num_pages: 715
description: This is the autobiography of one of the most celebrated fighting admirals of WWII. Andrew Cunningham was born in Dublin but was a Scot whose family home was Hyndhope in the parish of Kirkhope in Selkirk. He entered the Royal Navy in 1898 and during the First World War his service earned him the DSO and two bars. His brightest hour, however, came in the second great conflict of the century when he was appointed C-in-C Mediterranean Fleet. His remarkable victory at the Battle of Matapan virtually eliminated the Italian battle fleet at a stroke, and remains one of the most amazing actions in naval history. Cunningham’s intrepidity and resource were equally valuable during the evacuation of Crete, and in the difficult operations in the Mediterranean in which he struggled and succeeded to gain the upper hand over the Axis powers. He was promoted First Sea Lord in 1943. In this autobiography, containing material published here for the first time, Cunningham explains in his own words how he dealt with the French fleet at Alexandria after the fall of France. He provides a revealing account of the Battle of Calabria, the crippling of the Italian fleet at Taranto, and how the Navy supported the Army in North Africa and brought the convoys through to save Malta.
language: English
title: A Sailor's Odyssey
publisher: HUTCHINSON