The Quiet Captain

This is my father's story, a seaman in peace and war, whether facing giant waves and hurricane-force winds, clinging to a wildly gyrating deck on anti-submarine and convoy escort patrols or nursing tiny, old unarmed steamers through darkened waters with nerves strung tight, waiting for a sudden bomb blast or torpedo explosion which would end the ship's life. It is the story of vital missions by merchant ships in the First World War to feed Britain through "the gravest danger that has ever faced the Empire" and in the second to maintain a fragile lifeline of supplies to neutral Ireland with a few tiny unarmed old ships, protected only by large Irish flags painted on their decks and hull.

About the Author. Currently Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Toronto, Rorke Bryan was born and educated in Dublin. He served for three years as a meteorologist in Antarctica with the British Antarctic Survey before emigrating to Canada in 1967. In addition to many professional books and papers, he has published two previous maritime books, Ordeal by Ice: Ships of the Antarctic (Collins Press, Cork, 2011) and, together with Austin Dwyer, Ships to Remember: 1400 Years of Historic Ships (The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2016)