COVERT SHORES
[working title]

A non-fiction book telling the world history of naval Special Forces in an accessible manner. These military units include the US Navy’s SEALs and Britain’s Special Boat Service (SBS).

Currently planned for release Spring/Summer 2015

A unique look at the shared history of the Naval Special Forces and in particular the craft they employ, from midget submarines, human torpedoes and canoes to the Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) of today. The project employs primary research in archives and interviews with former frogmen/special forces, submariners and submarine designers/manufacturers as well as building on other works which tackle smaller parts of the topic. Many of the craft covered in this work are virtually unknown and at risk of being forgotten by history.

It stated as a natural curiosity about the craft employed in underwater sabotage and reconnaissance. I had seen a particular minisub at a museum in the West Country in England as a teen, and as an adult I realized that this craft was not one that you can find on the internet. It was as if it never existed. Through extensive primary and secondary research I now know exactly which type of swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) tat was, and that it was operated by the Special Boat Service (SBS). And I still cannot find anything about it on the internet. Since then I have found out about over a hundred similar types, most of which are barely recorded and generally unknown by the public.

I would love to share this knowledge through my website but I owe it to everybody who has helped in the research, and to those who played a part in the history but are not remembered, to make it into something more substantial. I must see it through to publishing.

The work will document the:

• Midget submarines
• Wet submarines ('SDVs')
• Military canoes
• Mother submarines
• Covert/special mission submarines
• Explosive motorboats
• ...and other covert means of waterborne and underwater transport from the 1700s to the present. It will also tell the story of the technology and the units which made it count.

As well as many fresh photographs, the book will contain original artworks. These will particularly focus on side-by-side comparisons and types which are not well recorded in photographs.

A non-exhaustive list of many of the elite units covered (bold highlights show where there are interviewees):

• USA: OSS/CIA, UDT, SEALs, USN Submarine Force
  
• UK: Combined operations (including RMBPD, Det-385, SRU, COPP, SBS, SOE), SBS, RN Clearance Divers, RN Submarine Service
  
• Italy: Decima-MAS, COMSUBIN (Incursori)
  
• France: Commando Hubert
  
• Germany: Kleinkampfverbände, Kampfschwimmers, KSK-18 (DDR), cold war escapes
  
• Former Yugoslavia: 82 Maritime Unit, JRM submariners
  
• South Africa: 4 Reconnaissance Regiment
  
• Australia: SOA/Z-Force, RN Clearance Divers
  
• Canada: RCN Clearance Divers
  
• Sweden: A-Dyk, X-Craft
  
• USSR/Russia: Naval Spetsnaz
  
• Israel: Flotilla-13
  
• Other: India, Pakistan, North Korea, South Korea, Japan (WW2), Iran

If you believe you can help, please contact me ...

Watch this space

P.S. Much of this website discusses larger submarines simply because the special forces and midget submarine related stuff is going into the book. Hopefully it is still interesting!