Life Line: The Merchant Navy at War 1939-1945 [Hardcover]

Peter Elphick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2006

Great Britain's Merchant Navy suffered proportionately the highest casualties of any of its branches of service in the Second World War. In this book, Peter Elphick tells the story of the Merchant Navy through a series of individual accounts. From countless interviews with survivors he has succeeded in portraying, in the most vivid manner possible, what it was really like to serve at sea in every theater of the war. This book redresses the balance in the history of the Second World War at sea, showing for the first time just what the sailors of the Merchant Navy had to face to keep Britain's lifeline open.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books; First edition (February 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861761007
• ISBN-13: 978-1861761002
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,362,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost a collection of short stories., November 25, 2004

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Life Line: The Merchant Navy at War 1939-1945 (Hardcover)

It may not be a well known fact that the Merchant Navy suffered a greater loss of manpower - in terms of the percentage of their overall strength, than any of the three military services during WW2. Of the 185,000 seamen who served, 30,000 were lost along with 2,000 ships. These men provided a "Life Line" for the islands of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which were under constant siege from enemy aircraft, ships and submarines. Without the supplies they brought to our shores, Britain would have capitulated.

In this book, Peter Elphick recounts many of the stories which have become legendary amongst seafarers and is a true tribute to all those who served - whether they survived or not.

I consider this book as essential reading for all of those with an interest in the sea and her ships. More importantly, however, it should be read by all those scuba divers who have a passion for collecting relics from sunken ships. Many of those ships were lost as a result of enemy action and this book will go a long way to explaining the price already paid in providing any diver with a collectable maritime artefact.

NM

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Life: The British Merchant Navy At War, 1939-1945, June 19, 2001

By 

S. Christopher Kelly (Lynchburg, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Line: The Merchant Navy at War 1939-1945 (Hardcover)

Elphick is a retired Master Mariner who spent many years in the South China Sea working as a port and shipping specialist. A prolific author whose works include Out of Norfolk, Seamen and Travellers; Odd Man Out, The Story of the Singapore Traitor {with Michael Smith}; Singapore, The Pregnable Fortress; Frank Carr, Shipsaver and Far Eastern File: The Intelligence War in the Far East 1939-1945. His bibliography displays a wealth of academic research and includes references to primary sources including Imperial War Museum and Public Record Office holdings.

Life Line is a sound introduction to the role of the Merchant Navy in all Theatres during the 1939-1945 War, especially so for those with little or no foreknowledge of merchant and naval operations as they relate to the sinews of war. It does not attempt to give a comprehensive history, instead it enlightens to those smaller pixels of which big pictures are made, and develops a wonderful diorama. Each chapter stands alone, as the author's intention was to produce such a compendium. The first two chapters deal with the establishment and organization of the Merchant Navy and their Royal Navy Reserve and Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve escorts, aptly titled "Ropner's Navy" and "Harry Tate's Navy" respectively. Individual chapters narrate the perils and passages of ships to illustrate the conditions and conclusions of important operations such as blockade running, convoy battles, submarine attacks, air raids, port sabotage, maritime accidents, and even chapters on the consideration of awarding deserving ships the George Cross and the mariners who suffered lengthy durance vile on Japanese "Hell Ships" and imprisonment in Milag Nord as prisoners of war, so to speak. By far, the introduction and epilogue are wonderfully written, both eloquent and enlightening, providing a smooth beginning and ending to the saga of the "Fourth Service". It is a well written and easily read work that should be included on any naval bookshelf.