Just found another brilliant book, written by one of the ordinary crew members aboard HMS Safari, a British S Class Sub based at Malta during 1942 - 1943. Crash Dive: In Action with HMS Safari 1942 - 1943 by Arthur P Dickson.
Below is the book description, taken from Amazon UK
HMS "Safari" was one of the most successful British submarines of World War II. Between March 1942 and September 1943, she sailed some 31,312 nautical miles and spent 139 days submerged. During this time, she fought 59 actions against Axis shipping and sank 34 ships, totalling 85,000 tonnes. As the sub's Leading Telegraphist, Arthur Dickison had a privileged position in the crew. With access to all signals traffic and the navigation officer as his "boss", Arthur was afforded a unique insight into daily operations. Throughout 18 months of war patrols he kept a personal diary (strictly against the rules) of life aboard "Safari", recording daily events that ranged from the tedium of long sea passages to stalking enemy convoys; from crash dives to fighting it out with enemy shipping on the surface; from making submerged attacks with torpedoes to "sitting it out" on the sea bottom while depth charges rained down all around. Pervading all his diary entries is the underlying fear that both he and "Safari" might never see England again. The full range of the submariner's experience - and of human emotion - is here in this eyewitness
account. Unusual in that it was written by a rating and not an officer, it also differs from other accounts due to Dickison writing down his thoughts at the time of the events he describes.
Below is one of many reader reviews taken from Amazon UK
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Crash Dive: In Action with HMS Safari 1942 - 1942 by Arthur P Dickson
This review is from: Crash Dive: In Action with HMS "Safari", 1942-43: In Action with HMS "Safari", 1942-43 (Paperback)
This book is one of the few I've read which was written by a member of the "lower deck". In no way does this detract from it's value as a historical document. It is as good an account as any I've previously read and covers the author's patrols in HMS Safari during World War 2. There is a very real sense of "being there" as the author takes us through eighteen months of submarine warfare in the
Mediterranean, in a conversational style which makes it a very easy read indeed. Perhaps the biggest difference from the previous book on HMS Safari, by her first captain Commander Ben Bryant with his "we're all in this together" attitude, is the real animosity - bordering on betrayal - which the crew felt when Bryant left Safari after her 14th patrol and returned to England to great personal acclaim. The crew, rightly in my opinion, felt that they had also contributed to the success of Safari & deserved to share in the praise given solely to her ex captain, whilst they continued to patrol & sink shipping in the Med. A real contribution to World War 2 submarine history & one of the best.
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