Lifeline Across the Sea

David L. Williams is a maritime historian, and Lifeline Across the Sea is his account of the merchant marine that kept Britain supplied during World War Two. Without the convoys crossing the Atlantic, the country would have starved in months.

The book covers the ships, the men who sailed them, the U-boat threat, and the technological and tactical changes that slowly turned the Battle of the Atlantic. There are individual ship histories, convoy diaries, and accounts from sailors who survived sinkings.

Williams is interested in the workaday merchant seamen as much as in the famous warship actions. They were civilians. They died in numbers most people don’t know about.

Readers who liked Nicholas Monsarrat’s The Cruel Sea, or who follow military history but want the supply chain rather than the gun decks, will find this engaging. Photos and ship illustrations are included.