Iron Fist from the Sea: Top Secret Seaborne Recce Operations (1978-1988), by Arne Söderlund and Douw Steyn

Iron Fist from the Sea: Top Secret Seaborne Recce Operations (1978-1988) by Arne Söderlund and Douw Steyn. Jonathan Ball Publishers. Imprint: Delta Books. Limited edition. Johannesburg, South Africa 2023. ISBN 9781868427772 / ISBN 978-1-86-842777-2

Iron Fist from the Sea: Top Secret Seaborne Recce Operations (1978-1988) by Arne Söderlund and Douw Steyn will enthrall anyone with an interest in Special Forces operations and will take you right to the raging surf, to the adrenalin and fear that is seaborne raiding.

PRELUDE: OPERATION STARLIGHT

It was a dark moonless night but a broad arc of flickering lights to the west outlined the large port, with a lighthouse flashing every 7.5 seconds marking the entrance to the channel. There was little movement among the vessels anchored in the roadstead off the channel as, some 20 nautical miles (nm1) off the coast, the dark surface of the sea was cut by a periscope, heralding the stealthy approach of a submarine. When about 10 nm off, the black hull slowly broke the surface and the first figures appeared on the bridge atop the conning tower. The low rumbling of exhausting gases completing the low-pressure blow could just be heard above the subdued voices as the Captain and bridge team scoured the horizon with their binoculars, sweeping through 360 degrees to confirm they were alone and could not be observed. Instructions were passed down the voicepipe and a minute later the door on the side of the conning tower swung open. The special casing party exited quickly, closing up forward of the fin. The large torpedo-loading hatch was opened and the casing party, assisted by crew just inside the hatch, carefully brought out three partially assembled kayaks and positioned them on the casing. The six Special Forces members set to work in pairs, completing the final preparations of their two-man craft in the dark. While this was going on, paddles and kitbags with mines and survival kit along with weapons were carefully passed up through the hatch, the menacing outline of a Thompson submachine gun, or 'Tommy gun', discernible even in the dark. These were passed to the operators dressed in dark nondescript coveralls, woollen comforters covering their heads, and with hands and faces darkened with burnt cork, who carefully secured their kit in the frail craft. Barely 20 minutes after surfacing, all was ready and the submarine stopped in the water. Last-minute confirmation of the navigation marks to run in on was given by the Captain to the operators, before he and the casing party disappeared below. The six men climbed into their kayaks. The submarine slowly began submerging and, as the kayaks floated free, the men took up their paddles and set out for the landing beach. Behind them, they could hear the last of the ballast air escaping as the boat submerged and headed out to sea to ensure her presence would not compromise the mission. This scene could be from the script of the 1954 movie They Who Dare starring the legendary Dirk Bogarde and based on Operation Anglo, the Special Boat Section raid on Axis airfields on the island of Rhodes in September 1942. Or it could describe many of the other Special Boat Section raids on enemy targets in the Middle East during the Second World War, when they deployed from submarines of the 1st Submarine Flotilla based in Alexandria, using 'folboats' (folding boats) such as these kayaks and armed with weapons such as Tommy guns. The activity described here, however, took place 30 years later, in 1972, and was a historic occasion, as it was the first true seaborne special operation carried out by the South African Defence Force (SADF) since its founding in 1912. [...]

Iron Fist from the Sea: Top Secret Seaborne Recce Operations (1978-1988), by Arne Söderlund and Douw Steyn.

Title: Iron Fist from the Sea
Subtitle: Top Secret Seaborne Recce Operations (1978-1988)
Authors: Arne Söderlund, Douw Steyn
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Imprint: Delta Books
Limited edition. Johannesburg, South Africa 2023
ISBN 9781868427772 / ISBN 978-1-86-842777-2
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 398 pages, many b/w photographs and maps