The battle of the North Atlantic: Royal Navy squares up against forces from ten countries for the biggest military exercise in Europe

The battle, involving 26 fast jets, 24 ships, two submarines and 4,500 personnel, took place last month off the coast of Scotland. As Britain went to war with the U.S., Germany, France and seven other nations, Andrew Preston watched it unfold

An urgent message blares out on the bridge of HMS Kent: ‘Five contacts inbound, suspect RIBs not conforming to patterns of life. Surface threat warning now red.’

The boats have shown up on the ship’s radar three decks down in the ops room. They’re in an arrow formation, and they’re heading straight for us.


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