The Custom of the Trade

Richard Miller is the second-in-command of the submarine D2 and aspires to his own command, but his captain, Lieutenant Johnson, has previously withheld his recommendation on the grounds that Richard is too ill at ease with his men and too fond of his Bible. Just as Johnson changes his opinion, the submarine is involved in a tragic accident and sinks, leaving Johnson dead and the survivors trapped on the seabed with a diminishing air supply. It's a race against time for Richard to save his men.
Meanwhile, Richard's cousin, Elizabeth Miller, faces her own troubles. She is an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union, standing alongside the Pankhursts to gain the vote for women, for which her activities bring imprisonment. But when her father dies, she inherits the family shipyard and, with war brewing, her new struggle is to build ships and submarines for the war effort. Whilst she continues the battle for women's equality in the face of male prejudice, Richard goes off to war, firstly in the North Sea and then in the Dardanelles. Soon he and his men must suffer twenty-six hours of foul air, survive the mine fields, Turkish artillery forts and treacherous waters of the Dardanelles Strait - and only then can they start their patrol.
Skilfully melding his passion for history and his own experiences in submarines, Shaun Lewis has penned a gripping tale, rich in historical and authentic detail, on the hazards of life in early submarines and reawakened the largely forgotten tale of the Royal Navy's outstandingly successful submarine campaign in the Sea of Marmara. The first in his For Those in Peril series on the Royal Navy in WW1, Shaun has won international acclaim for a highly atmospheric, page-turning and fascinating thriller.
In a career lasting twenty years, Shaun served in surface ships and submarines, as well as in appointments in intelligence and as a Chinese interpreter. He now lives in Lancashire with his wife, Hilary.