Product Description

FLAG 4, the signal for Attack with torpedoes , is a thrilling account of the actions of British motor torpedo boats and US PT-boats in the Mediterranean during the Second World War. British Coastal Forces were the smallest fighting ships of the Royal Navy, able to fight in the shallowest waters, penetrate minefields and hide in the inlets of enemy-held islands - they were, in fact, from 1940 to 1943, the only surface craft continually able to seek out and attack the enemy. Night assaults on enemy coastal convoys, clandestine operations landing spies, and Special Boat Squadron units in North Africa and Yugoslavia were typical of the operations in which they were involved. Concentrating on the actions, tactics and strategy of Coastal Forces, the book also looks at the whole question of why both the Allies and Axis forces fought so hard for what were, in effect, large expanses of sand and water. Based on the eyewitness accounts of the officers and men who served in these perilous actions, the story of Coastal Forces in the Mediterranean is told with all the attention to detail and vivid writing style that came to typify Dudley Pope's Ramage novels.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #202559 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

About the Author
DUDLEY POPE served in the Second World War as a cadet in the Merchant Navy until wounded in the battle of the Atlantic. After the War he worked on Fleet Street before turning to full-time writing. He published a number of distinguished non-fiction books, notably the bestselling Life in Nelson s Navy and eighteen Ramage novels.

Customer Reviews

Wonderfull Acount
It's rare to find an historical acount that keep one spell bound. I simply couldn't put this book down. I new very little about the coastal forces before reading this. I thought they were little more than an annoyance to the enemy. Pope clearly shows that these men did far more toward the aim of winning the war than one might have thought. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of allied coastal forces in World War II.

Coastal Forces in the Med
This is a fast paced and very interesting book detailing the activities of the British Coastal Forces in the Med during WW2.
Using a combination of MTB's and Fairmile D Motor Gunboats the Royal Navy based first in Malta and later Italy fought the German and Italian Navies for control of the sea.

I own several of Dudley Pope's books naval history, each on a different topic or event. His books to me are marked by their easy reading and by the incredible level of detail which the author somehow manages to cram in them. Dudley Pope paints a very vivid picture until you're ordering Flag 4 on a dark night in 1942.

Buy this book!!

A fascinating account of the Mediterranean theatre
I am currently reading this and am having difficulty putting it down. It gives a fascinating overview of the various sea battles and skirmishes, and more importantly the effects these battles had on the overall campaign in the Mediterranean, both axis and allied.
These small boats because of their speed and stealth were able to restrict axis shipping movements, especially at night when there was no air cover.
Overall a very well written book.