Franco's Pirates

Naval Aspects of the Spanish Civil War 1936–39

E. R. Hooton

• Publisher: Casemate
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781636242767
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

"Franco's Pirates is an essential read for anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War, naval operations between the World Wars, and the concept of blockade." — The NYMAS Review The Spanish Civil War was won and lost upon the high seas. It was won because the Nationalists had an uninterrupted flow of men and materials while Republican sea lanes were attacked by Fascist warships, submarines, and aircraft—the pirates of the title. These attacks also involved dozens of foreign merchantmen and warships, including American, as well as hundreds of men, women, and boys. The worst affected was the British merchant marine, which dominated Spanish trade—some owners used rust buckets to maximise profits in a trade, which resulted in the loss of 66 British lives. The naval element of the Spanish Civil War began with a rebellion followed by a mutiny and a massacre. Both the German and Italian navies became involved in the naval war, attacking Spanish ships and then British warships and merchantmen. A blockade in the north led to confrontations between the Royal Navy and Nationalist Navy, the mining of a British liner and tales of daring among determined British master mariners. Later in the war there were attacks by Italian surface warships, submarines, and aircraft against foreign shipping in the Mediterranean and Aegean leading to the British and French threatening pirate submarines. This is a story of exploitation, heroism, chauvinism, piracy, international inaction, and espionage which has never been told. It includes details of such things as the first aerial campaign against shipping and the first operational use of sonar against a submarine.

Table of contents

• Cover page
• Title page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List
• Preface
• Comparative Naval Ranks
• 1 The Faded Armada: The Background to September 1936 The Faded Armada: The Background to September 1936
• 2 The Widening War: October 1936–July 1937
• 3 The Northern Blockade, August 1936–October 1937
• 4 They Called it Piracy! August 1937–February 1938
• 5 Bats, Boots and Hawks: March 1938–April 1939
• 6 The Flotsam of History
• Appendix
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Index