Best Sea Novel

[The Sailor]

I have many novels of the sea, especially wartime, but my favourite has always been "The Good Shepherd", written by C S Forester.

The Good Shepherd written in 1955 is a nautical and war novel by C. S. Forester, best known as the creator of fictional Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower.
The hero of The Good Shepherd is Commander Krause, the Captain of a US Navy destroyer in World War II. Krause is in overall command of an escort force protecting an Atlantic convoy in the Battle of the Atlantic. He finds himself in a difficult position. The voyage in question occurs early in 1942, shortly after America's entry into the war.
Although he is an experienced officer, with many years of seniority, this is Krause's first wartime mission. The captains of the other escort vessels are junior to him, and much younger, but they have been at war for over two years. His relative inexperience troubles him.

The hero broods over his career; his wife left him partly because of his strict devotion to duty. He is troubled when the press of duty forces him to neglect his prayers. And he is troubled by recollections that the Navy review board had twice passed him over for promotion, returning a judgement of fitted and retained.
His promotion to Commander only came when the United States entered the war, leading him to fear that he may be unsuited to his command.

I loved this novel and have read it several times down the years.
One of the habits of sea captains on active duty was to use phrases in the Bible to send often witty messages to each other by aldis lamp to offset the tedium and danger. I always admired this and would have liked to have done it.
The Sailor.

[herakles]

I agree that Forester wrote great books. And the Hornblower series on TV was such a good reproduction of them.

But I can't get past Patrick O'Brian and the Aubrey/Maturin books. His ability to use the language of the day, his remarkable understanding of the ships of the line and his magnificent descriptions, have no equal in my humble.

[astraltrader]

I too have enjoyed the Patrick O`Brian books. On the same theme have you read any of the Alexander Kent series of novels detailing the life of Richard Bolitho? I am reading them at present and find them equally exciting. Of course Alexander Kent is a.k.a Douglas Reeman. Fine books.

Terry [a.k.a astraltrader].
Exeter/Devon

[vivian]

Hi, i'm picking up an old thread here as I trawl through the posts. Sailor had mentioned C.S Foreter's novels. Years ago I read "The Ship" I'm pretty sure that was the title. It gave a perspective from different ranks and a vivid account of brilliant manouvering through a smoke screen. Hornblower books and TV series great stuff. Re the Patrick O'Brian books, there was the one movie made (Russell Crowe) and I had expected it to be the first of a series, but it does not seem so.

[vivian]

Oops... I must have hit the wrong button.....I was also going to add that I saw mention that there is to be a remake of "The Dam Busters" by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. It sounds like a very odd partnership to me.

regards to all
Vivian

[Robert McDougall]

A book I remember reading as a lad, A Very Ordinary Seaman lower deck guys. I feel a writer trying to convey the ordinary blokes part in the war. The drudgery of watch keeping. Sheer fatigue, and the lack of control over their destiny, and the language.
A book that I have Dad gave it to me, The True Glory (RN 1914-1939) by Max Arthur. There's a number of interviews of old sailors giving personal accounts of their service. Some enlightening stories in this book. Should I post overviews from some of the stories?

[Stan.J]

One book we may all tally with. is "Roll on the Rodney!" Life on the lower deck of R.N.Warships after the second world war. It`s about my time in the Andrew anyway. Written by David Phillipson. Worth obtaining...

[NSR]

Add to Forester's list, Three Corvettes. Also, The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk. (Spelling ??).

One that I have never been able to obtain is, The Musings of a Merry Matelot by Giraldus (Gerald O'Driscoll). I saw a brief excerpt many years ago and have wanted to read it in full but our local library can't source a copy and Amazon came up blank. The excerpt was of a leading hand explaing to a young OD how to operate the galley spud peeler. The language was pure Whale Island Gunnery speak and was hilarious. Still I live in hopes.

Ken

[BuntingBob]

Hi Ken. Try this link.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musings-of-a-Merry-Matloe-Naval-Humour-Giraldus-B659_W0QQitemZ110261666832QQihZ001QQcategoryZ21537 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You ain't got long to bid. looks like no one else is interested.

[NSR]

Thanks for the tip, Bob. I have put my bid in and am keeping my fingers crossed.

Ken

[NSR]

Bob, Auction closed and the bid was successful. I don't drink rum now-a-days or you would be due for 'gulpers'. If you are ever in the area I owe you a pint of Marston's Pedigree.

Ken

[BuntingBob]

Thanks, Ken. Let us know how you get on with the book.

[NSR]

Well the book arrived and was read in two sessions. I found that it was a quiet continuous chuckle with a couple of 'laugh out loud' pieces in it. One thing that I hadn't anticipated was its age. I first saw the excerpt about 50 (yes 50) years ago and assumed that it was contemporary but it was published in 1927 and was a compilation of pieces by Giraldus that had appeared in the RN periodical, The Fleet.

