Disasters Of The Deep: A History of Submarine Tragediesnd Updated Edition

by Edwyn Gray

First published in 1986 as Few Survived and back by popular demand in a revised and updated edition, this book presents a comprehensive account of every peacetime submarine disaster from 1774 to the sinking of the Kursk in 2000. Noted naval historian Edwyn Gray examines many of the sinkings in considerable detail, analyzing what went wrong and describing attempts to rescue the crew and the vessel. In tandem he traces the development of the submarine from the earliest experimental submersibles of the late eighteenth century to the nuclear powered giants of today. Gray taps the resources of the United States, French Italian, Danish and Japanese navies, as well as the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and German U-Boat archive for this inclusive listing to provide an invaluable reference that also makes absorbing reading.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 13, 2003

About the author

Edwyn Gray is a British author who specialises in naval writing. Educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, Gray read economics at the University of London and then joined the British civil service. His writing career began in 1953 when he started writing for magazines. His first book was published in 1969, and he became a full-time writer in 1980.

Reviews

[Gergely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Provides a great overview on the various submarine accidents and disasters. Research, sourcing, and quality are ok, the reason I knocked off a star is the quantity vs quality approach.

Sure, it lists a lot of (if not practically all) sub disasters, but by that same token, the book almost never goes into details beyond a concise description of the issue, interspersed with excerpts from some survivor/eyewitness accounts, where available. This is a good book if you want the overarching history, but if you want details and in-depth information about any particular submarine disaster, you'd best use this as a springboard.

[Iain Bulpett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive account of submarine disasters, from 1700 experiments to 2002. Covering the the pre-war, inter-war & post-war eras. Also contains listings of those lost in both world wars, although due to war time secrecy the accounts are sketchier. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the exploits & explanations of bravery & ingenuity that proceeded the vessels of today.

[Krissh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well Researched

Interesting book if you are interested in submarines. Shocking waste of life of many submariners whose lives could have been saved if rescue attempts had been started earlier.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to skip through some of the chapters in WWI because it got to be too much of a "grocery list" for disasters. Really enjoyed some of the very early developments of subs and then the nuclear powered subs.

[Peter Fortier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actuate?

I was a sub-sailor in the 60's & 70's and found many glaring errors. However, it was very interesting, I'm sure the author had to rely on records which were not allowed to be complete due to security.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting.

[TackMc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encyclopaedic detail on submarine disasters