The Cruel Sea (novel)

The Cruel Sea
The cover of the UK 1956 paperback edition of: The Cruel Sea
Author(s)	Nicholas Monsarrat
Country	Great Britain & USA
Language	English
Genre(s)	World War II Novel
Publisher	Cassell & Co, London Knopf, New York
Publication date	1951
Media type	Print (hardback)
Pages	416 (Cassell) 509 (Knopf)
OCLC Number	367107
LC Classification	PZ3.M7573 Cr

The Cruel Sea is a 1951 novel by Nicholas Monsarrat. It follows the lives of a group of Royal Navy sailors fighting the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II.

The novel, based on the author's experience of serving in corvettes in the North Atlantic in World War II, gives a matter-of-fact but moving portrayal of ordinary men learning to fight and survive in a violent, exhausting battle against the elements and a ruthless enemy.

Few books have ever conveyed in such gripping detail the brutal destruction of the Battle of the Atlantic and the endurance of the men who fought it. The novel brought instant fame to its author.

Plot summary

The action commences in 1939. Lieutenant-Commander George Ericson, after service in the Merchant Navy, is recalled to the Royal Navy and given command of the fictitious Flower-class corvette HMS Compass Rose, newly built to escort convoys. His officers are mostly new to the Navy, especially the two new Sub-Lieutenants, Lockhart and Ferraby. Only Ericson, and some of the Petty Officers are in any way experienced.

Despite these initial disadvantages, the ship and crew work up a routine and gain experience. Bennett, the First Lieutenant, a mean and shirking disciplinarian with a penchant for bullying and canned sausages, Snorkers, leaves the ship ostensibly for health reasons, and the junior officers are able to mature, with Lockhart gaining promotion to First Lieutenant.

The crew cross the Atlantic many times on escort duty in all kinds of weather, often encountering fierce storms in one of the smallest ships to provide escort services to the Allied convoys. The men endure the ship's constant rolling and pitching in the huge waves, freezing cold, the strain of maintaining station on the convoy on pitch black nights and the fear that at any second a torpedo from a German U-boat could blow them to oblivion. Somehow the tradition of the Royal Navy and the knowledge of the importance of their work carries them through.

They continue the monotonous and dangerous but vital duty of convoy escort and after one particularly difficult convoy they use all their hard won knowledge to sink a German submarine. They are nearly sunk several times until in 1943 they are finally torpedoed and forced to abandon ship. Most of the crew die in the freezing waters, but Ericson, Lockhart, and a few others are rescued the next day.

Ericson, now promoted to Commander, and Lockhart, now a Lieutenant-Commander, take command of a new ship, the fictitious River class frigate HMS Saltash. (In the film The Cruel Sea, the ship is called Saltash Castle and is portrayed by a Castle class corvette HMS Portchester Castle, as no River class vessels were available.)

The Royal Navy is now finally gaining the upper hand over the U Boats and Saltash adds to the growing number of kills due to Ericson's determination and patience. When the war ends, the ship returns to port as a guard to several German submarines that have surrendered.

A secondary plotline concerns Lockhart's poignant romance with a beautiful Women's Royal Naval Service officer.

Origins

Nicholas Monsarrat spent the war in corvettes and finally a frigate, rising from lowly Sub-Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander and his own command.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel was made into a film in 1953, directed by Charles Frend and starring Jack Hawkins as Commander Ericson and Donald Sinden as Lockhart.

External links

• The Monsarrat Archive on BBC Radio 4