His stories centered around Devonport but were universal in theme. For the Devonport pubs mentioned, substitute Martha's or the Albany in Portsmouth or The Prince of Orange in Chatham and they could have been transplanted with ease. Some of the naval jargon of the period had disappeared by the 50s as had the spitkids (I just remember one being used as a giant ashtray in Chatham when I first joined) but Ticklers were still around and the routines associated with drawing ones tot still used.

His particular Bete Noir was General Messing Sausages which he thought had a greater affinity with the kennel than the sty. However, one stoker with Methodist ideals and a tendency towards Socialism called them Conservatives, which Giraldus considered to be a bit unfair to Mr Baldwin.

Yes, I did enjoy it and will dip into it oftenin the future. So, thank you Bob for the tip, I owe you.

Ken

[Nobby_N]

When I were a lad I had one brother in the navy, this was in WW2, and soon after that in 1947 another brother joined the Fleet Air Arm. I only ever dreamt of going to sea.

There were a few naval and Merchant Marine novels in the local children's library and I devoured every one. Although I read and enjoyed W.E.Johns Biggles books. The author I enjoyed most, and I believe he had a brother who wrote similar stuff, was Percy F. Westerman. Between them they covered the Merchant Service from the last days of sail onto and into the Second World War. They wrote several series, and a series would start with a young Apprentice, in later years an Officer Cadet, joining his first ship. You would read of him through two or three ships and then another series would start with another lad starting as a Cadet. He would meet the earlier lad who by this time had become a 3rd or 2nd Officer, and eventually, in the WW2 books the lad who had been a cadet has now become the skipper of a ship. I read every single book I could get by those two authors. I'm pretty sure they were brothers, unless the second name was pseudonym for the same author.

Does anybody else remember those books. They were a huge influence on me. I wanted to join the MN but I couldn't pass the eyesight test then required for a sea officer, I knew I'd need special training (expense that we did not have) to be a radio man, I didn't want to be in the engineroom and that only left cooks and stewards as far as the MN was concerned. I would have gone ahead with that but my FAA brother stepped in, and said it was not a good idea and if I really wanted to go to sea I should join the RN and be a REM(Air). Well I became GS REM, and was pleased with that. I wonder what my brother knew about MN stewards that put him off that idea?

P.F.Westerman. Does that name ring any bells?

Nobby_N

[Mitch Hinde]

Hi All

HMS Marlbourough will enter harbour by Nicholas Monsarat. Read it years ago. Been trying to get a copy for a while now to give it another go.

Mitch Hinde

[Alaric]

Can I recommend The Cruiser, by Warren Tute? An excellent account of a warship being commissioned and serving during the outbreak of World War Two.

[Ednamay]

When I were a lad I had one brother in the navy, this was in WW2, and soon after that in 1947 another brother joined the Fleet Air Arm. I only ever dreamt of going to sea.

There were a few naval and Merchant Marine novels in the local children's library and I devoured every one. Although I read and enjoyed W.E.Johns Biggles books. The author I enjoyed most, and I believe he had a brother who wrote similar stuff, was Percy F. Westerman. Between them they covered the Merchant Service from the last days of sail onto and into the Second World War. They wrote several series, and a series would start with a young Apprentice, in later years an Officer Cadet, joining his first ship. You would read of him through two or three ships and then another series would start with another lad starting as a Cadet. He would meet the earlier lad who by this time had become a 3rd or 2nd Officer, and eventually, in the WW2 books the lad who had been a cadet has now become the skipper of a ship. I read every single book I could get by those two authors. I'm pretty sure they were brothers, unless the second name was pseudonym for the same author.

Does anybody else remember those books. They were a huge influence on me. I wanted to join the MN but I couldn't pass the eyesight test then required for a sea officer, I knew I'd need special training (expense that we did not have) to be a radio man, I didn't want to be in the engineroom and that only left cooks and stewards as far as the MN was concerned. I would have gone ahead with that but my FAA brother stepped in, and said it was not a good idea and if I really wanted to go to sea I should join the RN and be a REM(Air). Well I became GS REM, and was pleased with that. I wonder what my brother knew about MN stewards that put him off that idea?

P.F.Westerman. Does that name ring any bells?

Nobby_N

Yes, I remember the Westerman books very well - I 'borrowed' them from my brother's collection. there is a whole lot of information about him on the following link:-

http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/wester.html

good hunting ! Edna

[Nobby_N]

Thanks Edna,

That's him! The Alan Carr titles and similar are the ones I enjoyed all those years ago in the 1940s and early 50s.

Nobby_N

[Nobby_N]

"The Cruiser", Warren Tute. Thanks for reminding us Alaric. I read that when I was on my first ship. I thought it good.

Nobby_N

[seaJane]

The first sea (or war) novel I ever read was Alistair McLean's HMS Ulysses. I still think that far surpasses most of his thrillers - it's the only one I kept, anyway.

I also liked Stephanie Plowman's Sixteen Sail in Aboukir Bay when I was in my teens - a novel about Nelson in the years leading up to the Battle of the Nile, seen through the eyes of a young middy.

[TACKLINE]

As a wartime Monitor matelot,I quite liked HMS Saracen by Douglas Reeman.