submariners, The Luck of the Draw is filled with heartbreaking stories of how the smallest decisions made the difference between life and death for soldiers and sailors in the war.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 A great book about submarines April 28, 2008
Another interesting book told from the first person perspective of a sailor who was there when the chips where down.
The Pollack was a ship that may have been cursed...but for some reason she loved her crew and that's why Captain C. Kenneth Ruiz is alive. When the chips where down this outdated old boat had failures that would have sunk other ships. But she managed to bail her crew out of some of the more dangerous spots they ever saw.
One of the things I enjoyed most was the blistering account of surface warfare in the Pacific. The author was original a surface sailor before his ship was sunk from under him. And quite frankly, after reading it, I found it to be one of the most interesting passages I've ever read about the topic.
Another important aspect about this book is how it covers the psychological issues involved with the intensive type of service submarines were during the war. There are times when the man just needed a break from his duties and a little firm land under his feet. He does a nice job of explaining this hazard and how it plagued efficiency.
Over all, I liked this book. It reminded me of a number of really great books such as War in the boats, clear the Bridge, and Take her Deep. While not quite as good a book as these others, it sure was an interesting read.
A very good memoir!
 Great tale and a great storyteller December 2, 2007
A 1930's vintage submarine with a riveted hull and a 250 foot test depth - doing battle in WWII. A great recounting that will make you almost dread to read what comes next. You'll also dread reaching the end of the book.
A few editing oversights, but not worth downgrading this engaging story. 5 stars. Enjoy.
An Old Sailor Speaks July 27, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Luck of the Draw by Capt. Kenneth Ruiz
An Old Sailor Speaks
I am a retired naval officer who served in destroyers and carriers throughout my career, during which I was under direct fire in three wars. My ship was shot up by the Japanese, my plane shot down by the Chinese and my flagship shot at by the North Vietnamese. I have a lot of vivid memories from those days of waiting and warring. I also like good war stories and I have read a lot of them. I have enjoyed only a limited few because most are usually pretty unrealistic. Those readers who have under fire in combat can usually tell whether an author has ever been in a firefight. Ken Ruiz has not only been under fire, he has generally been where the action is.
Ensign Ken Ruiz had graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in June 1942. After two weeks of leave, he reported to his first duty station, the USS Vincennes. This was a modern, well maintained, 8 inch gunned heavy cruiser with an experienced crew. In the summer of 1942 the Americans and their allies were losing the war everywhere. In the opening pages of Luck of the Draw, Ruiz describes the battle of Savo Island and the shocking defeat of the U.S. Navy's cruiser and destroyer task force protecting the amphibious landings on Guadalcanal. In this night action, a Japanese force of cruisers and destroyers sank four of our cruisers without a loss of any of their own. Ruiz recounts in the most graphic detail the total destruction of the Vincennes. His account is the best of the many I have read of that battle. The description of the methodical and agonizing dismembering of the Vincennes' at the hands of the Japanese, is a classic.
Rescued from the treacherous waters of "Iron Bottom Bay" after his ship went down, Ruiz was sent immediately to augment the crew of a diesel submarine without the normal procedure of survivor's leave and the prescribed six months of training in the Submarine School in New London, Connecticut. He had volunteered to go directly to a deploying fleet submarine in response to an emotional personal appeal by Admiral Nimitz: "We need officers like you in our submarine fleet and we need them now. Our submarines are desperately short handed". Ruiz stayed in subs for the rest of the war, and The Luck of the Draw tells his story.
Ruiz has the ability to write in a way that makes you feel that you are there. I have never served in submarines in combat but I have many contemporaries who did, and several of my friends have written books about their wartime submarine experience. They cannot match Ruiz in the reality of the accounts of his submarine war patrols in Luck of the Draw. He makes them come alive. I could swear I smelled the diesel oil and felt the damp heat of the engine room. There are no cardboard heroes such as we encounter in so many war stories. Ruiz' people are normal and alive, just as prone to error as they are capable of a satisfactory job. They are like the people you and I know.
