Spanner, E F
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1888-1953) UK naval architect who, after his retirement from the Royal Corps of Naval Construction, was the author of three Future War novels: The Broken Trident (1926), which predicts the use of torpedoes launched by warplanes against vulnerable surface vessels; The Naviators (1926); and The Harbour of Death (1927), where future war battles take place in the Mediterranean. Spanner's recurring message is that the UK should not remain unduly dependent upon her navy. The dire consequences of so doing are dramatized presciently in terms of the dangers posed by both Germany and Japan. In the marginal The Sea Ghouls (1932), pirates capture ocean liners, and then sink them. [JC]
Edward Frank Spanner
born Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire: 6 February 1888
died Streatham, London: 3 August 1953
works
- The Broken Trident (London: Williams and Norgate, 1926) [hb/]
- The Naviators (London: Williams and Norgate, 1926) [hb/]
- The Harbour of Death (London: Williams and Norgate, 1927) [hb/]
- The Sea Ghouls (London: Sampson Low, 1932) [hb/]
links
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