Stand Boldly On
The hidden story of the Levant Schooner Flotilla
Blackbeards of the Aegean was presented at We Have Ways Festival in 2026. The presentation explores what was quite possibly the last Royal Navy flotilla to operate under sail. From 1943 to 1944, converted civilian craft carried raiding, reconnaissance and observation teams through the enemy-held Eastern Mediterranean.
More than 300 Allied raids were conducted in this theatre. While much has been written about the raiders, far less attention has been paid to the sailors, boats and ingenuity that made their operations possible. Stand Boldly On tells the story of those facilitators.
Hiding in plain sight
Led by Adrian Seligman RNVR, a seaborne version of Ralph Bagnold, the Levant Schooner Flotilla used converted civilian craft and crews drawn from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF. Operating from Haifa and Beirut and thereafter the Turkish coast, it brought the LRDG and SAS concept of long-range penetration behind enemy lines, to the Eastern Aegean sea.
Its mission was simple to describe but extraordinarily difficult to perform: carry LRDG, SBS and Greek Sacred Squadron teams across long stretches of hostile water—without detection.
Four ideas made it possible
Hide in plain sight: use ordinary Aegean caiques.
Extend the range: replace noisy engines with quieter, more powerful machinery.
Sail by night: navigate by landmarks, silhouettes and pilotage.
Vanish by day: conceal each boat against the rocky shoreline.
