Edwyn Gray (born 1927) [1] is a British writer who specialises in naval writing although at times has written short stories.
He was born in London and educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. He 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. He moved to Norfolk and devoted his time to writing, research and consultancy. [2]
His books have been published both in the United Kingdom and the United States, and many have been translated into other languages. [2] His works include:
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and other parts of the British Empire, and from the United States, to the United Kingdom and to the Soviet Union and the Allied territories in the Mediterranean. German submarines also destroyed Brazilian merchant ships during World War II, causing Brazil to declare war on both Germany and Italy on 22 August 1942.
The A class was the Royal Navy's first class of British-designed submarines. Thirteen were built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness between 1902 and 1905 as an improvement on the US Plunger class.
Robert Whitehead was an English engineer who was most famous for developing the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo.
The K-class submarines were a class of steam-propelled submarines of the Royal Navy designed in 1913. Intended as large, fast vessels with the endurance and speed to operate with the battle fleet, they gained notoriety and the nickname of "Kalamity class" for being involved in many accidents. Of the 18 built, none were lost through enemy action, but six sank, with significant loss of life, in accidents. Only one ever engaged an enemy vessel, K-7 hitting a U-boat amidships, though the torpedo failed to explode with what has been described as typical "K" luck; K-7 escaped retaliation by steaming away at speed.
HMS B11 was the last of 11 B-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1906, it is best known for carrying out a successful attack on the Ottoman battleship Mesûdiye in the Dardanelles, an action for which her captain received the Victoria Cross. It spent the remainder of its active life serving in the Mediterranean, being converted into a surface patrol boat late in the war. B11 was sold for scrap in 1919.
HMCS CH-15 was a H-class submarine originally ordered for the Royal Navy as H15 during the First World War. Constructed in the United States during their neutrality, the submarine was withheld from the Royal Navy until after the US entry into the war. Entering service at the very end of the war, the submarine saw no action and was laid up at Bermuda following the cessation of hostilities. The British government gave the submarine to Canada in 1919, and it was in service with the Royal Canadian Navy from 1921 to 1922 as CH-15. The submarine was sold for scrap and broken up in 1927.
HMS E4 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, costing £101,900. E4 was laid down on 16 May 1911, launched on 5 February 1912 and commissioned on 28 January 1913. On 24 September 1915 E4 was attacked by the German airship SL3. On 15 August 1916, she collided with sister ship E41 during exercises off Harwich. Both ships sank and there were only 14 survivors, all from E41. Both boats were raised, repaired and recommissioned. She was sold on 21 February 1922 to the Upnor Ship Breaking Company.
HMS Faulknor was a British destroyer of the First World War. She was purchased by the Royal Navy whilst still under construction in Britain for the Chilean Navy who had ordered her in 1912 as part of the Almirante Lynch class. She was renamed after the Faulknor family of British nineteenth century naval officers.
Bremen was a blockade-breaking German merchant submarine of World War I. Developed with private funds and operated by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line, she was one of the first of seven U-151-class U-boats built and one of only two used as unarmed cargo submarines.
The Karp class were a class of submarines built by Krupp Germaniawerft for the Imperial Russian Navy. The class, composed of three boats were ordered in the 1904 emergency programme as a result of the Russo-Japanese War. The design was a twin hull type powered by a kerosene-electric power plant with a 16-fathom diving limit. The boats were delivered late for the war and transferred to the Black Sea Fleet by rail in 1908. In 1909, Kambala was lost. The other two submarines remained in service until their withdrawal in March 1917. They were taken over in April 1918 by the Ukrainian State before being captured by the German Empire in May and transferred to the British following the German surrender in November. The British scuttled Karp and Karas in 1919 to prevent their capture by the Soviets.
SM UC-44 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 10 October 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 4 November 1916 as SM UC-44. In 6 patrols UC-44 was credited with sinking 28 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-44 was sunk by the detonation of one of her own mines off the Irish coast at position 52°07′N6°59′W on 4 August 1917; its commander, Kurt Teppenjohanns, was the only survivor. UC-44's wreck was raised by the Royal Navy in September 1917 and later broken up.
The Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I was the prolonged naval conflict between German submarines and the Allied navies in Atlantic waters—the seas around the British Isles, the North Sea and the coast of France.
SM U-21 was a U-boat built for the Imperial German Navy shortly before World War I. The third of four Type U-19-class submarines, these were the first U-boats in German service to be equipped with diesel engines. U-21 was built between 1911 and October 1913 at the Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig. She was armed with four torpedo tubes and a single deck gun; a second gun was added during her career.
Ottomar Gern also known as Konstantin Borisovich Gern, was a Russian fortification engineer. Gern was born to a Polish noble family of German origin in Vitebsk Governorate, Russia. He studied war engineering at school and later became a lecturer in the field of construction of fortifications.
HMS Lightfoot was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Construction by J. Samuel White began in June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, and the ship was launched and completed in 1915. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1921.
Otto Hersing was a German naval officer who served as U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine and the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine during World War I.
HMS TB 5 was a Cricket-class coastal destroyer or torpedo-boat of the British Royal Navy. TB 9 was built by the shipbuilder J S White from 1905 to 1907. She was used for local patrol duties in the First World War and survived the war. She was sold for scrap in 1920.
HMS Landrail was a Laforey-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The Laforey class was the class of destroyers ordered under the Royal Navy's 1912–1913 construction programme, which were armed with three 4-inch (102 mm) guns and four torpedo tubes and were capable of 29 knots. The ship, which was originally to be named Hotspur but was renamed before launch, was built by the Scottish shipbuilder Yarrow between 1912 and 1914,
HMS Matchless was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Matchless was built by Swan Hunter from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, operating in the North Sea as part of the Harwich Force in the early part of the war and later in the English Channel as part of the Dover Patrol, where she took part in both the First and Second Ostend Raids. Despite being badly damaged by a German mine in 1915 and being involved in several collisions, she survived the war, and was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Milne was a Royal Navy Admiralty M-class destroyer. Milne was built by John Brown & Company from 1913 to 1914 and was completed in December that year. She served through the remainder of the First World War, at first with the Harwich Force with which she took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, and later with the Dover Patrol, sinking the German submarine UC-26 in May 1917. Milne was sold for scrap in 1921.