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The biography of Bob Oldfield, who spent his war in regular brushes with death: in Ajax at the Battle of the River Plate; in the submarines Narwhal, H 31, Spearfish, Ursula, Splendid, and then in Saracen, in which he was sunk; in Italy and Germany as a POW.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

A brief memoir by a survivor of the sinking of Barham, who later served on Kingston in the Mediterranean and in landing craft, where he was disrated. Also concerned with his search for Christianity.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

He went from Australia and a reserved occupation in 1941 to the UK. He spent 1942 as a seaman in the new destroyer Panther, working up and then at Colombo, before moving to King Alfred. The next year was spent as a sublieutenant on Intrepid, first based on Iceland and covering Murmansk convoys, then in the Mediterranean. In November 1943 she was sunk in Leros Harbour. He then spent 10 months as a Lieutenant on Terpsichore in the Mediterranean, before returning to Australia to become First Lieutenant of Gascoyne from January 1945.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

The first biography of an officer who won his VC in the St Nazaire Raid. Although forever associated with this, his active war included service in Q Ships, Combined Operations, at D-Day and commanding an Arctic convoy's destroyer

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

A rather slight and disappointing work, which covers his service in 20 pages. After call-up he volunteered as a DEMS gunner. Service on the City of Florence led to a transfer to Illustrious as a Fighter Direction Officer. In 1945 he moved to a post in the Admiralty.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

More Mountbatten than Kelly, the book is rich in personal anecdote and captures the mixture of glamour and ineptitude which characterised his career in destroyers.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

A full length biography of Lord Louis, published soon after his tragic assassination. It attempts to be a "warts and all" study. One hundred pages cover his meteoric wartime rise.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

One-third of the book records his war. He began as a war correspondent with Richard Dimbleby, but after Dunkirk joined the navy as a second hand at Lowestoft. He spent the winter in small ships off the East Coast, but was soon commissioned and went to Scapa as Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Binney, Flag Officer Scapa. He was with Arethusa on the fringe of the Bismarck chase but then migrated to SOE and support for secret operations in Norway for the rest of the war.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

A loving biography of her father. He joined up in 1938 and as war began was serving in Janus. He saw action with her in Norway and the Mediterranean, then after an appendix operation and some trouble with the military police worked with one of the shore parties in the evacuation of Crete. Evacuated in Orion, he moved briefly to Abdiel, but after more fisticuffs was sent to the small coastal whalers patrolling the North African coast. Late in 1941 he joined Neptune and was her sole survivor when she was mined a month later. Picked up by Italian forces, he was eventually repatriated in June 1943, but within three weeks was back in service re-training on Asdic. In April 1944 he was drafted to Mermaid on Arctic convoy duty and in August 1944 to the then building minesweeper Rowena. She served in the Mediterranean but was sent to the Far East at the very end of the war. He later became a professional boxer.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

An enjoyable war memoir. Covers Atlantic seatime in Scarborough and Broke and cleaning up after the Plymouth blitz. CW status was followed by training at Ganges and King Alfred. Sea appointments followed in Scylla, notably covering PQ18, then transfer to the carrier Slinger, a long fitting out and operations in the Pacific.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

The story of the man who joined the Navy in 1904, served at Gallipoli, was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks, was Controller of the Navy 1939-42, sank the Scharnhorst, and commanded the most powerful British fleet of all time in the Pacific.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

As much a study of his influential thinking as a biography.

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• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

An autobiography lightly disguised as fiction. He grew up in the Merchant navy as a young officer and as a member of the RNR was called up in 1939. He spent time on the Northern Patrol, notably in Montclare, then moved to Victorious. Finally in 1944 he joined a new sloop as Navigator and served on her at D-Day and in the Bay of Bengal. Really a series of vignettes and tales he recalls in old age.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

A list of those lost at sea with no known grave, as recorded on the war memorials at Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Liverpool, Lowestoft, and Lee-on-Solent. Each entry gives brief detail of date of death, ship and family. An eloquent list of over 45,000 names. A supplement was issued by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1982.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

An Exciseman, he was called up in 1940 and trained as a Telegraphist at Ganges, before joining Aurora in March 1941. He served with her in the Home Fleet and in the Mediterranean. At the end of the year he returned to the UK for officer training at King Alfred, followed by a posting to the minesweeping trawler Bern building in Hull, then based at Milford Haven. In late 1943 he moved to New York then Boston to stand by Tortola. She served mainly on the Gibraltar run. After VE Day he trained as a schoolmaster and served as such until demobbed. His growing Christian faith is the major theme of the book.

• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies

Admiral James was C-in-C Portsmouth from 1939 to 1942, then Chief of Naval Information and an MP for Portsmouth. These are effectively his war memoirs and are cast in the form of letters to a friend, recording events in his command and his views on the war.

• The Royal Navy
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JERRAM, F. R. Tales From the Middle Watch. vii, 103p., illus. Sherborne, author, 2003. ISBN: 1858453429.

Entertaining if somewhat disconnected reminiscences.  He joined Dartmouth at 13 and went to sea in January 1940.  He served initially in HMS Southampton (18 months), then Warspite (6 months), was involved in the landings in French North Africa in November 1942.  This was followed by a spell in Pytchley.

• The Royal Navy
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An Australian, he trained at the Thames Nautical Training College on Worcester at Greenhithe in Kent, where he joined the RNR. He joined the RN in 1939. He then moved up through roles as executive officer on armed trawlers, then corvettes, a sinking, and by mid-1942 was commanding Snowflake. At 25 he was the youngest captain of a major warship in the Royal Navy. By age 29 he commanded a destroyer. Then it was back to the Merchant Navy. He joined Australia's Commonwealth Lighthouse Service whose vessels he commanded for the rest of his eventful career.

• The Royal Navy
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He joined up as a Boy Seaman on the outbreak of war and after training joined Aurora early in 1941 at Scapa. Later in the year she joined Force K at Malta. After six months of hard action she sailed for a UK refit, then more convoy work prior to the Torch landings and a further year in the Mediterranean. He returned to the UK and a year in various shore bases before transfer to the Pacific just as the war ended.

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JONES, John Charles. From the Fo'csle Messdeck to the Wardroom. iv, 120p., illus. Lewes: Book Guild, 1987. ISBN: 0863322050.

Jones served from 1917 to 1953, rising from Boy Seaman to Lieutenant. In WWII he served as "Guns" on Jupiter in the North Sea, then moved to Lively. After she was sunk in the Mediterranean, he became a Bomb Disposal Officer, mainly based in that theatre.

• Autobiography
• The Royal Navy
• Royal Navy Autobiographies & Biographies