DAVID HEPPER has had a lifelong interest in maritime history and served for twenty-five years in the Royal Navy, specialising in electronic warfare, before moving to the Civil Service. Several years research into ships histories, using original documents in the National Archives, has led to published works on naval losses during the First World War and the era of sail. He has also assisted and advised other authors with research into the careers and fates of individual ships. He is now retired and lives near Woodbridge, Suffolk.