Cultural perceptions guided the American use of submarines during the twentieth century. Feared as an evil weapon during the First World War, guarded as a dirty secret during the Second World War, and heralded as the weapon of democracy during the Cold War, the American submarine story reveals the overwhelming influence of civilian culture over martial practices. The following study examines the roles that powerful political and military elites, newspaper editors and Hollywood executives, and ordinary citizens – equal players in a game larger than themselves – assumed throughout the evolution of submerged warfare from 1914 to 1991. In each period, cultural discourse about the vessels propelled the on-the-ground realities of implementing a practical, yet acceptable, approach to an often misunderstood weapon system.
","abstract_html":"<p>Cultural perceptions guided the American use of submarines during the twentieth century. Feared as an evil weapon during the First World War, guarded as a dirty secret during the Second World War, and heralded as the weapon of democracy during the Cold War, the American submarine story reveals the overwhelming influence of civilian culture over martial practices. The following study examines the roles that powerful political and military elites, newspaper editors and Hollywood executives, and ordinary citizens – equal players in a game larger than themselves – assumed throughout the evolution of submerged warfare from 1914 to 1991. In each period, cultural discourse about the vessels propelled the on-the-ground realities of implementing a practical, yet acceptable, approach to an often misunderstood weapon system.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McGrew, Matthew Robert"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andrew A. Wiest","Andrew P. Haley","Michael S. Neiberg"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z","subjects":["submarines","World War I","World War II","Cold War","Cultural History","History","Military History","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/209","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andrew A. Wiest","Andrew P. Haley","Michael S. Neiberg"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McGrew, Matthew Robert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-08-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["submarines","World War I","World War II","Cold War","Cultural History","History","Military History","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/209"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Cultural perceptions guided the American use of submarines during the twentieth century. Feared as an evil weapon during the First World War, guarded as a dirty secret during the Second World War, and heralded as the weapon of democracy during the Cold War, the American submarine story reveals the overwhelming influence of civilian culture over martial practices. The following study examines the roles that powerful political and military elites, newspaper editors and Hollywood executives, and ordinary citizens – equal players in a game larger than themselves – assumed throughout the evolution of submerged warfare from 1914 to 1991. In each period, cultural discourse about the vessels propelled the on-the-ground realities of implementing a practical, yet acceptable, approach to an often misunderstood weapon system.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Beneath the Surface: American Culture and Submarine Warfare in the Twentieth Century"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andrew A. Wiest","Andrew P. Haley","Michael S. Neiberg"],"dc:creator":["McGrew, Matthew Robert"],"dc:date.available":["2016-08-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Cultural perceptions guided the American use of submarines during the twentieth century. Feared as an evil weapon during the First World War, guarded as a dirty secret during the Second World War, and heralded as the weapon of democracy during the Cold War, the American submarine story reveals the overwhelming influence of civilian culture over martial practices. The following study examines the roles that powerful political and military elites, newspaper editors and Hollywood executives, and ordinary citizens – equal players in a game larger than themselves – assumed throughout the evolution of submerged warfare from 1914 to 1991. In each period, cultural discourse about the vessels propelled the on-the-ground realities of implementing a practical, yet acceptable, approach to an often misunderstood weapon system.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/209"],"dc:subject":["submarines","World War I","World War II","Cold War","Cultural History","History","Military History","United States History"],"dc:title":["Beneath the Surface: American Culture and Submarine Warfare in the Twentieth Century"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:41Z"}