Pen Sword Maritime imprint: 71 books
Beneath the Waves
A History of HM Submarine Losses 1904-1971
Language: English
Release Date: July 26, 2010
Since the beginning of the Royal Navy Submarine Service in 1901, 173 submarines have been lost and in many circumstances with their entire crew. War inevitably takes a heavy toll: in World War Two alone – 341 officer and 2,801 ratings failed to return to harbour. The loss of personnel was roughly...
by Colin Pengelly
Language: English
Release Date: April 30, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: April 30, 2014
The story of HMS Bellerophon is a record of the many and varied duties which the Royal Navy had to carry out in the period 1793 – 1815. It was involved in the first great fleet action of the War and was involved in the last moments of the struggle with the surrender of Napoleon.
The 74-gun...
13 Sharks
The Careers of a series of small Royal Navy Ships, from the Glorious Revolution to D-Day.
Language: English
Release Date: October 14, 2016
John D Grainger charts the careers of the thirteen vessels that have served the Royal Navy under the name HMS Shark. Despite the ferocious name, they have all been relatively small vessels including one brigantine, five sloops, one Sixth Rate, a gunvessel, four destroyers and a submarine. Collectively...
by BB Schofield
Language: English
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Language: English
Release Date: July 15, 2008
In this timeless book, Vice Admiral Schofield describes the great events of June 1944 which, as Captain of HMS Dryad, the Royal Naval shore establishment which housed General Dwight Eisenhower’s Supreme Allied Headquarters before the landing, he witnessed at first hand.
by Geoffrey Bennett, Rodney M Bennett
Language: English
Release Date: May 31, 2017
Language: English
Release Date: May 31, 2017
In 1919, the new governments of the besieged Baltic states appealed desperately to the Allies for assistance. A small British flotilla of light cruisers and destroyers were sent to help, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Walter Cowan. They were given no clear instructions as to what their objective...
Mr Midshipman VC
The Short Accident-Prone Life of George Drewry, Gallipoli Hero
Language: English
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Of the thirty-nine Gallipoli Victoria Crosses arguably none was more deserved than the medal earned by George Leslie Drewry.
At just 20, he was the first officer of the Royal Naval Reserve to get the nation’s premier award for valour when part of the landing on V Beach at Cape Helles. In...
Catapult Aircraft
Seaplanes That Flew From Ships Without Flight Decks
Language: English
Release Date: September 21, 2006
During World War I, the navies of the opposing forces discovered the value of aerial reconnaissance and many experiments were made to allow larger warships to carry one or sometimes two aircraft aboard. In the early days these were float planes that were lowered by crane into the sea and then lifted...
Captains Of War
They Fought Beneath the Sea
Language: English
Release Date: June 27, 1988
This book tells the story of captains of submarines and their experiences at war.
Churchill's Thin Grey Line
British Merchant Ships at War 1939–1945
Language: English
Release Date: November 30, 2017
The naval historian and retired merchant navy captain recounts the contributions of Britain’s civilian ships during WWII in this “cracking read” (The Bridgend & Porthcawl Gem).
The first British casualties of the Second World War were not members of the Royal Navy, the army, or the Royal...
by Bernard Edwards
Language: English
Release Date: July 30, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: July 30, 2014
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...
by John Carr
Language: English
Release Date: June 9, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: June 9, 2014
Built at Livorno in 1910, the 10,000-ton RHNS Averof had the distinction of being the flagship, and by far the biggest warship, of the Royal Hellenic Navy until 1951. More than a century after its construction, she is still afloat, one of just three armoured cruisers still in existence in the world....
by Sir John Treacher
Language: English
Release Date: November 1, 2004
Language: English
Release Date: November 1, 2004
By any standards, Admiral Sir John Treacher is an exceptional man who has had the fullest of lives. Old enough to have served and be sunk in the War, he went to be a naval aviator flying in the Korean War. His career took ff too and he rose rapidly to be the captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle...
by Ken Otter
Language: English
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Language: English
Release Date: May 30, 2017
On 22 May 1941 the cruiser HMS Gloucester (The Fighting 'G') was sunk by aircraft of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Crete. Of her crew of 807 men, only 83 survived to come home at the end of the War in 1945. It is unknown how many men went down with the ship and how many died in the sea clinging...
Arctic Warriors
A Personal Account of Convoy PQ18
Language: English
Release Date: October 17, 2013
In mid-1942 Alfred Grossmith Mason became Navigation/Gunnery Officer on SS Empire Baffin, a 6,978 ton cargo ship assigned to carry essential war supplies to the hard pressed Soviet Union. Fortunately he compiled this remarkable diary of the dramas and disasters that befell the ill-fated Convoy PQ18....