Subsmash: The Mysterious Disappearance Of HM Submarine Affray [Hardcover]

Alan Gallop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2008

In April 1951, the disappearance of HM submarine Affray knocked news of the Korean War from the front pages of national newspapers. Affray had put to sea on a routine peacetime simulated war patrol in the English Channel. She radioed her last position at 21.15hrs on 16 April, 30 miles south of the Isle of Wight – and preparing to dive. This was the last signal ever received from the submarine. When divers discovered Affray, they found her resting upright on the sea bottom with no obvious signs of damage to her hull. It was obvious that whatever had caused Affray to sink had occurred quickly. Fifty-six years later, Alan Gallop uses previously top secret documents, interviews with experts and contemporary news sources to explore how and why Affray became the last British submarine lost at sea – and possibly the greatest maritime mystery since the Marie Celeste. This is a fascinating recreation of the last mission of this doomed submarine, the effect it had on the families of those who perished, and on British public opinion at the time.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

In April 1951, the disappearance of HM submarine Affray knocked news of the Korean War from the front pages of national newspapers. Affray had put to sea on a routine peacetime simulated war patrol in the English Channel. She radioed her last position at 21.15hrs on 16 April – and preparing to dive. This was the last signal ever received from the submarine. When divers discovered Affray, they found her resting upright on the sea bottom with no obvious signs of damage to her hull. Fifty-six years later, Alan Gallop uses previously top secret documents, interviews with experts and contemporary news sources to explore how and why Affray became the last British submarine lost at sea – and possibly the greatest maritime mystery since the Marie Celeste.

About the Author

Alan Gallop worked at Heathrow as a reporter with a national news agency between 1966 and 1978, covering every conceivable type of story for the international media. He was one of the team that launched the airport newspaper, Skyport. Since the early 1980s he has represented a number of Heathrow-based airlines in a public relations capacity, as well as writing promotional books for international airports in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has written three books for Sutton: Buffalo Bill's British Wild West (2001), Children of the Dark (2002) and Mr Stanley, I Presume (2004).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing; First Edition edition (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750946563
• ISBN-13: 978-0750946568
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,176,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book about an almost forgotten tragedy, September 26, 2011

By 

James D. Bowers III "Jim Bowers" (Goose Creek, SC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Subsmash: The Mysterious Disappearance of HM Submarine Affray (Paperback)

SUBSMASH is a very well written account of a disaster most do not recall. Britain's last submarine disaster is still a mystery similar to the unexplained sinking of the USS Scorpion in 1968, the United States' last lost submarine. The book goes into great detail on England in the Post WWII years, a specific history of the AFFRAY, and the sometimes difficult life aboard a submarine. Letters from doomed crewmembers hit a particularly disturbing chord. The book could have used more photographs, especially of the wreck, but there are some fine pictures of the sub when she was operational. All around some facinating reading, even if it does not fully explain AFFRAY's sinking, which probably never will be.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, June 26, 2009

By 

D. R. Pitts "daverpitts" (Issaquah, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Subsmash: The Mysterious Disappearance Of HM Submarine Affray (Hardcover)

Fantastic. My Father was on a Sister ship of the Affray at the time of the loss. HMS Amphion, (which is pictured during the search, Strange to for me to think that my father was in the engineroom during that picture) The author did a fantastic Job putting the incident in the context of the time. Hard for us to understand how indifferent the RN was during the time, but I can vouch for the authenticity of this based upon the recollections of my father". Too often the through the distant lens of history we judge the incidents and action through our contemporary standards, and consequently the meaning importance of the events and impact is loss.
I remember my father telling me the ghost story related to the loss, which again the author relates here without hyperbole. I leave it to the readers to decide on its veracity, but could be one of the most compelling accounts of a dead or near dead apparition I have ever read (other than that of Admiral Lord Tryon HMS Victoria).
If you want to learn about England, The Royal Navy in the 1950s. The loss of the affray and the impact on these institutions and the Families. Read this Book.