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Rip-Roaring Navy books?


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46 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Wow, tough crowd. I thought A Bridge Too Far was about as good as war films got for its time. 


Agreed, I watched it recently and thought it was still really good...

 

Guy

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I presume you're referring to novel type books (but based on factual), I've got a few:

 

 Surface Raider, by F.L.Farrell, tells the story of the hunt for Graf Spee (in novel style, but fairly factually)

 Those Who Serve, by A.F.Barton, a story of British submarines in WWII

 The Gates of Hell, by Ewart Brookes, telling the story of the Arctic convoys

 

These are all paperbacks, (not large), and are good reading.

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On 04/04/2020 at 03:27, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Guy, since we're adding films, I agree with your two above. I was disappointed with 'The Battle of the River Plate', but only because the wrong ships were used eg an American Des Moine class cruiser for the Graf Spee. "Master and Commander" is very good I think. It follows the tenth book in the series (Far side of the World) but has anecdotes from other books (eg the weevils). As for "Pearl Harbour", it didn't appeal to me at all. I much prefer "Tora Tora Tora". Much more factually correct I believe, and that suits my personal taste in movies. But that's just me. 

     And, of course, "Das Boot" and "The Hunt For Red October". Another obscure movie and book, "The Bedford Incident", about a cold war stand-off between a Russian submarine and American destroyer. "The Gold Crew" (book) filmed as "The Fifth Missile" (I think). Memory's a bit vague here.

   This should keep you entertained for the evening. Regards, Jeff.

'Tora Tora Tora' is very good - I recently rewatched it on DVD, and even with today's glut of high budget CGI, I thought that the special effects still passed muster.  There is an excellent website about ship models in films here which may be of interest.  Ditto O'Brian's 'Master & Commander' series, which I really enjoyed reading about twenty years ago.  I always thought that the fhe film captured the flavour of the books well, and I keep meaning to re-read them.  If considering that series, it is important to read them in the correct order though!

 

The books of both 'Das Boot' & 'The Hunt for Red October' are well worth reading too.  My late grandfather (retired RN captain) always said that he was surprised how much Clancy got away with publishing in Red October about USN / NATO procedures & technology.

 

Other good naval reads include 'Death of the Scharnhorst', and 'The Flat pack Bombers' - the latter about the RNAS during the Great War.

Edited by Paul H
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22 hours ago, Alan P said:

Wow, tough crowd. I thought A Bridge Too Far was about as good as war films got for its time. 

I think it was the poor representation of vehicles that did it.  Its a a long while since I last saw it but I think all of the German vehicles were portrayed by modernish US apart from a Tiger tank that was played by a Leopard 1

 

The other book I forgot to mention of course is Call for Fire by Chris Craig.  His "biography" of being CO of HMS ALACRITY in the Falklands campaign and then Senior Naval Officer Middle East during Op Granby.  Now to be fair I do have to declare an interest (though I get no commission!) but I joined ALACRITY shortly after the Falklands and have twice served under Chris including 4 months in the Gulf during the latter stages of Granby and the aftermath.  i even get a mention in the book. 

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If Naval aviation is allowed a look-in, Norman Hanson’s “Carrier Pilot”, Gerry Woods’ “Wings At Sea”, Lord Kilbracken’s “Bring Back My Old Stringbag” and Charles Lamb’s “War In A Stringbag” are all highly recommended.  The first was a Corsair pilot; the rest all Swordfish.

 

“Four Weeks In May” by David Hart Dyke (Captain of the Falklands-era Coventry) is very good - and I feel I must (for once) disagree with @Chewbacca: I loathed Chris Parry’s “Down South” book - too much of it seems to consist of the feeling that if only the high command had listened to me, we’d have done it all much quicker and better.  He was at the time a mid-seniority Lieutenant, but our Chris was never short of confidence...

 

We cannot possibly leave out “Wings On My Sleeve” by the inimitable Eric “Winkle” Brown.

 

Finally, Rowland White’s “Phoenix Squadron” (the Phoenix in question being 809’s crest, and the book being about Ark 4’s Buccaneers) is terrific!

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1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

That's the chap. Long out of print, but they are available. Thanks very much.

He did fact and fiction and, I think, gave Douglas Reeman a run for his money.

Looking through his titles, I recall a few but don't really remember them, maybe when I was at school, I guess I need to revisit some.

Steve.

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I remember a trilogy of novels by John Wingate (I confess I had to look his name up, this is going back a good 40 years) entitled Frigate, Submarine and Carrier. All about a contemporary naval conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact

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Some excellent suggestions on this thread. 

