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CHARIOTS OF WAR
CHARIOTS OF WAR

Sub title: The history of the W.W.II ’Human Torpedos’

ISBN-10: 0-9541997-1-5

ISBN-13: 978-0-9541997-1-5

Foreword: H.R.H. THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH

Author: Robert W.Hobson

Publisher: Ulric Publishing

ISBN-13: 978-0-9541997-1-5

ISBN-10: 0-9541997-1-5

"The naval documents stamped ’TOP SECRET’ in bright red were addressed to my late father and as I pieced together the information, I realised he’d been involved in covert naval operations during World War II. This was a subject he’d never discussed, however the newspaper cuttings were at least dated, and reported the navy using ’Chariots’, I had to find out more". Robert W.Hobson Chairman, The Underwater Heritage Trust

Invented in 1935 by two Italian Naval engineers, the small submersible, often nicknamed ’The Human Torpedo’ or ’Chariot’, did not see active service until the Second World War, when a series of attacks were made against British vessels, anchored at various naval bases in the Mediterranean.During World War II, the prime objective of the Italian Navy was to reduce the superior powers of the British Fleet, thus balancing the odds in the battle for the control of the Mediterranean. On December 9th 1941, three Italian ’Chariots’ entered Alexandria Harbour, sinking a British Tanker, and seriously damaging the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant.

The Italian success with the ’Chariots’ resulted in incresed security at all British ports in the Mediterranean, furthermore, recognising the potential of this underwater weapon, Prime Minister Winston Churchill immediately instructed the formation of a British, ’Human Torpedo Unit’.The first British mission was to attack the German battleship Tirpitz, anchored in a Norwegian fjord. Subsequent missions took place in the Meditterranean, and as a result of the Italian armistice in 1943, the British and Italian torpedo units joined forces.

CHARIOTS OF WAR is the definitive study of this little known facet of naval warfare. In piecing together otherwise lost and fragmented pieces of history, Hobson not only captures the spirit of the day, but also pays homage to the long forgotten ’Charioteers’.

Delux casebound, English A4 size format. 170 pages and 250 photographs."

Price: £29.95

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