top of page

Search


The birth of naval aviation
My third novel in the WW1 naval thriller For Those in Peril series is scheduled for publication by Endeavour Media in January 2020. It...
Shaun Lewis
Sep 24, 20192 min read


How to kill a WW1 submarine
Several readers of my WW1 submarine thriller, The Custom of the Trade, have expressed surprise at how difficult it was to detect and sink...
Shaun Lewis
Sep 17, 20192 min read


WHY DO FILM MAKERS DISTORT HISTORY SO BADLY?
This weekend, I watched a dreadful submarine film, K-19: The Widowmaker’. It had an all-star cast, including Joss Ackland, Harrison Ford...
Shaun Lewis
Aug 19, 20192 min read


HOW TURKEY MIGHT NOT HAVE JOINED GERMANY IN WW1
It is a well-known fact that on 4th August 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany. However, it is less well-known that events...
Shaun Lewis
Aug 6, 20193 min read


Hydrogen gas and submarines. Danger!
In my submarine thriller, The Custom of the Trade, I describe an accident in an early submarine caused by hydrogen gas. Even today,...
Shaun Lewis
Jul 13, 20192 min read


Hydrogen gas and submarines. Danger!
In my submarine thriller, The Custom of the Trade, I describe an accident in an early submarine caused by hydrogen gas. Even today,...
Shaun Lewis
Jul 13, 20191 min read


The submarine with two VCs
The forgotten, but outstandingly successful submarine campaign in the Dardanelles and Sea of Marmara, deprived the Turks of vital...
Shaun Lewis
Jun 24, 20192 min read


THE ADMIRALTY BUYS A PERSIAN OIL FIELD
In June 1913, Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty, persuaded the House of Commons that the Treasury should spend £2.2...
Shaun Lewis
Jun 23, 20192 min read


The Anniversary of the Battle of Jutland
Today, on 31st May in 1916, 250 British and German ships met in what became known in the Battle of Jutland. The battle was to last until...
Shaun Lewis
May 31, 20192 min read


The use of secret inks for espionage
In my second novel, on WW1 naval intelligence, I made reference to the secret or invisible inks used by intelligence agents during and...
Shaun Lewis
May 27, 20192 min read


The First Submarine Escape
I open my first novel, The Custom of the Trade, with a tragic submarine accident, in September 1911. The inspiration for my story came...
Shaun Lewis
May 20, 20192 min read


50 years of continuous nuclear deterrent patrols
I have been reminded that today is the 51st anniversary of HM opening officially the Clyde Submarine Base at Faslane. Last week, the...
Shaun Lewis
May 10, 20194 min read


How the Gallipoli campaign might have been avoided for £4M
We have recently commemorated ANZAC Day. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers participated in an expedition to capture the...
Shaun Lewis
Apr 30, 20192 min read


Another submarine salty dit – or how my mother learned I had grown a beard
In submarines it is quite common not to shave when on patrol. This is a throw- back to the days when the Royal Navy operated...
Shaun Lewis
Apr 23, 20192 min read


Confessions of a Chinese interpreter
In the late 1980s, I completed my Mandarin interpreter training in Hong Kong and the night before I was due to fly home, I was summoned...
Shaun Lewis
Apr 15, 20193 min read


Another dodgy moment in submarines
Following the popularity of my post last week, I am bowing to demand by dredging up other tales from my memory banks about the more...
Shaun Lewis
Apr 8, 20193 min read


Dodgy moments in submarines ... and the changing density of sea water
During my days in submarines, I and several others spent far too much time down near the Falkland Islands for our liking. This was in...
Shaun Lewis
Apr 1, 20194 min read


How did the German light cruiser, SMS Magdeburg, help Britain win WW1?
Who would have thought that a torpedo test ship would have such an impact on the conduct of the First World War? On 2 August 1914, the...
Shaun Lewis
Mar 25, 20192 min read


John Buchan - Author of 'The 39 Steps'
Yesterday, I was very privileged to visit the village of Elsfield in Oxfordshire, where the author John Buchan once lived and his ashes...
Shaun Lewis
Mar 21, 20191 min read


A German plot to blow up the Bank of England
A namesake of mine was the German Intelligence Service's spymaster in Britain during the period leading up to the outbreak of WW1. W...
Shaun Lewis
Mar 11, 20192 min read
bottom of page