 

For history rather than fiction - 

 

Richard Hough's Admirals in Collision (the sinking of the Victoria, inspiring a scene in the film Kind Hearts and Coronets) and The Big battleship (HMS Agincourt, under that and other names) are great reads and fairly recently reissued in paperback. 

 

If you want short standalone chapters (one or three enough for reading over breakfast or a bus ride) try Robert C. Stern Big gun battles, Destroyer battles, and The hunter hunted: submarine vs submarine encounters. 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I feel I must (for once) disagree with @Chewbacca: I loathed Chris Parry’s “Down South” book - too much of it seems to consist of the feeling that if only the high command had listened to me, we’d have done it all much quicker and better.  He was at the time a mid-seniority Lieutenant, but our Chris was never short of confidence...

 

 

 

 

In fairness I can fully understand where you're coming from with that assessment.  Chris can be a bit arrogant but that was/is his way.  I got on with him very well and as a result it didn't bother me that much; I  suppose I felt that if you're the only Observer ever to attack a submarine with a depth charge since 1945 you're allowed to be arrogant!

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On 4/8/2020 at 7:43 AM, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Finally, Rowland White’s “Phoenix Squadron” (the Phoenix in question being 809’s crest, and the book being about Ark 4’s Buccaneers) is terrific!

Totally brilliant read I agree! Couldn't put the book down the first time I read it. Loved the bit where the Buccaneer crews "skirted round Florida" completely ignoring the US intercepters on their wing (by just staring forward), who were trying to get them clear of US Airspace!

 

Terry

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21 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Good call - that is indeed an excellent book.  
 

@Terry1954, White is writing another Fleet Air Arm book, this time about getting 809 (them again!) Sea Harriers down to the Falklands Task Force after setting up a new squadron in about a week.

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21 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Just ordered that one, thanks Pete.

 

39 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

White is writing another Fleet Air Arm book, this time about getting 809 (them again!) Sea Harriers down to the Falklands Task Force after setting up a new squadron in about a week.

Will definitely be getting that one, thanks Crisp.

 

Terry

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17 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Just ordered that one, thanks Pete.

 

Will definitely be getting that one, thanks Crisp.

 

Terry

Out at the end of this month, it seems.  
 

Edit; they must have been watching - it now says October rather than April!

 

[Other bookshops are available, kids]

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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I don't think anyone mentioned Hugh Popham's Sea Flight, either. The author flew Sea Hurricanes off HMS Indomitable during the Indian Ocean Raid, as well as Operations IRONCLAD and PEDESTAL, and Seafires off of Salerno.

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Ooh, thanks, Edward; I’ve read Popham’s “Into Wind” (a history of British Naval Aviation), and it’s very good - but not sure I’ve come across Sea Flight; I shall remedy that forthwith

 

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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Maybe not necessarily rip-roaring, but an interesting memoir of WW2 Royal Navy submarine operations in the Far East is 'One Of Our Submarines' by Edward Young, commander of HMS Storm.  The 1954 edition was the 1000th by Penguin and wore the three-stripe cover designed by him when he was an office junior with the company before the war.

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You may like to consider 'The Wheezers and Dodgers' by Gerald Pawle, its the history of the RN Miscellaneous Weapons Development Department.

It tells the story of the personalities (the author Neville Shute Norway was one) behind such developments as Mulberry harbour, Hedgehog, the Great Panjandrum (you even learn the name of the dog chasing it) and Plastic armour.

For a serious subject I've never laughed so much.

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On 4/8/2020 at 8:58 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

It arrived yesterday, and after a brief decontamination ceremony ( I won't go into detail but alcohol was involved) I shall be immersing myself shortly!

 

Thanks again Pete.

 

Terry

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On 4/10/2020 at 9:28 PM, JosephLalor said:

Maybe not necessarily rip-roaring, but an interesting memoir of WW2 Royal Navy submarine operations in the Far East is 'One Of Our Submarines' by Edward Young, commander of HMS Storm.  The 1954 edition was the 1000th by Penguin and wore the three-stripe cover designed by him when he was an office junior with the company before the war.

I remember as a kid being enthralled by Alistair Mars' Unbroken, written by the skipper of a U-class boat in the Med.  His follow-up, HMS Thule Intercepts, about his later career commanding a T-class boat in the Indian Ocean I recall as less gripping: more about junk-bashing than stalking Italian major units.

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