Time can be cruel as it leaves behind many important things. This book, The Cruel Sea is on such loss for it is seldom read any longer. Set in the Atlantic during World War II, it is a story of ordinary men called upon to do extraordinary deeds. Most of the men are young, a lieutenant of twenty who is called upon to be second in command, other junior officers who a few weeks earlier were bank clerks or shoe salesmen. The recruits don’t have any experience, and many cannot remember port from starboard but are responsible for staffing guns, handling depth charges and being on call to fight fires. At the top, on the bridge, is a retired captain who must mold his crew into a fighting unit while patrolling the hostile north Atlantic.
There is little glamour in this story for it is filled with boredom, Atlantic storms, fear of the dreaded U-boats, longing for loved ones, and for some, betrayal at home. But it is a story that was played out for years by tens of thousands of men who became warriors and sailors in the harsh times in which they lived.
The main ship in this story, the Compass Rose (the class of corvettes was called the Flower Class), goes to sea and hunts the enemy while around them, in the wallowing convoys, ships are sunk, men die from swallowing oil or from terrible burns and all the crew can do is try to ease some pain while they feel helpless. Gradually, they receive better equipment to hunt the enemy and one day, they sink an enemy submarine. They cheer and yet when they see the enemy, they do what they can to save those who hunted them for so long.
Many of the characters die as many did. In the end, the bond of war ties men together as they ponder what they will do at wars end. On their last voyage, they see the surrendered enemy submarines at dock and realize that for all the effort of the enemy, they mind as well stayed home. That is the lesson of the war.
The book was made into an excellent movie starring Jack Hawkins, a major British actor and he plays the part as if it had been tailor made for him. I recommend this book and movie for anyone not familiar with the sharp end of the spear of naval warfare. It will make you realize the cost others have paid for the lives we have today.
(sent from Guy in Montreal to my email) ONE OF MY EARLIER GEMS IN THE EARLY FIFTIES’IN FACT I GOT A COPY OF IT RECENTLY AT NOVA A SECOND HAND BOOK STORE IN OUR VICINITY, JACK HAWKINS AT HIS BEST. BLACK AND WHITE FILM SETS THE MOOD OF THE TIMES, WENT OUT AND BOUGHT A HOODED
DUFFLE COAT AND WORE IT FOR YEARS PRETENDING I WAS ON THE BRIDGE OF COMPASS ROSE. MONSARRAT WAS AT HIS BEST IN THIS ONE THAT AND THE CAINE MUTINY BY HERMAN WOUK WAS ALSO A BEAUT .CORVETTES LIKE THE COMPASS ROSE WOULD GO THROUGH
THE LACHINE CANAL REGURALY ,THE CREW WOULD SOMETIMES GIVE US KIDS K RATIONS AS A TREAT. YOU COULD TELL THEY WERE IN ACTION BECAUSE THE END OF THE BARREL ON THEIR FORWARD AND ONLY CANNON WAS BURNT FROM FIRING .BECAUSE OF THE NARROW CANAL, BOATS WOULD TAKE AT LEAST 2 DAYS TO PASS THROUGH THE LOCH SYSTEM ONE AT A TIME THEIR FAMOUS BOAT WHISTLE HEARD IN THE FILM HAS STAYEDWITH ME ALL THESE YEARS ITS ECHO NOTIFIED US KIDS AT THE TIME THAT THERE WAS A CORVETTE IN THE CANAL AND OFF WE WOULD GO BY CHANCE I ESCORTED A US NAVAL CAPTAIN FROM A N AMERICAN SHIP LOOKIING FOR A TAXI STAND TO TAKE HIM INTO MONTREAL TO THE QUEENS HOTEL ANNAPOLIS RING ,WHITE SCARF, STRIPES ON HIS COAT SLEEVE, HAT AT THE PROPER TILT RIGHT OUT OF HOLLYWOOD I WORKED WITH A GUY WHOSE CANADIAN CORVETTE, THE SNOWBERRY ,SANK A U BOAT IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC ,ONE IN FIVE YEARS OF TRYING YOUR EMAIL HAS AWOKEN THE INNOCENT TIMES OF MY YOUTH WHEN EACH DAY BROUGHT A NEW ADVENTURE
MERCI