The Coal Black Sea

Winston Churchill and the Worst Naval Catastrophe of WW1

Author:	Stuart Heaver
Published:	2026
Format:	Paperback, 294 pages
Size:	198 × 129 × 23 mm

£14.99

Tax included Shipping calculated at checkout.

Delivery Information

We dispatch most orders within one working day.

Admiralty charts are printed to order and are dispatched within two to three working days. If you'd like to know our current dispatch time or if you're up against a deadline please get in touch and we will do our best to help.

Shipping is free on orders over £50.

We ship to the UK. If you're ordering from outside the UK, get in touch and we'll see what we can do.

Friendly Advice

Got a question or need help finding something? We're a seafarer-run business and we're happy to help.

Fill in the contact form or use the chat button.

We're available seven days a week.

Returns

Not what you were looking for? No problem. We accept returns of items in as-sold condition within 30 days. Just let us know and we'll sort everything out, including the cost of return shipping.

Please note that Admiralty charts are not returnable as they are printed to order. See our returns policy for more information.

If anything arrives faulty or damaged, get in touch and we'll sort it out.

1914 sinking of three Royal Navy cruisers

Covers the loss of HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy to a U-boat, told from both sides, and Churchill's handling of the aftermath, drawing on official and archival records.

On the morning of 22 September 1914, just six weeks into the First World War, three Royal Navy armoured cruisers were sunk by a German U-boat in the southern North Sea. The action lasted less than 90 minutes but the lives of 1,459 men and boys were lost – more than the British losses at the Battle of Trafalgar or in the sinking of RMS Lusitania. Yet, curiously, few have ever heard of the incident.

The Coal Black Sea tells the extraordinary true story of the disaster from the perspectives of the men serving on HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, and the German submariners who orchestrated the attack. It also examines how the ignominious loss provoked widespread criticism of the highly ambitious First Lord of the Admiralty, the 39-year-old Winston Churchill. While the families of the victims grieved, Churchill succeeded in playing down the significance of the disaster and shifted the blame to those serving at sea to save his faltering career.

Using a range of official and archival records, Stuart Heaver exposes this false narrative and corrects over a century of misinformation to honour those who lost their lives in the worst naval catastrophe of the First World War.

About the Author

Former naval officer Stuart Heaver is a professional journalist and features writer with a special interest in maritime affairs and maritime history. His work has been published in The Independent, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian.