CAPT Ransom retired from the U.S. Navy following 30 years as a submariner. He served as operations officer for CTF 74/COMSUBGRU 7, a successor to Commander Submarines U.S. Asiatic Fleet. He commanded the USS Miami (SSN-755) and served as deputy for operations and chief of staff at COMSUBPAC. He is an adjunct professor teaching strategy and war for the Naval War College in Mayport, Florida. This article is adapted from a project he is researching on U.S. Asiatic Fleet submarines in the first six months or World War II.

Articles by James P. Ransom

ships

Bleak December

By Captain James P. Ransom III, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2021
Submarines were supposed to be the key element in the Asiatic Fleet’s defense of the Philippines—but the advancing Japanese tide rolled right over them in the weeks after Pearl Harbor.