Destroyer Operations in the Great War Although it was first published in 1931, Endless Story remains the only comprehensive account of the services of the Navy’s small craft – destroyers, torpedo boats and patrol vessels – during the First World War, and moreover the only one written by an officer personally involved. Even if Dorling did not take part in all the actions he describes, he knew the men who did, and gleaned much of his information from personal contact. As a result the book has both authenticity and authority, but is composed with the all verve of the popular novelist that ‘Taffrail’ was to become. It was a bestseller in its day, and now enjoys the status of a classic.