THE UNKNOWN FLEET: The Army's Civilian Seamen in War and Peace.

UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.Neat handwritten black ink owner name to top edge of front free endpaper and price-clipped dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial artwork painting,by artist Major B. V. Wynn-Werninck (of Captain E. L. Beard of the War Department Fleet commanding the high-speed target-towing launch 'Marlborough' returning fire,with a soldier of the Royal Artillery,at the second of two German Messerschmidt fighters which attacked them while anchored off Dungeness during April 1940) illustrated front panel of dw/dj with brown+pale blue lettering,rear cover illustrated with both a Red,and Blue ensign flags; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,would appear unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain white endpapers - aforementioned owner name excepted.UK,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn, viiixivpp+1-233pp [paginated] includes reverse of contents list/table, acknowledgements,author's introduction,22 chapters,profuse contemporary b/w photographs interspersed throughout the text and the book,a few b/w reproduction illustrations similarly,appendixes I- IX (9),picture credits,references,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title with b/w illustration by dw/dj artist to reverse,title page,a dedication, with song of the WD (War Department) Fleet to its reverse,and contents list/table.
This book tells the story of the little-known civilian-manned vessels of the British Army and its predecessors which served the Armed Forces of the Crown,from its mediaeval beginnings on the River Thames to its development into an ocean- going Royal Army Service Corps fleet which numbered over 1,000 ships at the end of the Second World War. Reg Cooley traces the fleet's growth during the 19thC into a coastal Board of Ordnance Fleet in response to the rapid burgeoning of naval and military armament technology.Particularly fascinating is the hitherto untold story of the assumption by the Fleet of duties in support of coastal artillery training,and its subsequent activities in this role in peace and war.In the 20thC,the Fleet's peacetime activities are described,as are the perils of service in support of Irish defences.The transition to a wartime footing and the multifarious duties of the Fleet in the Second World War are well-documented: these included the Dunkirk operation,brushes with the Luftwaffe,mine-clearance in Malta, air-sea rescue for the RAF and D-Day support.Postwar tasks included taking part in the Suez operation.Finally the decline of the Fleet is covered.
The history of the Fleet is enlivened by vivid personal accounts of the action,and illustrated by contemporary photographs which depict the Fleet in action.Appendices of shipping lists and the major Fleet shipping classes,as well as full source notes, are also included.The first full history of the Army's civilian fleet,this book will be welcomed by all with an interest in military and maritime history.
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