Discharged Dead: The Wartime Adventures of a Submarine Stoker

Summary

A vivid stoker's-eye view of life in a submarine during the Second World War.

The perfect World War Two memoir for people who enjoyed the works of James D. Hornfischer, Robert Leckie, and Laura Hillenbrand.

In 1939, at the age of twenty, Sydney Hart joined the Royal Navy as a stoker. Over the course of the next four years, he served in submarines during the most critical phases of the war—in the North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean.

Aboard HMS Triad, HMS Truant, and HMS Thrasher, Hart experienced the lengthy tension of lonely ocean patrols; the hazardous penetration of closely-guarded enemy harbors; the terrifying thrill stalking Axis vessels; the brief merriments of life ashore in "Gib", Malta, and "Alex" while on leave; and the tragic realization that some shipmates would never return home from the dark, cruel seas. These brave men would have their pay-ledgers closed with the final entry "discharged dead".

This book, written not by an admiral or captain, but instead by a regular stoker, provides a profoundly unique perspective.