Secret Warriors: British Submarines in the Cold War Hardcover – February 24, 2026

A highly illustrated history of the Cold War operations of the submarines of the Royal Navy from 1948 to 1990.The Cold War was a period of intense activity for submarines of the Royal Navy, with many hair-raising incidents involving Soviet vessels. They were engaged in frequent hazardous surveillance patrols investigating Soviet submarines and surface warships and their operational tactics, and trailing Soviet strategic submarines (SSBNs), as well as conducting British deterrent SSBN patrols and protecting those patrols using attack submarines (SSNs). There were also dangerous patrols which trialled submarine operation under the Arctic ice-cap. In addition to these activities there were operations in other conflicts and war theatres including the Falklands War, the Suez campaign, the Northern Ireland Troubles, and the Indonesian confrontation.Naval history expert Dr Paul Brown presents the full history of this pivotal era in a fully illustrated volume, containing stunning black-and-white and colour images, technical drawings and maps. He has interviewed Cold War-era submarine commanders and engineers, submitted Freedom of Information requests, and trawled the National Archives, the archives of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and Imperial War Museums, as well as been though personal accounts of the senior officers and many secondary sources, to bring to light new information that is published here for the first time. Read more