The Silent Enemy (1958) (Vintage Classics, b/w)

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In 1941, Britain was sustaining enormous losses fighting a war on three fronts against an ever increasing Axis power. To add to their problems, the Italians have recently created a new form of warfare - Frogmen - an intrepid band of men who travel astride small torpedo-type vessels, and attach explosive charges to the hulls of enemy ships, below their waterline.

A young Naval Lieutenant, 'Buster' Crabb, an expert in mine and bomb disposal, is sent to Gibraltar to try and combat this new threat. Never having dived before, he sets to work to master the technique of underwater operations, and soon he and his team are able to locate many of the frogmen's charges and render them harmless. But with an invasion of North Africa imminent, time is not on the Allies' side.