Following on from his earlier book covering the land war during the Spanish Civil War, the author turns his attention here to the lesser known Naval battles.

Following decades of economic difficulties, it is fair to say that the state of the Spanish Navy was not one of being prepared for war, or a potential uprising. One fact the author's research revealed is that many of Spain's submarines were armed with only one torpedo.
When the Nationalist uprising began & Franco announced his manifesto, both naval bases & their ships instantly became battlefields themselves. Those supporting the current government, the Republican loyalists, would fight their fellow crew members & officers who were supporting Franco's Nationalist rebels. Executions by both sides would soon follow.

We learn how the support of Germany & Italy aided Franco's cause, whilst the Soviets would shortly follow in providing aid & support to the Republicans.
As hostilities grew, so did its effects to neighbouring islands & countries. Even today's popular holiday destinations of Ibiza & Majorca were caught up in the fighting.
Neutral shipping, even those that weren't trading with either side, were often attacked, stopped & forced into port where often their cargo & even their fuel would be 'liberated.'
Hence the book's 'Pirates' title.
Mussolini would be mentioned as 'the Pirate King' for despite not being at war with the French or British at this time, his naval fleet were behind much of the worst of the above incidents.
As both sides attempted blockades to stop supplies benefiting the other, it had an effect on other countries trading. This also caused political differences in Whitehall, where several members of the Cabinet had sympathies for opposing sides.

One final interesting fact worth sharing is that there was an additional 7000 foreigners in Barcelona caught up when the civil war broke out. Many of these were athletes who had travelled to take part in the 'People's Olympiad'. This was a protest to the event held in Nazi Germany. Many did choose to stay & fight on the side of the Republicans.

From the opening pages the author's knowledge of the subject is impressive. The book provides a comprehensive account of what took place from 1936-39. Much for the first time in an English translation.

As an avid reader of the second world war it's important to learn about what happened in Spain, as elsewhere in Europe during the 1930's.
'Franco's Pirates' certainly contributes greatly to the military history of this fascinating period & I have certainly learnt a great deal from reading this book.

History Book Chat

The Spanish Civil War is fascinating in its own right- but also is instructive now that we have another Land War in Europe. ER Hooton, an author on conflict in the 20th Century takes on the Naval campaigns that did have effect on the land war that was central to the struggle. The Fascist Nationalists and the Socialist-then Communist Republicans both tried to conduct naval warfare -with the Nationalists being far more successful. The Nazi Germans and Blackshirt Italians also sent both weapons for the Nationalists- as well as naval forces to help. The French and the British tried to play the Naval Power adults in the room- safeguarding neutral shipping- but were not very successful. Overall, it made sailing anywhere near Spain, or Spain's Atlantic islands a dangerous exercise in the late 1930s.

Spain's two coastlines (on either side of Portugal) are quite long- and any traffic coming by sea from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean has to pass lots of it, so this had a big effect on European trade. There were blockade runners of all kinds- some legit trade with both combatants, submarines, and lots of gunboats stopping ships on all sort of pretexts. The Intelligence agencies - then in their post WWI infancies- were all trying gamely to figure out what was going on- but Hooten shows how confused the situation was. Reading about this- informed by the present Houthi Naval confrontation in the Red Sea- one can see parallels and comparisons. I learned a lot and feel like any reader would too, military history buff or general audience member.

There are a lot of adult themes, but they are political and not graphic injury passages, so a Junior Reader about 13/14 years can get value from this book. It's a treasure chest for the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast- a whole new part of a whole new struggle most of us have not studied much. The gamer has dozens of scenario/campaign ideas- although some other resources would probably be called for. The Modeler has a tonne of Build/Diorama ideas - the Air war element to the Naval SCW being rich with niche aircraft from the 1930s. The Military Enthusiast gets a long look at a whole Naval confrontation from the 20th Century they might not have thought of before. It's a compelling story of a crisis that has echoes today. We would do well to heed these warnings...

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