Perth Voice Interactive

FORMER US Navy submarine nuclear reactor operator and columnist Jon C Gabriel has published his first novel Sink the Rising Sun, inspired by American submarines secretly stationed in Fremantle and Albany during WWII.

Combining his unique naval experience with deep research, it is a rare and humourous historical novel about a US submarine officer at the beginning of the war.

“There are many American books and films about the war in Europe, but precious few about the epic battles in the Pacific,” Gabriel said. 

“The few that do focus on the Pacific theatre rarely mention Australia’s leading role. Through historical fiction, I hope to correct this American blind spot.”

In Sink the Rising Sun, Lt Benjamin Holt is stationed far from home in WA, finding himself on the frontlines with nothing but a decades-old sub and a rusty crew. 

The untested 25 year old is ordered to stop imperial Japan’s bloody expansion across the Pacific any way he can. 

Between each nerve-wracking war patrol, he’s further challenged by Navy politics, faulty equipment, and his lost love back home, all while adjusting to his new life Down Under.

“When Japan shattered the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, it fell to a few aircraft carriers and the tiny Submarine Force to fight back. 

“Subs made up less than 2 per cent of the US Navy but sank nearly 60 per cent of all Japanese shipping,” Gabriel said.

“For this, they paid a heavy price. One in five submariners gave their lives, the highest casualty rate of all American forces in the Second World War.

“Think Master and Commander, but underwater and a century later,” Gabriel adds.

The book, his first, is now available at amazon.com.au, in Kindle and paperback formats.

For more information, visit joncgabriel.com.