Commander Tom Sharpe was captain of HMS Endurance in 2008 when she sprang a catastrophic leak in the South Atlantic. For his actions that day  Tom was made an OBE and is now a defence commentator and advisor on leadership and crisis management. 

I have worked with Tom to create a book focusing on his personal evolution as a leader and how he developed his strategies, techniques and philosophies for dealing with crises, with the book including an in depth, minute-by-minute telling of the near-sinking of HMS Endurance, with an analysis  of why it happened and what averted a major tragedy.

I am pleased to announce that, after creating the submission letter and overseeing the entire submission process, I have secured competing publication offers for this remarkable book and will be announcing the successful publisher soon. 

The book will also cover other notable episodes in Tom’s career including the removal of Captain David Axon from command of HMS Somerset which Tom was instrumental in bringing about. Tom risked everything to remove an incompetent bully from command and the affair culminated in the captain being marched down his own gangplank and off his ship at Gibraltar.

Both of these incidents had press coverage at the time. 

HMS Endurance was the Royal Navy’s icebreaker and Antarctic patrol ship. On the 16th December 2008 she was sailing in the Magellan Straights when a valve failed. Within 30 minutes the engine room, which was half the size of an olympic swimming pool, was filled with water. The engines shut down and the ship lost all power. She was in rough seas and sinking fast, mayday calls went unanswered and the situation was looking utterly bleak for the crew and passengers, which included students from the British Schools Exploration Society. 

Tom’s actions that day saved the ship and everyone on board. Crucially he kept calm and ignored advice to abandon ship coming from command HQ.   

We believe this book will be a valuable addition to books on leadership and crisis management, read by both students and people already in executive positions. Clearly business leaders and public sector leaders need to know how to prepare for catastrophic events – Tom provides a highly personal and engaging blueprint for exactly that.

Tom Sharpe is a highly engaging and appealing personality who is already in demand on the speaking circuit.

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