The story of the sinking of the HMS Royal Oak by German submarine which cost the lives of 833 Royal Navy sailors. HMS Royal Oak was a Revenge-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, infamously torpedoed at anchor by the German submarine U-47 on 14 October 1939. Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland when she became the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battle cruisers sunk in the Second World War. The loss of life was heavy: of Royal Oak's complement of 1,234 men and boys, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds. The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero out of the German U-boat commander, Gunther Prien, who became the first submarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. To the British, the raid demonstrated that the Germans were capable of bringing the naval war to their home waters, and the shock resulted in rapidly arranged changes to dockland security. Now lying upside-down in 30 m of water with her hull 5 m beneath the surface, Royal Oak is a designated war grave.

• Written with the cooperation of many of the

  survivors and families of the victims.

• Incorporates the latest research and interviews with

  survivors.

• The author, himself a deep wreck diver, has visited the

  naval wreck of the Royal Oak at

  Orkney on several expeditions.

• Reviews in the naval and history press to include Navy News, Sea Breezes, Shipping Today

  and Yesterday, Ships Monthly and BBC Who Do You

  Think You Are Magazine.

• Review coverage in the Scottish regional press local to the

  wreck site (The Orcadian).

• Reviews in the Scottish national newspapers and Scottish

  interest media to include The Sunday Post,

  The Scotsman and The Scots Magazine.

• Book signings will be possible at both Southsea and Orkney,

  courtesy of the HMS Royal Oak Association.