Using official records from the National Archives personal accounts from the Imperial War Museum and other sources, Coastal Convoys 1939 1945: The Indestructible Highway describes Britains dependence on coastal shipping and the introduction of the convoy system in coastal waters at the outset of the war. It brings to life the hazards of the German mining offensive of 1939, the desperate battles fought in coastal waters during 1940 and 1941, and the long struggle against German air and naval forces which lasted to the end of the Second World War. Reference is also made to the important role played by coasters during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 and the Normandy landings in 1944.

32 b/w images An expert and thoroughly researched account of the long-running battle between the slow, often unarmed coastal merchantmen and the German navy, in particular the fast E-Boats .

AUTHOR: Nick Hewitt is the resident naval historian onboard HMS Belfast, the IWM’s floating naval museum.

pp. 244 illusts #010122 World War II Second World War