Formidable: A True Story of Disaster and Courage - Softcover

Steve R. Dunn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1910508152 ISBN 13: 9781910508152

Publisher: Book Guild Publishing, 2015

Synopsis

Formidable is the third in a trilogy of naval history books by Steve Dunn in which he unpicks the far-reaching effects of the social and political climate under which the First World War began a period that he calls 'Vicwardian' . The stifling atmosphere of rigid social hierarchy, pointless deference, and refusal to update rules of engagement that were largely unchanged since Nelson led, Dunn argues, to defective decision making and, ultimately, disaster. Formidable sailed to her doom under a vice admiral who did not accept the threat posed by new technology submarines, the U-boats. The accepted rules of war were such that to ambush a battleship unseen, from below the surface, would be ungentlemanly and therefore unthinkable. To seek shelter in bad weather, whatever the threat from U-boats, would be unmanly. The vice admiral kept his ships at sea. As a result, a major ship of the British navy s battle fleet was lost and 583 men and boys met their deaths. Dunn tells some of their individual stories in heartbreaking detail, including the futile courage of the ship s captain, Noel Loxley, who stayed on board with his terrier Bruce and was lost with so many of his men.

About this title

About the Author

Steve R Dunn is a successful businessman turned writer with a strong interest in the British Navy of the 'Vicwardian' and First World War periods. His is the author of The Scapegoat: The Life and Tragedy of a Fighting Admiral and Churchill s Role in his Death ISBN (978-1-846249-71-6) and The Coward? The Rise and Fall of the Silver King ISBN (978-1-909984-62-2) (Book Guild, 2014). Steve lives in Barnt Green, Birmingham, Worcestershire and South-West France.

Edition details

• Publisher: Book Guild Publishing
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1910508152
• ISBN 13: 9781910508152
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256