Princess Fuzzypants here: On Orkney, there is bell that is a sad reminder of a terrible tragedy soon after WWII started. The British believed their fleet was invulnerable in their northern ports. The Germans were equally determined to prove them wrong. A U-boat won the argument with the sinking of The Royal Oak. This book tells the story from both the British and the German viewpoint and then takes the rest of the book to tell the stories and share photos of many of the souls who were lost that day.

It is a thorough and straight forward telling of the story. Nothing sets it apart but it does deal with the facts clearly and fairly. Four purrs and two paws up.

HMS Royal Oak was one of five Revenge-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during WWI.The ship first saw combat at the Battle of Jutland as part of the Grand Fleet.On 14 October 1939,Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland,when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-47.Of Royal Oak's complement of 1,234 men and boys,835 were killed that night or died later of their wounds.The loss had a considerable effect on wartime morale.The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero of the U-boat commander, Günther Prien,who became the first German submarine officer to be awarded the Iron Cross.Prior to the ship's sinking,the Royal Navy had considered the naval base at Scapa Flow impregnable to submarine attack,but U-47's raid demonstrated that the Germans were capable of coming dangerously close to British waters.The tender Daisy 2,skippered by John Gatt,had been tied up for the night to Royal Oak's port side.As the sinking battleship began to list to starboard, Gatt ordered Daisy 2 to be cut loose,his vessel becoming briefly caught on Royal Oak's rising anti-torpedo bulge and lifted from the sea before freeing herself.Gatt switched the lights of Daisy 2 on,and he and his crew managed to pull 386 men from the water,including Royal Oak's commander, Captain William Benn.Aided by boats from Pegasus and the harbour,he was responsible for rescuing almost all survivors.In the immediate aftermath of the sinking,Royal Oak's survivors were billeted in the towns and villages of Orkney.A funeral parade for the dead took place at Lyness on Hoy on 16 October.The Navy granted the survivors short leaves and then assigned them elsewhere.The shock resulted in rapid changes to dockland security and the construction of the Churchill Barriers around Scapa Flow,additionally topped by roads running between the islands.Prien did not survive WWII:he and U-47 were lost on 7 March 1941,but several U-47 crew from the Royal Oak mission did survive, having been transferred to other vessels.Some of them subsequently met with their former enemies from Royal Oak and forged friendships.The HMS Royal Oak Association has an annual remembrance at Portsmouth.

This book was truly a haunting, and vivid description of life aboard the HMS Royal Oak, and the lives destroyed by a torpedo attack by a German submarine.

As I read this book, it was hard to not go back and look at the faces of the men that were stationed aboard this vessel, and the tragic loss of life that occurred.

Absolutely a fantastic and devastating read.

4.5 stars overall

It was a Very interesting book, I would recommend it to anyone who interested in history.
Rating 4 stars

This was a different type of book. I was hoping for more of the material to read, however the book came across more of a photo album. There was a small section detailing the background of the event and the event, but little more than that. While an enjoyable read, it left me wanting for more.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.