Few would have thought in 1944 as HMS Cavalier entered service with the Royal Navy that over six decades later she would still be in existence. The last example of the classic British wartime destroyer, this book looks at the distinguished history of the vessel.

The H.M.S. Unseen is one of the most efficient, lethal submarines ever built. But suddenly, on a training mission off the English coast, it vanishes, baffling military intelligence on both sides of the Atlantic, including National Security Adviser Admiral Arnold Morgan. A missing weapon is dangerous enough. But then the unthinkable begins to happen... Planes begin blowing up across the skies. Searching for answers, Morgan is convinced that only one man can be behind all these devastating events: his archenemy, the world's most cunning—yet reportedly dead—terrorist spy. Determined to stop his old nemesis, Morgan must use all his wits to find a madman armed with a powerful sub hidden somewhere in a million square miles of ocean. What Morgan doesn't know, however, is that the fanatical terrorist has a plan of his own, one that will bring these two intense warriors face-to-face—and only one will come out alive in one of the most chilling spy stories of the year.

"Few, very few books have made my heart thud with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it." —Helen Lucy Burke, Irish Press In H.M.S. Surprise, British naval officer Jack Aubrey and surgeon Stephen Maturin face near-death and tumultuous romance in the distant waters ploughed by the ships of the East India Company. Tasked with ferrying a British ambassador to the Sultan of Kampong, they find themselves on a prolonged voyage aboard a Royal Navy frigate en route to the Malay Peninsula. In this new sphere, Aubrey is on the defensive, pitting wits and seamanship against an enemy who enjoys overwhelming local superiority. But somewhere in the Indian Ocean lies the prize that could secure him a marriage to his beloved Sophie and make him rich beyond his wildest dreams: the ships sent by Napoleon to attack the China Fleet.

Malta 1941. To most people HMS Saracen is just an ugly, obsolete ship with an equally ugly recent history: her last commander is due for court-martial after shelling the troops he was sent to protect. But to Captain Richard Chesnaye she brings back memories—memories of the First World War when he and the old monitor went through the Gallipoli campaign together. It seems that captain and ship are both past their best. But as the war enters a new phase, Chesnaye senses the possibility of a fresh, significant role—for him and the Saracen.

Beretter om den britiske krydser HMS Superb, som var det eneste skib af sin slags, der blev bygget, idet det var det første af et nyt design og blev færdiggjort efter afslutningen på den 2. verdenskrig. Skibets operative periode blev kort, fra det hejste kommando i december 1945 til det strøg kommando sidste gang, i august 1957, gik der kun 11 og et halvt år.

A fascinating and lively account of the lives of British warships named London, looking at history from the perspective of the men who were there. There is no current warship in the Royal Navy called HMS London, but vessels carrying the name have featured in some of the most controversial episodes of British naval history. For example, the wooden wall battleship HMS London of the late 18th century could be called “the ship that lost America” while the heavy cruiser of WW2 was command vessel for the escort force that failed to safeguard the controversial convoy PQ17. Examining the stories of HMS Londons all the way from the English Civil War, through the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801—where Nelson famously ignored signals to break off the action displayed by HMS London—we also learn of the pre-dreadnought London’s participation in the ill-fated Dardanelles campaign of WW1. Among the people Iain Ballantyne interviewed for this book were veterans of the Arctic convoys of WW2, the Yangtse Incident and warriors of the Cold War and 1991 Gulf War. It all adds up to a thoroughly researched and exciting narrative of naval history. Adding to the authenticity of the tale, Iain even sailed to Russia in the last HMS London, a Type 22 guided-missile frigate, in August 1991. During a WW2 convoy re-enactment the ship was almost hit by a practice torpedo launched from a Soviet submarine and had to take evasive action.

HMS Turbulent was a Royal Navy T-class submarine. From its launch in May 1941 to when it was lost at sea, along with its entire crew, in March 1943, it was responsible for the sinking of nearly 100,000 tons of enemy shipping. Besides the number of enemy vessels it sunk, HMS Turbulent has gone down in history for the attack on the Italian merchant vessel the Nino Bixio, which at the time was carrying more than 3,000 Allied POWs who had been captured during the fighting in North Africa. Having left the Libyan port of Benghazi on 16 August 1942, accompanied by the Italian cargo vessel the Sestriere, the Nino Bixio was attacked the following day. A total of 336 Allied POWs, most of whom were either Australian or New Zealanders, were killed or died of their wounds in the explosion. Although badly damaged, the Nino Bixio stayed afloat and was towed to Navarino, in southern Greece, where the surviving POWs disembarked. The wounded were treated in hospital, while the rest were shipped on to POW camps in Bari, Italy. Although there have been different theories put forward as to how HMS Turbulent met its end off the Italian coast in 1943, there is still no absolute certainty as to where, when and how the boat and its crew were lost.