SUBMARINE COMMAND

Signed on the front end-paper by

Rear-Admiral Ben Bryant CB DSO** DSC

+ 4 page handwritten letter signed by Ben Bryant with interesting content about his book

William Kimber Second Edition 1975.  238 pages and well illustrated with photos and a plan of an ‘S’ Class submarine. This book was originally published by William Kimber in 1958 under the title ‘One Man Band‘. It was published as a paperback in the UK and USA with the title ‘Submarine Commander’ and this version is a photolithographic reprint of the original 1958 book.

Fine condition hardback book and Fine condition unclipped dustjacket. Clean, bright and tight. Bryant’s dates 16/9/1905 – 23/11/1994 are neatly written under Bryant’s name on the title page. A pleasing copy in all respects. It comes with a  four page handwritten letter dated 1978 and a copy of his obituary from the Times in 1994.

OK. So this is not an aviation book, however it is a fascinating memoir of the most successful British submarine commander to survive the war. In the years 1940-43, the names of two ships were constantly in the headlines – one was HMS Sealion and the other HMS Safari; both were ‘S’ class submarines and both were commanded by Ben Bryant.  He survived more patrols than any other submarine commander, torpedoing or destroying by gunfire 32 enemy ships and damaging many more.

Bryant joined the submarine service before the war and when it came he was fully prepared for it, participating in the Norwegian campaign, surviving the hazards of depth charging, ramming and suffocation.  He landed and took off secret agents in Occupied Europe and then took the newly commissioned Safari to Malta in the Mediterranean to prey on Rommel’s supply lines to Africa. Between March 1942 and September 1943, Safari sailed over 31,00 miles, spent 139 days submerged, fought 58 actions against Axis shipping and sank 34 ships.

One of the greatest submariners of all time, he had the qualities of leadership that made him the ideal commander. No better summary could be given than that of one of the men who served under his command, Lt. Commander Edward Young:

“Ben Bryant was one of those men who are big enough to give you confidence in yourself by assuming you can do your job without appearing to check up on you. He believed in taking the game of war seriously; nevertheless it somehow always seemed a game. He strove continuously to make himself and his men as efficient as possible, and was out to hit the enemy with all he knew, but he did so with such an air of gay bravado that half the time you had an odd feeling that you were playing at pirates. With his erect height, his seadog beard and arrogant eye, he was the typical submarine captain of the public imagination. He had a fine command of the English language, which he used to good effect in recounting yarns in the wardroom, inventing ballads, or expressing his opinion of some ineptitude on the part of one of his officers or men. He had the rare gift of being able to switch, without loss of dignity, from commanding officer to entertaining messmate.” 

An insightful memoir describing the war waged by the ‘Silent Service’ from the perspective of a submarine commander.  A copy signed by the author, who was one of the top scoring Allied submarine aces of WWII, is a rare find indeed.