As a boy growing up during the Second World War, I, like many other children, followed the course of the war through the pages of the Daily Mirror, where our 8th Army were forever giving Rommel a bloody nose, or our fighter boys were downing the Luftwaffe in astronomical numbers, whilst Bomber Command were night after night meting out just punishment to the Reich. The Royal Navy seemed to appear less often in the papers, but when they did, invariably it was to announce some naval victory, such as the sinking of the Graf Spee, the Bismarck or the Italian fleet at Taranto, and made all the more exciting by seeing these events represented on Pathé News at the cinema.
Through these media and reading The Wonder Book of the Navy I soon became familiar with our great battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and submarines, so that by the age of ten the lore and ethos of the Royal Navy was firmly inculcated in my mind.
My own father had served as a cabin boy in the Merchant Navy in the closing stages of the Great War, sharing with other seamen the perils of the U-boat war, and had a great fund of thrilling naval exploits that he recounted to my brothers and I that excited my curiosity in that earlier sea war.
Accordingly, my initial acknowledgements must go to all those who, through their work, aroused my interest in all things naval long ago.
More recently, as this book was being put together, I have to thank, initially, my wife Christine for putting up with my papers and reference works spread over the dining room table for the last eighteen months. I would also like to thank Peter Lindsley of CBM Publishing Services, Cromer, Norfolk for his assistance with the preparation of some of the photographs. I am also indebted to Stephen Payne, the naval architect responsible for designing the liner RMS Queen Mary 2, for contributing the foreword. Also, a special word of thanks to Chrissy McMorris for commissioning my efforts in the first place, and latterly to Paul Baillie-Lane for his assistance in sourcing additional photo images, and to Rebecca Newton for her meticulous editing of the text. And finally to the various friends who have offered encouragement along the way.