First Strike: Book 2 in the Changed Course Series

By Tony Dunning

The war beneath the waves has begun...

August 1914.

Britain is at war.

Hidden inside a heavily guarded naval base, Commander Godfrey Herbert's revolutionary underwater craft-dismissed by history as an impossible dream-are finally ready for combat.

Ten secret S-3 vessels slip beneath the North Sea on a mission that could change naval warfare forever. Their first target is the mighty German High Seas Fleet at Heligoland Bight. What follows is a devastating attack that shocks the Kaiser, leaves German admirals searching desperately for answers, and begins a silent conflict fought beneath the sea itself.

As the First World War spreads across Europe, the Herbert Programme becomes Britain's most closely guarded secret. While dreadnoughts clash at Heligoland, Dogger Bank, Coronel and the Falkland Islands, Herbert's operators wage an invisible war-sabotaging U-boat bases, sinking supply ships, protecting troop convoys across the Channel, carrying out covert missions in the Baltic, and striking where no conventional warship can reach.

But every success comes at a cost.

Germany adapts with new patrol craft, underwater barriers and experimental listening devices. The hunters become the hunted, and when the Herbert Programme suffers its first devastating combat loss, its future hangs in the balance.

As Europe enters a new era of warfare, one question remains:

Can a handful of men in tiny underwater craft change the course of history?

The Silent Attack is the gripping second novel in the Changed Course series-an epic alternate history saga exploring what might have happened if Britain had said "yes" instead of "no" to Commander Herbert's revolutionary underwater weapon in 1909.

Perfect for readers of Harry Turtledove, Robert Conroy, Douglas Reeman, Alexander Fullerton and naval military fiction, this fast-paced thriller combines real historical events with a compelling "what if?" that reshapes the First World War from beneath the waves.

History changed with a single decision. Now the world must live with the consequences.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H8DB72D9
• ISBN13: 9798186639350
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"