From Ruiz we learn a lot about submarines - including their vulnerability to age, wear and the shock of battle. He shows us the same effects on his shipmates, reacting under the unrelenting tension of the silent service. This is a wonderful book. I read it through the first time without stopping. Now I keep a copy on my bedside table to pick up and read a chapter at random whenever I need that boost to my morale and the vicarious satisfaction that comes with refreshing my admiration of the courage and sacrifice of those otherwise average guys in dirty dungarees and un-pressed khakis mottled with the dark stains of their sweat, who fight this country's wars at sea.
XXX
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Very good Sub book June 18, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Pretty much every book written autobiographically by an ex-silent servicer has been excellent, and this book is no exception. The only nit-pick I have, and it's pretty darn small, is the last couple of patrols seem like an afterthought, taking up only a few pages. Admittedly, there wasn't much going on by this point of the war by this particular type of sub, but still, I wanted to know about even the boring parts of life on board. Other than that little nit, great book.
If you are looking for something to tell you the first-hand experience of a WWII submariner, this is one of those you should read.
To the veterans of that era from a veteran of a more recent era, Thank You for your service.
Extremely well written, a superb account of sub warfare December 6, 2006
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
As a fresh graduate of the US Naval Academy, Ruiz was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Vincennes as it was entering the Savo Sound off of Guadalcanal. He and an Academy classmate draw cards to see who would get the plumb assignment to the bridge, where they could observe the captain fight the ship, and who would end up on the signal bridge. Ruiz winds the card draw, and takes the bridge assignment. Two days later, the flag bridge is destroyed and all are killed during the attack. The Vincennes is attacked during the battle and sunk in Ironbottom Sound by torpedoes from a destroyer. After a harrowing time in the water with other survivors, Ruiz is rescued. The survivors eventually meet with Admiral Nimitz, who specifically requests volunteers for the submarine service. Ruiz volunteers, and is assigned to USS Pollack, one of the P class of submarines, and one of the last submarines built with rivets rather than a welded hull. Pollack has balky diesel engines, noisy bilge and trim pumps, and a hull that has a test depth of 250 feet, much less than the new fleet submarines. He joins the crew during an overhaul, when among other features Pollack is equipped with the new SJ surface search radar (with the old "A" scope display). During his first cruise on the boat at the end of 1942, Ruiz sees first hand how difficult it is to fight with this submarine, as time and again, equipment and systems fail. Even when the submarine does manage to work in for an attack, the torpedoes let the crew down with their poor performance, and Pollack must dodge depth charges. Time and again, as Ruiz describes it, Pollack takes the crew to the brink of disaster, only to snatch them from the jaws of defeat. One serious flooding incident that occurred during a depth charging turns out to be due not to the depth charges, but to a bolt jammed into the conning tower hatch to the bridge, blocking the hatch gasket from sealing.
We follow Ruiz on eight war patrols on the Pollack. Many of these are frustrating and frightening in the close calls the sub survives. Along the way, the colorful George Grider (from Morton's Wahoo, and later to captain the highly successful Flasher) joins the crew as the XO. Grider's leadership style and abilities have a positive influence on all the officers. As Ruiz puts it, "Before long, I realized that Grider had become the ship's heart and soul". Ruiz also moves up the officer chain and we follow him, in the process learning about the functions of the submarine. With a change of command to Cdr. Bafford Lewellen, the luck of Pollack begins to change. They carry out a successful attacks on the Bangkok Maru , which is carrying Japanese troops to Tarawa. Ruiz' sixth patrol on Pollack is the most successful, with over 21,000 tons of shipping sunk. In between the two attacks, Pollack has more misadventures, including an uncontrolled excursion to 500 feet, more than twice the test depth.
This book is another outstanding look at the experience of serving in the submarine force during WWII. In this case, it is not aboard a modern fleet boat, but in an older, worn, and balky submarine that was almost as dangerous to the crew as the enemy. The resourcefulness and resilience of men not far out of their teenage years is the true story of Pollack. The writing is superb; one passage stuck with me after I had finished the book: "My fondest memories of submarine duty are those tropic nights on the bridge, reveling in the warm salt air, and a slow easy swell under the Southern Cross. The sky seemed much closer here than on shore, and the Southern Cross has always been my favorite constellation. It was a lonely but powerful feeling being out there hunting thousands of miles from the nearest friendly base".
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