John Johnson-Allen

After two years at the Britannia Naval College at Dartmouth, Bryan Godfrey Faussett joined his first ship, HMS Dido in June 1879. From the day he joined her he wrote long letters home to his family and friends. The Dido went to West Africa, South and East Africa and the letters recount his experiences as a young man of 15 from when he first joined. Remarkably, he made copies of all the letters that he wrote home and these copies provide a very rare glimpse of the life of a young midshipman in the Royal Navy of the mid-Victorian era.The letters cover the period from June 1879 until April 1881. He experiences not only the life of a young midshipman, learning the ways of a naval warship, but also visiting many places in West Africa which very few, if any, of his contemporaries at home would have any knowledge of whatsoever. His letters are fluent and well-written and it is easy to forget that they are written by a 15-year-old boy. His descriptions of West Africa, his visits ashore and the remarkable experiences that occur, including the death of the Dido's captain and his funeral only a few hours later in a west African graveyard, and a meeting of local kings and chieftains in a conference on board Dido in order to resolve disputes, are but two of the remarkable experiences that he undergoes and records. Dido also spends time on the East coast of Africa, anchored off Durban at the time of the first Boer war and his descriptions of that conflict, in which some of the crew of the Dido were sent to fight, are fascinating. In his Foreword, Rear Admiral John Lang says 'Even a casual glance at this collection of letters is a joy. It is an extraordinary record of a cadet and midshipman in the Victorian Navy and opens a window of life in an era when the passage of time is marked by the receipt and dispatch of periodic letters to and from home'.

Foreword by Admiral Lord West of Spithead Few people, even in the Navy, are even aware of this dreadful incident [the loss of submarine HMS Truculent in the Thames] and certainly not the details of human error that led to this huge loss of life. The account is gripping, and explains the strange title of the book. ... John Johnson-Allen has put Fred Henley's personal accounts in the context of world-changing events, and in particular provides a wonderful snapshot of the Royal Navy of that era. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This compelling story is the result of many hours spent recording the memories of Fred Henley. His life at sea is at the centre of his being and his own words are at the heart of the book. At the age of 14 Fred worked on a Thames sailing barge, then after his training at HMS Ganges, he joined his first ship which took him from the icy Arctic Ocean to the heat of West Africa where the Bismarck and her support ships were hunted. His experiences included visiting Archangel, sailing on Arctic convoys, capturing German supply ships, the failed attack on Oran, landings in Piraeus, Salonika and the French Riviera and operating with special forces in the Greek Islands. There is inevitably some humour when Fred recounts his encounters with girls. The book then explores the tragic loss of his last submarine, HMS Truculent. In the cold January waters of the Thames Estuary, within sight of Southend, over 60 men were lost in a major disaster, just five years after the end of the war. The voices of the survivors are heard telling how they stood in complete blackness in a sunken submarine, waiting for the water to come in so that they could escape to the surface, only for all but a few to drift away and die in the darkness. The story concludes with happier times with Fred visiting ports in the Mediterranean during peacetime as a married man.

Over seventy merchant ships sailed in the Task force sent by Britain to recapture the Falkland islands in 1982. Some were Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, but the majority were STUFT-ships taken up from trade-and the officers and crew of these merchant vessels, all volunteers, suddenly found themselves thrust into a war zone in the South Atlantic. Remarkably little has been written about the part played by the Merchant navy, summarised by the official history of the campaign as 'an impenetrable mystery, girt about by seasickness' This book lifts the curtain on that mystery, to reveal something of the experiences of the merchant seamen and women who made possible the retaking of the Falkland islands. John Johnson-Allen, maritime historian and former merchant naval officer, combines personal accounts, documents and comment to bring to life the events of the Falklands War, as seen from the merchant ships that played such a vital role in that conflict.

Based on interviews and written accounts from over 50 contributors, this title vividly depicts the experiences of the deck officer, from pre-sea training and cadetship through the ranks to the eventual achievement of a Master's authority and responsibilities.