The Laforays were the largest, most powerfully armed and successful ships of this type to see frontline action with the Royal Navy in WWII. They were also the handsomest warships to see service and presented a perfect combination of power and speed. They were assigned to the most dangerous theaters of war including Force H, sailing between Gibraltar and Malta, from where they operated against the German supply lines to North Africa. They escorted minelayers into the German backyard in the North Sea and their convoy escort work in the North Atlantic proved them to be highly effective hunter killers of the U-Boat packs that threatened every cargo ship carrying vital supplies to the UK. Such was the pace of their war, that out of the eight ships of the class only one survived the war.The book also includes chapters on their origin, planning and building, wartime operations and indices cover weapon systems, general fittings and complements and battle honors for each ship in the class.

The thoroughly updated and enlarged edition of Flotilla is the result of impressive research on a forgotten chapter in the development of the young nation's naval and maritime tradition.

This is the story of the Tenth Submarine Flotilla and its part in the Second World War in the Mediterranean, told in the survivors' own words as well as by those British and Maltese civilians who obstinately fought the battle on shore.

This memoir is Peter Dickens' account of his experiences as the young commander of the 21st MTB Flotilla during 1942-43, mainly in the North Sea and the Channel. In all the annals of the war at sea, comparatively little has been written about the role of the torpedo boat, and yet these small and vulnerable boats, travelling at high speed amid storms and gunfire, and usually under the cover of darkness, managed to closely engage enemy convoys and escorts in high-speed attacks and wreak havoc among the German supply lines. Like the sailors who fought against the U-boats in the battle of the Atlantic, Dickens and his comrades were experiencing a new kind of warfare and had to hit upon the techniques and tactics as they went along; their kind of action called for great courage, spilt-second timing and complete understanding between captain and crew. Night Action is a lively and thrilling account, but also one which is frank and carefully considered; there is humour but the horror of war is never far away and the author conveys to the reader a sharp sense of the reality of those operations in a way that no history book can do.

An epic account of 'the most concentrated submarine battle in history'. Ideal for fans of Max Hastings' Operation Pedestal and Jonathan Dimbleby's The Battle of the Atlantic. Between 1940 and 1944 the Tenth Submarine Flotilla fought a vicious campaign against German and Italian shipping that were supplying Rommel's forces in North Africa. From the small, beleaguered island of Malta, constantly under siege from Axis naval and air forces, the thirty-four submarines that served in the flotilla managed to sink over a million tons of Axis shipping, assisting to turn the tide of the war in the Mediterranean. John Wingate served as first lieutenant in the Tenth Flotilla's submarine United during this period and records in fascinating detail the deeds of this unique underwater strike force. Surviving Commanding Officers, sailors, as well as British and Maltese civilians, all contributed to Wingate's book to give brilliant insight into how this conflict developed and what it was like to fight within it. 'an authoritative work and a firsthand account of most aspects of this tale.' Naval War College Review 'an acclaimed source amongst today's submarining fraternity' The Times 'a history of remarkable achievements attained by sheer hard work, dedicated attention to duty, remarkable personal bravery and high standards of professionalism - unfortunately at a tragic cost in human life.' Admiral of the Fleet, The Lord Fieldhouse The Fighting Tenth: The Tenth Submarine Flotilla and the Siege of Malta is a tense and gripping story that uncovers the exploits of this often overlooked but vitally important naval conflict from World War Two.

This collection of essays, written by some of the foremost historians in the field of Coast Guard history, highlights the wartime roles played by the United States’ oldest federal maritime service, from its inception through the last decade of the twentieth century. The Fighting Coast Guard features three distinct sections: “Beginnings,” which includes a short overview of the US Revenue Cutter Service (the USCG’s primary forerunner, established in 1790) and two chapters on World War I; “Conflagration,” the role of the USCG during the World War II era; and “The Cold War and Beyond,” an assessment of the Coast Guard’s participation in the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War of 1991. The Fighting Coast Guard is a significant contribution to the limited historiography of the Coast Guard and a critical analysis of various wartime roles undertaken by the Coast Guard during America’s twentieth-century conflicts. Because the Coast Guard operated as part of the Department of the Navy during the two world wars, its service and history is often overlooked or envoloped by the larger service, while the USCG’s limited participation in cold and hot wars since 1945 is often ignored altogether. This anthology provides readers with a solid overview while highlighting some of the service’s most important contributions as a combatant force. This definitive study of the role of the US Coast Guard in wartime, from its modern inception in 1915 through the end of the twentieth century, is long overdue and will shed new light on America’s smallest military service.

Formed in 1935, First U-Boat Flotilla operated against Hitler's enemies from the very earliest stage of the war through to September 1944 when disbanded amid the flames of Brest during the US siege. Over seventy-five per cent of operational U-boats were lost as the Allies' counter-measures and code-breaking successes took ever greater effect. This fascinating work records the Flotilla's successes and disasters in detail.