I saw this in a library and couldn't resist the premise. Before WWII the French built a giant submarine with an unusual design: Instead of the usual 5" deck gun, she had a turret with two 8" guns, plus a floatplane in a waterproof hangar. The real sub served the Free French for a while in WWII before being lost in an unlucky collision while en route to the Pacific. The book's premise is that a sister ship was taken over by the British in the Far East and used in several desperate missions in support of the the doomed defense of Malaya and Singapore. I expected some interesting insights into how such an unusual vessel could be used. No such luck. Every engagement is contrived so that the big guns get a workout, even though they could be aimed only a close range from such a low platform. They carry out a shore bombardment without coordinating with friendly troops ashore, a tactical absurdity. The scout plane gets fitted with a Lewis gun on a ring mount and strafes Japanese ships, another absurdity. There is no mention of how clumsy such a large boat must have been on a torpedo approach, nor on how vulnerable it must have been to depth charges, with a pressurized turret and hangar outside the pressure hull. Nor do the clumsy human interest elements make up for the book's failure as a techno-thriller--they have all the subtle depth of characterization of a Harlequin romance. One is jarred by frequent changes of point of view. In short, it's amazing that so dull a book can be written on so interesting a topic.
