The Gatecrashers - Hardcover
The last of the 9-volume Nicholas Everard series is based on a true incident, Operation Source, when six midget submarines (X-craft) were towed underwater from Scotland to northern Norway by larger submarines and released there to attack Tirpitz, Scharnhost and Lutzow in Altenfjord.
Pitching the X-craft against Tirpitz seems like matching tadpoles against a whale - except that the whale has an unprotected underbelly and the tadpoles two-ton explosive charges like blisters on their sides. If they can survive the nightmarish 2,000-mile submerged tow, Paul Everard commanding X12 will have a chance to gatecrash the fjords and cripple the ship which Churchill referred to as 'the Beast'. Whether or not he succeeds the chances of getting out alive are slim. If he fails, Nick Everard commanding the escort of Arctic convoy PQ19 is in for bad trouble - none of his ships can stand up to the weight of Tirpitz's broadsides. As The Gatecrashers draws to its thunderous climax, father and son face their final and most searching test...
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Review:
The laconic bravery and austere determination of the characters was portrayed succinctly, using calm understatement, while Fullerton's grip of the technical challenges and hairspring tension of submarine warfare seemed thoroughly convincing...an honest, direct and compelling telling of an key naval episode of the Second World War. (HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW)
Book Description:
* Ninth and final volume in the classic Nicholas Everard series of sea novels chronicling 1914 to 1945.
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- PublisherMichael Joseph Ltd
- Publication date1984
- ISBN 10 0718123786
- ISBN 13 9780718123789
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages304
- Rating
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THE GATECRASHERS.
Published by
Michael Joseph, London
(1984)
ISBN 10: 0718123786
ISBN 13: 9780718123789
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Michael Turner, dust jacket art. (illustrator). First Edition. 297 pp + postscript, 8vo (8 3/4" H). Map endpapers. "Horribly cramped, it lurched sickeningly while being towed and tended to be dripping wet inside. The X-craft midget submarine was hardly the obvious choice of vessel to pitch against the mighty battleship 'Tirpitz' in her Norwegian lair. Like pitching a tadpole against a whale; but in this case, the whale had a soft underbelly and the tadpole a pair of two-ton explosive stings like blisters on its sides. If the sub could survive its nightmarish 1,000-mile haul across the North Sea, Paul Everard would have his chance to gatecrash the fjords - past minefields, patrol craft, shore defences and steel nets - and cripple the ship which Churchill had called 'the Beast'. Even if he succeeded, the chances of escaping alive were slim. If he failed, Nick Everard, commanding Arctic convoy PQ19, was in for a pounding. None of his ships could hope to match the firepower of the 'Tirpitz' or pierce her fifteen-inch armour. As 'The Gatecrashers' draws to its thunderous climax, father and son, their lives balancing on a knife-edge, face their final, most searching test. 'The Gatecrashers' is based on the true story of Operation Source: six X-craft crossed the North Sea in September 1943 to attack the 'Tirpitz, Scharnhorst' and 'Lutzow' in Altenfjord, where they were kept out of bomber range behind formidable defences. Although (this book) stands on its own as a novel, it is also the ninth and last in the Everard series of naval adventures, which started with Nick as a somewhat bloody-minded midshipman at Jutland in 1916. Although fictional, the setting of each story is historically and technically accurate. Captain J.E. Moore, Editor of 'Jane's Fighting Ships', had written: 'I have not found this splendid authenticity in any naval fiction since C.S. Forester's heyday'." Faint cigarette odour. Dust jacket has light browning on spine, slight browning at edges, minor edge wrinkling, very small dint on front hinge. Seller Inventory # 22818
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The Gatecrashers
Published by
Michael Joseph Ltd
(1984)
ISBN 10: 0718123786
ISBN 13: 9780718123789
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: VeryGood. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. Seller Inventory # wbs6779528058
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