{"product_id":"ghost-below-steven-carruthers-9781764220217","title":"Ghost Below: The Lost Submarine of Sydney Harbour","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGhost Below: The Lost Submarine of Sydney Harbour\u003c\/em\u003e is the definitive account of the 1942 Japanese midget-submarine raid on Sydney Harbour and the decades-long search for the missing M24.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the night of 31 May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines crept into Sydney Harbour under cover of darkness. Their mission: to sink Allied warships anchored at Garden Island. What followed was a night of explosions, chaos, and tragedy that left HMAS \u003cem\u003eKuttabul\u003c\/em\u003e destroyed and twenty-one sailors dead. Two of the submarines were destroyed and their remains recovered, but the third - \u003cem\u003eM24\u003c\/em\u003e - vanished into the Pacific, its fate a mystery that would haunt Australia for more than sixty years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart naval history, part maritime detective story, and part diving adventure, \u003cem\u003eGhost Below\u003c\/em\u003e follows two intertwined narratives. The first recounts the desperate night action in 1942, told through Japanese naval records, Allied reports, and eyewitness testimony. The second traces the modern-day quest to locate the missing submarine - a journey that drew in naval historians, wreck-hunters, amateur sleuths, and the small band of recreational divers from Sydney's Northern Beaches who finally found \u003cem\u003eM24\u003c\/em\u003e in 2006.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on Japanese and Australian archival sources, official investigations, personal correspondence, and interviews with surviving participants, Steven Carruthers pieces together a story of courage, tragedy, secrecy, and persistence. He shows how wartime censorship shaped public memory, how rumours of wrecks and false claims misled searchers for decades, and how advances in sonar and underwater archaeology eventually confirmed the wreck's resting place off Sydney's coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book also explores the human side of the story: the young Japanese submariners who embarked on a near-suicidal mission, the Australian sailors caught unawares in their own harbour, and the modern divers whose quiet determination brought closure to one of Australia's most enduring naval mysteries. With rare photographs, charts, and appendices -including technical drawings and a photogrammetry model of the wreck- \u003cem\u003eGhost Below\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates a pivotal episode of Australia's home-front war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not just a tale of ships and submarines, but of memory and meaning. The wreck of \u003cem\u003eM24\u003c\/em\u003e is both a grave site and archaeological site, a reminder of how conflict reaches even the supposedly safe waters of home. It is also a case study in how nations remember - or forget - their past. As debates continue over whether divers should have access to the wreck, the story of \u003cem\u003eM24\u003c\/em\u003e raises questions about heritage, commemoration, and the thin line between exploration and intrusion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Steven Carruthers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1764220218\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781764220217\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bluewater Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 366\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.99d","brand":"Steven Carruthers","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48089470959871,"sku":"9781764220217","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0bdfef6b-e310-4a30-923a-02b5595016b5.jpg?v=1769110459","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ghost-below-steven-carruthers-9781764220217","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}