Captain Donald MacIntyre

This is a good autobiography by Captain Donald Macintyre, another of the top escort commanders. Macintyre writes in such a delightful "you are there" style that his book gives one a special pleasure when reading. He is quite self deprecating and at one point writes that he went into the wardroom after an air attack on his ship and saw several of his officers sitting calmly at the table, drinking tea. They seemed so calm in fact that Macintyre said he envied them because when they were under show more attack he always shook like a leaf. The other officers said that they were just discussing how fearful they were when under attack and how they envied him for being so calm. A good laugh was had by all and no doubt Macintyre made a point of saying this.

MacIntyre sank U-99 and in doing so captured the entire crew including the number one U-Boat ace of the war, Otto Kretschmer. The author has a wonderful sense of humor, an eye for the absurd, and the ability to describe the terror of both war and the sea. On his small escort ship the waves which often surrounded the ship were so tall he couldn't see anything but the water. A must read. show less

Sea Warfare is a detailed account of World War 1 and World War 2 naval warfare from a British perspective, book-ended by more general sections on the evolution of battleships from the ironclad to the Dreadnought, and looking towards the 1975 future of guided missiles and anti-submarine warfare. The book is one of those oddly nostalgic British Empire project, organized by a bunch of men who grew up thinking they'd rule the world, and instead the best they can manage is caretaking a legacy. show more For all that, it's comprehensive on what it covers, and while I wished for a little more context on shipbuilding during the Dreadnought race and interwar period, and the use of radar as a revolutionary technology, there's a lot here. The best feature by far is the artwork; over 250 large photos, paintings, and elevation drawings of warships. show less

There are many, many books about the British Navy in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, but just a handful from the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War. This book is much more than just about Admiral Rodney. There is a lot of politics, backstabbing and downright disobeying orders. It is mostly interesting, but there are pages and pages of Rodney complaining about a fellow officer or a fellow officer about Rodney which makes it a chore to read.

MacIntyre has written a very readable account of his experiences as a destroyer captain during the Battle of the Atlantic. He doesn't hold back from criticizing the British Admiralty for their errors in the early part of the War in combating the U-boat menace. He definitely lived an exciting time sinking several U-boats and having two ships torpedoed from under him. From some of his comments, I don't think he would have been the most pleasant officer to serve under but he definitely seemed show more to understand how to beat U-boats at their own game. He finished with a chapter written in 1956 about how naval forces are still important even though current belief at the time was that a war would over very quickly because it would be fought with nuclear weapons delivered by airplanes or rockets. show less