One night in December 1941, a young Italian sat shivering on a buoy in Alexandria Harbour. Four hours later two British battleships blew up and settled on the muddy bottom. Luigi De La Penne had successfully completed one of the most fantastic surprise attacks of the war. This and many other extraordinary attacks showed great resourcefulness, courage and daring. The cost in lives and material was small, the stakes dazzlingly high. First published in 1957, this book from American novelist Burke Wilkinson tells of some of the most striking and brilliant surprise attacks made by sea during the war. The individual exploits carry their own compulsion as tales of great courage and daring always do, but more than that, they show the valuable lessons to be learned and the future hazards we must face from these bold and venturesome tactics.
