The Long Silence Falls – Vol II

Beskrivning

The Life and Times of the Merchant Navy Radio Officer 1900-2000

Following the success of the original The Long Silence Falls book the Radio Officers’ Association have now published a second volume. With entirely new material this book draws again from material published in their journal QSO and it continues to reflect the wide experience of their members over the years and is an extraordinary glimpse into the practice and art of the Radio Officer.

From the very earliest days of radio, ships have carried Radio Officers. However with the onward march of technology this post has become redundant and since 2000 ships no longer carry specialist Radio Officers. This book is a look at 100 years of Radio Officers from the heyday of Marconi through to the turn of the millennium.

The Long Silence Falls is a series of stories which are broken down into various sections covering topics from War stories to First Trips, Last Trips and voyages in between. Written by the radio officers themselves, each section contains a wide variety of articles covering the topic. Readers will find out about their life on the ocean wave, Freelance and under a foreign flag, Irish stories and amongst them all a host of humorous tales that many a ‘Sparky’ will recognise. There are articles that cover a huge area from the capture of German cargo liner in WWII through 50 years of cruising, 500kHz – the Historical Band, alongside very personal tales of my last voyage and so much more.

In a new paperback format and at 376 pages The Long Silence Falls – Volume 2 is an extraordinary glimpse into the practice and art of the Radio Officer. If you are fascinated by this now past age, this book is hugely interesting and thoroughly recommended.