Under The Black Ensign

London: Hutchinson. Very Good with no dust jacket. N.D.. First Edition. Hardcover. London: Hutchinson & Co., n.d. [c.1922]. Presumed First Edition. 8vo. 238pp. Green cloth, very good condition, spine soiled, light wear to edges, minor foxing to interior, two owners' names on endpaper. Folded map of Principal Naval Actions and Casualities Murman Coast, 1916-1917 (short tear in margin, portion slightly toned) and 8 Photographs. During the early part of World War One Captain Gwatkin-Williams commanded the armed boarding steamer Tara operating off Ireland. The ship was sunk by German sub U 35 in 1916 and held prisoners until March 17, 1916 when they were rescued - the Captain's narrative of that experience in his book, Prisoners of the Red Desert. In the rest of Black Ensign, Captain Gwatkin-Williams record his time in the North Seas and his observations about the Russian Navy. "Black Ensign" refers to the little ships in that war Navy - destroyers, tugs, trawlers, boarding steamers, others, that were allowed to fly the white flag but often chose instead a black banner to signify their "grubby and insignificant piratic selves" (Preface). ; Illustrated; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 238 pages .