Lost Patrols - Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel

Review by Kendall McDonald

Channel subs from the outside in
Most books about wrecks contain at least some useful information for the diver. But only a few offer so much detail that they become standard reference works, classics in their author's own lifetime.
     You don't need to spend long with Innes McCartney's Lost Patrols, Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel to know that you have a classic in your hands.
     Into 183 A4-size pages, McCartney has poured his enthusiasm, his research and the results of eight years' diving the German U-boats of both world wars sunk in the Channel.
     His book is divided into six geographical sections covering 121 submarines. Each tells in detail the history of U-boats sunk in the section, their correct positions and modern diving information, and adds details of others yet to be located, making the total lost in the Channel up to 158.
     The writer has dived and identified 32 of the submarines. Nine wrecks are the result of peacetime accidents and are British and French casualties.
     Every page makes it clear that this is a diver not only writing for divers, but for naval enthusiasts and historians of submarines. Some of the pre-Innes U-boat reference books of past years will now have to be rewritten, as McCartney's diving discoveries make it clear that some of the losses could not have happened where and when the experts said they did.
     There are 54 underwater colour photographs of outside items on the U-boats named in the text. Black and white historical photographs of the subs appear on practically every page. Each section has a chart showing loss positions.
     Certain parts of the book are aimed directly at wreck-divers. McCartney includes a particularly good 12-point guide to U-boat identification, and each point can be observed from outside without breaking the war-grave rules.
     Lost Patrols has the great merit of being a first-class read. Every wreck-diver will want this on his bookshelf and every diveboat skipper will need one in his cabin. Hardback, 202pp.