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Churchill’s Pirates

The Seafaring Heroes Who Helped Win WWII

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Churchill’s Pirates

By: Will Iredale
Narrated by: Richard Burnip
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BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE PATHFINDERS
Just after midnight on Saturday, 2 September 1939, under overcast skies at Wilhelmshaven naval base in north-west Germany, a German U-boat quietly slipped out of its berth and into the North Sea. This was the first of a concentrated onslaught of submarines and airplanes determined to win WW2 by transforming the peaceful shipping lanes and fishing spots around Britain into treacherous mine-studded waters.
As those first mines found their marks, capsizing innocent shipping vessels just off the coast, the nation called its men and women to join in its defence. The result was a rag-tag group of sailors and volunteers that came to form a ‘navy within a navy’ – the Royal Naval Patrol Service.
These motley crews grew into a force of 70,000 men and women manning and supporting a fleet of 6,000 ships. Using converted fishing vessels, pleasure yachts and trawlers, they cleared sea mines, escorted merchant vessels across frozen northern waters, hunted submarines off the coast of America, undertook secret missions in the Mediterranean and heroically rescued soldiers at Dunkirk, working day and night to keep Britain safe in her darkest hour.
Drawing on fascinating first-hand accounts with surviving veterans, exclusive interviews, original papers and new archive material, Will Iredale brings us onto the decks of these small brave ships, onto the beaches where boffins worked to crack German engineering and into clandestine war room meetings where Winston Churchill worked to coordinate the pivotal moments that transformed the war and helped secure victory for the allies to tell the defining story of an overlooked unit of ordinary people that played a pivotal role in saving the country and winning the war.

'SUPERB... RICH IN HUMAN DRAMA' James Holland | 'EXCITING AND IMPORTANT' Dan Snow | 'REVELATORY AND THRILLING' Saul David | 'HIS FINEST ACHIEVEMENT YET... THIS IS HISTORY AT FULL THROTTLE' Guy Walters | 'RIGOROUSLY RESEARCHED AND HIGHLY READABLE' Kate Jamieson

© Will Iredale 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Armed Forces Europe Great Britain Military Naval Forces Submarine U-Boat Royalty War Winston Churchill
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Critic Reviews

Fantastic. Iredale masterfully explains how command of the sea required little ships with rugged, swash-buckling crews, just as much as the castles of steel. Exciting and important. (Dan Snow)
Iredale's brilliant new book tells the revelatory and thrilling nautical tale of the 70,000 men of Churchill's pirate fleet - the Royal Naval Patrol Service - who risked life and limb to keep Britain's sealanes safe and ports open, and the hundreds of Wrens who supported them. A hugely welcome addition to Britain's wartime story. (Saul David)
Will Iredale has carved out a formidable reputation as a chronicler of overlooked corners of the Second World War, and Churchill’s Pirates is his finest achievement yet. This is history at full throttle: deeply researched, richly peopled, and propelled by a narrative energy that reveals the work of those who should be regarded as central protagonists in Britain’s fight for survival (Guy Walters, author of 'Stealing Hitler's Rocket')
This book breaks new ground whilst also building thoughtfully on existing scholarship. Drawing from a wide range of sources, this is both rigorously researched and highly readable. An engaging and valuable contribution to the field. (Kate Jamieson)
What a fabulous book! Will Iredale has done those forgotten heroes of Harry Tate’s navy a long overdue service, telling the story of these immensely courageous men - fishermen, coastal sailors and civilian seafarers - who toiled in often appalling conditions with little protection to protect our vital coastal waters. This is a tale, above all, of human endeavour, fortitude and ingenuity, told both compellingly and rich in human drama. Superb. (James Holland)
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