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During both world wars the British submariner faced a one-in-three chance of death, a casualty ratio second only to the horrific loss rate endured by the aircrews Bomber Command. Neither was he spared the perils of his inherently dangerous trade during peacetime: until the 1940s submarine losses through misadventure averaged one boat per year.
Damned Un-English Sailors is a social history charting the first half-century of the development of the Royal Navy Submarine Service. With much information taken from previously unpublished sources, it portrays their lives ashore and afloat in war and in peace.
From the selection and training of its officers and men - for decades a largely extemporized affair – to daily life aboard His Majesties Submarines between 1901 and 1945, Damned Un-English Sailors sheds light on this oft-overlooked aspect of British naval history.
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