Crash Dive

This historical record of life on board HMS Safari is based on original first-hand accounts. As the boat’s leading telegraphist, Arthur Dickson had a privileged position in the crew, with access to all signals traffic and the navigation officer as his boss who gave him an insight into why they were doing what they did. Over 18 months of war patrols he kept a personal diary of life aboard Safari, which was strictly against the rules. In it he records daily events ranging from the tedium of long sea passages to stalking enemy convoys, crash dives and fighting it out on the surface. The whole range of the submariner’s experience and emotion is explored here in this account. Written at the time, by a rating and not an officer, this diary offers an insight into life at sea.