Britain’s SBS—or Special Boat Service—was the world’s first maritime special operations unit. It would become one of the most effective fighting forces of the Second World War—and has served as a model for Special Forces ever since. Using new material from multiple archives (including the secret SBS archives in Poole), this book is the first authoritative history of Britain’s maritime special operations. Very much a human tale, it concentrates on the key personalities and the daredevil missions they undertook. It is an authorized history—the first time the SBS Regimental Association has given its seal of approval to any book about the Unit’s past activities—but not an official one.