The Ship That Hunted Itself

by Colin Simpson

Simpson, Colin

Genres: History

Paperback

First published August 30, 1979

About the author

Colin Simpson was a special correspondent and member of the Insight Team at the London Sunday Times during the 1960’s and 1970’s. He was a war correspondent for them in the Six Day War in Israel in 1967, won awards for the Horse Meat scandal, and also specialised in antique and art forgery. He broke the Tate Bricks controversy which was recently made into documentary for the BBC and shortlisted for a Greirson Award. He was born 1931 and died on 31 October, 2017

Reviews

[Steve Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning book about the start of WWI and the way the British and German navies armed themselves

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story, but sadly it wasn't well enough written to carry me through to the end.

[Ellison · Rating 5 out of 5]

about a ship that disguised itself as another ship and the results.

[Juniper Shore · Rating 5 out of 5]

All kinds of weird things happened during World War I. This book tells the story of one of the weirdest.

The writing is clean and the story moves along quickly. The narrative shifts back and forth to follow several of the characters on all sides of the conflict. In that, it reminds me of other famous sea tales like A Night to Remember or Dead Wake. If you're looking for in-depth analysis of history this probably isn't the book for you, but if you want a quick, fun story with lots of excitement, pick it up.

The supplemental materials at the end were a nice addition.

[Stephen Cluff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This non-fiction book is about two civilian ships, one English and one German, that upon the outbreak of World War I were transferred to military service. As a cover, each inadvertently attempted to mimic the other. They eventually met up with each other and exchanged serious blows. The subject matter was interesting but the book didn’t drag me along through its pages as some will. Luckily it was a short tome and not too much trouble to get to the end of.