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THE SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES |
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Notes |
Titles |
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"A voyage in an undersea boat! What boy has not done so time and
time again in his youthful dreams? The Submarine Boys did it in reality,
diving into the dark depths of the sea, then, like Father Neptune, rising
dripping from the deep to sunlight and safety. Yet it was not all easy
sailing for the Submarine Boys, for these hardy young "undersea
pirates" experienced a full measure of excitement and had their share
of thrills, as all who sail under the surface of the seas are certain to do.
The author knows undersea boats, and the reader who voyages with him may
look forward to an instructive as well as lively cruise." "These splendid books for
boys and girls deal with life aboard submarine torpedo boats, and with the
adventures of the young crew, who, by degrees, become most expert in this
wonderful and awe-inspiring field of modern naval practice. The books are
written by an expert and possess, in addition to the author's surpassing
knack of story-telling, a great educational value for all young
readers."
I dunno about "educational value," but the preposterous
premise of these books is a hoot and a half. Three teenaged boys, Jack Benton,
Eph Somers, and Hal Hastings come together and begin to work their way
upward in the world of submarine boating. Joining the Pollard Submarine Boat
Company, along with inventor David Pollard and shipbuilder/president Jacob
Farnum, they help as the company's first submarine boat, the
"Pollard," is constructed. The boys become world-famous as sub
experts, and the government takes an interest in buying the Pollard. At
sixteen, the young friends secure a prize detail at Annapolis where they
"serve as instructors in submarine work
for the young midshipmen of the naval academy. Nor was this accomplished
without serious and even sensational opposition from the representatives of
a rival submarine company." By the fourth book, three submarines have been built, Jack Benton has been
installed as the captain of the latest boat, and the party is in Florida,
showing it off to government representatives and fending off French,
Russian, and Japanese spies left and right. I haven't read any of the later
books in this series, but I expect that by book 8, the sixteen year olds are
appointed as Joint Chiefs of Staff, or something.... |
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Source: Altemus advertising in Grace Harlowe's Junior Year in High School and Meadow-Brook Girls on the Tennis Courts WorldCat Holdings |