Disasters of the Deep

This is the fully revised and updated edition of the first comphrensive account of every peacetime submarine disaster from 1774 to the present day. By examining many of the sinkings in considerable detail, analysing what went wrong and describing the attempts made to rescue the crew and the vessel, Edwyn Gray traces the development of the submarine from the earliest experimental submersibles of the late 18th century, to the nuclear powered monsters of today. The appendices include the most comprehensive and accurate list of submarine disasters ever printed, in the compilation of which the author has had the cooperation of the US, French, Italian, Danish and Japanese Navies, as well as the RN Submarine Museum and the German U-Boat Archive. AUTHOR: The son of an engineer specialising in the design and construction of sea defence, Edwyn Gray was born in Londons docklands in 1927 at a time when ocean freighters unloaded their exotic cargoes in the heart of the empires capital. He attributes his love of the sea and ships to those early childhood days. He began writing in 1952 and has contributed to hundreds of magazine articles throughout the world. A Damned Un-English Weapon, was his first book which quickly established his reputation as a submarine historian. He has since written a further fourteen books which have been translated into many languages. He now lives in active retirement in South Norfolk with his wife.