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Book Description
* A fascinating book about an otherwise neglected aspect of the Second World War
Product Description
Sea Wolves is the story of the crews who bravely manned British submarines in the Second World War. This small band of highly trained and highly skilled individuals fought in the front line for six long years, undertaking some of the most dangerous missions of the war. Britain's Sea Wolves operated close to shore in mined waters, attacking warships and heavily guarded convoys. But in the course of these vital operations, the submariners suffered devastating casualties.This is the vivid, thrilling story of the survivors and their promising young comrades who fought with such courage, in the face of the sickening terror of depth-charge attacks and the cold fear of having to escape from a sunken submarine filled with the bodies of close friends.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sea Wolves is an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of British submarine operations in the Second World War. Its splendid script weaves the operations, the sailors, the enemy, the sea and the Nation into a lively and comprehensive narrative that I could not put down. It brilliantly combines people, plans, politics, politicians and platforms but it is the people that are at its centre and the core is focused upon the submariners from Admiral to Able Seaman. It covers the characters, known and unknown, their courage, their competence (or otherwise)their capabilities, their comradeship and their capacities: for fighting (the enemy and each other!) women, lust, sport, money, travel, food and alcohol. Tim Clayton brings them to us: their lives, their loves and their losses; one part stiff upper lip, the other crippling reality of combat and death.
The pace is hectic and I am impressed by the manner, in which the author keeps it going. He has packed a lot into nearly 400 pages and the result is excellent. There is journalistic licence and some deductions, analysis and speculation are presented as facts but one can forgive this travesty. He covers the planning, the operational and the technical but I was especially moved by the women in the story; the wives, the fiancees, the girfriends. They too had a tough war; often never knowing what had become of their men. Their courage is understated but real.
The drinking, the breakdowns, the sex, the swearing, the brutality, the doubts, the destruction and the failures are all carefully portrayed, all experiences of men in the front-line. The photographs are illuminating too: change the uniform (or rather lack of them) and wind forward to 2011 and it could be Afghanistan rather than the ocean in 1941. If you are interested in men at war, this book is highly recommended. Tim Clayton has done British Submariners of the Second World War a great service; they deserve to be remembered.
The pace is hectic and I am impressed by the manner, in which the author keeps it going. He has packed a lot into nearly 400 pages and the result is excellent. There is journalistic licence and some deductions, analysis and speculation are presented as facts but one can forgive this travesty. He covers the planning, the operational and the technical but I was especially moved by the women in the story; the wives, the fiancees, the girfriends. They too had a tough war; often never knowing what had become of their men. Their courage is understated but real.
The drinking, the breakdowns, the sex, the swearing, the brutality, the doubts, the destruction and the failures are all carefully portrayed, all experiences of men in the front-line. The photographs are illuminating too: change the uniform (or rather lack of them) and wind forward to 2011 and it could be Afghanistan rather than the ocean in 1941. If you are interested in men at war, this book is highly recommended. Tim Clayton has done British Submariners of the Second World War a great service; they deserve to be remembered.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the first book that I have read covering the men and operations of the British submarine force in the Second World War. I have read heaps of books on German U-boats, US Pacific submarines, and Japanese submarine operations in the Pacific but never anything on the British. This book offers a very good account of the men, officers and ratings, and their submarines during operations in European waters, the Mediterranean and the Pacific.
The British submarines tended to operate close to shore in mined and heavily patrolled waters, and in parts of the Mediterranean, in very shallow and clear waters that accounted for the high losses suffered in that theatre. Whilst operating off Norway in the early stages of the war the British crews had to work with long daylight hours, which caused all sorts of problems not experienced by other navies' submarines during WW2. This is best expressed in the following passage from the book:
"Somehow the horror of that grim summer which claimed half our flotilla lies almost forgotten - the translucent seas, with never a ripple to hide us from our foes above; the cloudless skies, that seldom darkened in those northern latitudes to give us the blessed shield of invisibility for which we craved to charge our batteries; the everlasting anxiety as to when we could venture up to change the foul air in the boat; men panting like dogs in the carbon-dioxide laden stench we breathed; the plaintively repeated signals from our base asking for one or other of our flotilla mates to report their position - the sign that yet another boats was overdue; all these things are but unreal memories." - (Sub-lieutenant Ben Bryant who survived the war and retired as a rear-admiral in 1957).
