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Beware the Grey Widow-maker
This book follows the changing pattern of man's fortunes at sea, from the golden age of sail, through the proud years when steam reigned supreme, to the present day, when the flag of convenience rules the waves. It tells of triumphs and disasters, some recent, some long-forgotten, and illustrates how, contrary to all expectations, the fine art of seamanship has withered and died with the advent of advanced technology.
Return of the Coffin Ships
“...this book deserves a very wide readership among those interested in safety at sea.” —Cdr. Brian Wainwright FNI, Seaways, September 2000 “Wonderful! Really terrific. A first-rate piece of research.” —Stan Bernard, NBC News “Shameful tale of bulker tragedies.” —Telegraph, July 1999 In September 1980, the British ship Derbyshire sailed into the eye of Typhoon Orchid and on into oblivion, taking all on board with her. The destructive power of a typhoon is awesome, but the Derbyshire was no small and ageing tramp, running red rust with a crew of deadbeats culled from the backwaters of the world. She was just four years old, manned entirely by competent British seamen and ...
The Quiet Heroes
The men of Britain's Merchant Navy, although unarmed civilians going about their lawful business were the first to be involved with the enemy in the Second World War. Less than nine hours after the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, the Donaldson liner Athenia was sunk without warning by a German U-boat off the west coast of Ireland. From that moment onwards, British merchant seamen were constantly in the front line in all quarters of the globe. For almost six years they faced, without flinching, their own private hell of torpedoes, bombs, shells and mines, all the while fending off their old arch-enemy, the sea. Sorely pressed, and often tired near to death, they kept open Britain's tenuous lifelines, bringing millions of tons of raw materials, food, oil, arms and ammunition, without which the country could not have survived. As always, their spirit was indomitable, their professionalism unchallenged. The price they paid for their bravery and dedication was horrendous: 2,246 ships lost, 29,180 men killed, and countless hundreds maimed and wounded. This book tells the story of just a few of these quiet heroes.
Death in the Doldrums
With their very long range, the giant Type IX U-Cruisers gave Admiral Dnitz's U-boat fleet global reach. Initially these boats operated with considerable success off the East coast of America and in the Caribbean but their main impact was in the Gulf of Guinea 1942-43 which, due to the closure of the Suez Canal, was a vital Allied supply route. Two submarines in particular (U-68 and U-505) had a profound effect causing major panic by their hugely successful operations.
Donitz and the Wolf Packs
On 17 September 1942 Admiral Karl Donitz, C-in-C U-boats, issued the following directive:??To all Commanders - 'All attempts to rescue members of ships sunk, therefore also fishing out swimmers and putting them into lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats, handing out provisions and water, have to cease. Rescue contradicts the most fundamental demands of war for the annihilation of enemy ships and crews'.??This order ended what had hitherto been a war in which the opposing factions treated each other with a certain respect, seaman to seaman, showing mercy where mercy was due. It also marked the point at which the Battle of the Atlantic became a dirty war of attrition, with the U-boats hunting...
Royal Navy Versus the Slave Traders
The acclaimed naval historian sheds significant light on the Royal Navy’s role in fighting the African slave trade through years of bitter battle at sea. On March 16th, 1807, the British Parliament passed The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. The following year, the Royal Navy’s West African Squadron was formed for the purpose of stopping and searching ships at sea suspected of carrying enslaved people. But with typical thoroughness, the Royal Navy took the fight to the enemy, sailing boldly up uncharted rivers and creeks to attack the barracoon's where slave traders prepared their shipments. For much of its long campaign against the evil of slavery, Britain's Navy fought alone and unrecognized. Its enemies were many and formidable. Ranged against it were the African chiefs, who sold their own people into slavery, and the slave ships of the rest of the world, heavily armed, and prepared to do battle to protect their right to traffic in so-called “black ivory.”
War Under the Red Ensign, 1914–1918
he Kaisers determination to starve Britain into surrender and the development of his Navy and the U-boats in particular meant that Britains merchant navy was in the front line throughout the Great War.This book charts the progress of the war at sea which began with the sinking of the oil tanker San Wilfrido off Cuxhaven only eight hours after the official declaration of war. The merchantman Glitra was the first victim of a German U-boat (U–17) on 20 October 1914 she was to be joined by many, many more. As the war on land intensified so the naval struggle grew ever more bitter. As vividly described there were many incidents of atrocious behavior, amounting to war crimes, by the attackers ag...
The Twilight of the U-Boats
“A gripping narrative” of the German submarines that nearly changed the outcome of World War II from the author of Dönitz and the Wolf Packs (Naval Review). In essence, this is the story of U-223, commanded by Karl-Jurgen Wächter from the time of her commissioning in Kiel in January 1943 through a murderous career to her eventual but dramatic demise in the Mediterranean in March 1944. At the same time, the book covers the declining fortunes of the U-boat arm as a whole from early 1943 when it seemed invincible and seriously threatened the Allies with defeat to the end of the war. “An intimate narrative, one driven by human endurance and frailty.” —Amsterdam Nautical College Newsletter
Survivors of Enemy Action
The war years 1939 – 1945 were the most perilous in the long history of the British Merchant Navy. The figures speak for themselves. With 2,535 ships sunk and 36,749 merchant seamen lost, the proportional casualty rate was higher than any branch of the Armed Forces except for Bomber Command. The danger to the lightly armed merchant ships came from enemy air attacks, surface warships, raiders and, of course submarines. Prisoners were seldom taken so the crews of stricken vessels had to fend for themselves. Those who survived enemy action faced death by drowning, exposure and lack of food and water. Compiled mainly from experiences related direct to the author, this inspiring book draws on f...
Attack & Sink, the Battle of the Atlantic, Summer 1941
“This convoy must not get through–U-boats pursue, attack and sink.” This was the signal that Admiral Dönitz sent to the commanders of the 21 U-boats of the Markgraf wolf-pack on September 9, 1941 just before the United States entered the war. Sixty-three merchant ships; a number old and dilapidated and all slow and heavy-laden with vital supplies from the United States for the United Kingdom, were strung out in 12 columns abreast, covering 25 miles of inhospitable ocean. They set sail from Nova Scotia at a time when the German U-boats were sinking more than one hundred ships a month and the US Navy could do nothing but stand-by and watch–at least officially. “Around noon, the thre...