Under these conditions the submariners suffered devastating casualties, comparable with RAF Bomber Command. This book offers the reader a vivid and insightful story of the men who served in British submarines during the Second World War. It is well worth the read as the book places you with these men as they face the terror of being depth-charged and the horror of trying to escape from a sunken submarine filled with the bodies of their comrades.
The British submarines tended to operate close to shore in mined and heavily patrolled waters, and in parts of the Mediterranean, in very shallow and clear waters that accounted for the high losses suffered in that theatre. Whilst operating off Norway in the early stages of the war the British crews had to work with long daylight hours, which caused all sorts of problems not experienced by other navies' submarines during WW2. This is best expressed in the following passage from the book:
"Somehow the horror of that grim summer which claimed half our flotilla lies almost forgotten - the translucent seas, with never a ripple to hide us from our foes above; the cloudless skies, that seldom darkened in those northern latitudes to give us the blessed shield of invisibility for which we craved to charge our batteries; the everlasting anxiety as to when we could venture up to change the foul air in the boat; men panting like dogs in the carbon-dioxide laden stench we breathed; the plaintively repeated signals from our base asking for one or other of our flotilla mates to report their position - the sign that yet another boats was overdue; all these things are but unreal memories." - (Sub-lieutenant Ben Bryant who survived the war and retired as a rear-admiral in 1957).
Under these conditions the submariners suffered devastating casualties, comparable with RAF Bomber Command. This book offers the reader a vivid and insightful story of the men who served in British submarines during the Second World War. It is well worth the read as the book places you with these men as they face the terror of being depth-charged and the horror of trying to escape from a sunken submarine filled with the bodies of their comrades.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a wonderful, riveting account of the lives and exploits of some of the bravest men of WW2 who went to war in what, we would regard today, as almost squalid conditions. A service that was discounted as an irrelevance by many in the Royal Navy and often with inferior, under-resourced and hastily commissioned submarines, with every possibility of being sunk by their over-enthusiastic compatriots as well as the Axis. The array of unappealing demises that lay in wait for these men, each more terrifying than the next, is described in almost clinical detail, but is counterbalanced beautifully with detailed and insightful accounts of the personalities and the character of the bravest of brave men who sought to wage war in this way. Somehow they were able to put to one side the ever-present possibility of a grisly death and managed to perform their duty on many more occasions than official records, I am certain, will be able to demonstrate. Surely the epithet of "Hero" was never more deserved. I wonder which words such men would have for some of our more self-serving politicians and the young looters we saw on the news of last week. In any event this book is a detailed, moving and beautifully written testament to their success, their lives and to their deaths. Excellent - I feel proud and privileged to have read it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A window on a forgotten and unsung force
This book details the exploits of and puts names to the British submarines ( and one or two Dutch and French boats ) and the people who manned them. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Budcus
Cracking book
The Negatives:
- Use commas more often please, Mr Clayton. Some of the sentences don't make perfect sense until one mentally inserts a little comma in the right place. Read more
- Use commas more often please, Mr Clayton. Some of the sentences don't make perfect sense until one mentally inserts a little comma in the right place. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Combover
Book - Sea Wolves, By Tim Clayton
This book was purchased as a gift for a WW2 Submarine veteran. Whilst I'm no expert on the subject the recipient was, and he was engrossed with the book from the first page. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ted & Gill
The British Submarine service in WWII
Sea Wolves is a look at British submarines in WWII and the days before, noting that the experience of the British was vastly different to that of the German U-Boats, or even the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by John Middleton
The bravest of the brave
A very interesting account especially the views of Max Horton on the projected German invasion and the defence of Malta. Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. H. Allen
sea wolves
it is so very well written, that it makes you feel that you are actually there in the submarine at that time.
Published 8 months ago by Mr. A. R. Knowler
deja vue
Its good that any book seeks to highlight the lives and all too often the deaths, of British submariners. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Clio
Superb personal account
Superb and moving book. A fascinating insight into the lives of Britain's submariners in WW2, a must read of anyone interested in the field. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Chris Green
Listmania!
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