The Cruel Sea

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HMS Dipper" and "HMS Winger" were fictional Kingfisher-class corvettes in the stories East Coast Corvette (1943) and Corvette Command (1944), (republished with H M Corvette as Three Corvettes in 1945).

You know those bad, stereotypical WWII films that used to litter the late, late show? This book is one of those, in print. Noble young men striving -- nay, Striving Mightily against Cruel Fate. Or in this case, the Cruel Sea. And, you know, Jerry. Monsarrat's first three novels, published in 1934–1937 and now out of print, were realistic treatments of modern social problems informed by his leftist politics. His fourth novel and first major work, This Is The Schoolroom, took a different approach. The story of a young, idealistic, aspiring writer coming to grips with the "real world" for the first time, it is at least partly autobiographical. Smith, J. Y. (9 August 1979). "Author Nicholas Monsarrat Dies". The Washington Post . Retrieved 20 April 2017. Now that I’ve got your attention, let me say that The Cruel Sea is not the greatest war novel of all time. HMS Marlborough Will Enter Port – TV film (1956), adapted from HMS Marlborough Will Enter Harbour, narrated by Ronald Reagan, produced by Revue Studios. Teleplay by George Bruce.Work [ edit ] Nicholas Monsarrat signing a copy of The Story of Esther Costello as Dorothy Shoemaker watches. The Story of Esther Costello (1957) (also known as The Golden Virgin), directed by David Miller, starring Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi, Heather Sears, Lee Patterson. Screenplay by Charles Kaufman. The Cruel Sea". The Australian Women's Weekly. 20 May 1953. p.37. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021 . Retrieved 22 July 2012– via National Library of Australia. THE "CRUEL SEA" MAN GOES TO AFRICA Monsarrat writes a 'let-down' ". The Argus. Melbourne. 13 October 1956. p.10 . Retrieved 10 July 2012– via National Library of Australia. Xuereb, Paul (March–June 2001). Cauchi, Prof Maurice N (ed.). "Nicholas Monsarrat (1910–1979)". The Gozo Observer. University of Malta, Gozo Centre. 1 (5). Archived from the original on 23 February 2007 . Retrieved 8 May 2011.

The ending is low-key, and I like this. The book gives readers a glimpse into another aspect of the Second World War. It is a book featuring so-called “fictional characters”, but it draws the true to life reality of the war as it played out for the men stationed on escort ships guarding convoys. I repeat—Monsarrat writes of that which he knows. Two non-fiction books, Life is a Four Letter Word: Breaking In (London, 1966) and Life is a Four Letter Word: Breaking Out (London, 1970), comprise Monsarrat's autobiography. Monsarrat notes before the action begins that this is a "long" book. Given that it is fewer than 500p it hardly seems so, but it is three times the length of a more typical novel of its day...and there is no bloating or padding here. It's a compelling tale from the outset and all the way through to the end, which covers the entire period of the war as the Royal Navy attempts to keep the vital supply lines of Merchant Navy traffic protected from the depredations of the German U-boats. Therefore it was an unusual and happy occasion earlier today when Martin walked with me to the Park Ridge Library booksale and I espied a copy of Monsarrat's The Cruel Sea, a novel Dad had had and which I had read sometime in childhood. The title might not have been enough. The author's name meant nothing. But the cover was the very cover of Dad's edition. My Father for years, with an almost mantra repetitiveness has been telling me to watch the film or read the Cruel Sea, I always replied, “will do” with no real intention of getting round to it. I am so glad I now have.

In a later portion of the book the captain and the first officer become much more the focus and center of the action as the nature of the war has evolved as these two officer note with regret. The familial nature of the ship's crew is altered and the men become more like inanimate parts of an efficient fighting machine bent on the destruction of their enemy. The way the author portrays this evolution of sensitive, humanistic, beings into men that suppress feelings, are unmoved by suffering and death even of their friends and loved ones is quite compelling but there is more. This book focuses on humans that are thrown into war from their peacetime lives. Accountants, bankers, journalists, cargo ship captains, pension seeking peacetime sailors, are all placed in a war that they, as individuals, had very little to do with its inception. From there, the changes in the characters are illustrated through the most extreme of circumstances and the ever-accumulating risk associated with time. Decisions are made and sacrifices are suffered. The enemy becomes transformed from humans with differing points of view into mere objects of resistance: worthy of a hatred that can only be bestowed upon the most inhuman of threats. And the defenders are transformed into machines that are virtually unaware of the hatred that they display. The Cruel Sea was recommended to me (h/t Bevan) after I finished reading Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny. Part of the reason I loved The Caine Mutiny was its sense of authenticity. In its minutely detailed depiction of life aboard a rusting old minesweeper, I felt like Wouk had created something real. That is certainly the case here. Monsarrat served in the Royal Navy during World War II, and has a grasp of all the granular details of life aboard ship. The particularity is mesmerizing. This novel brings those men to life. It feels so real, you can almost feel the cold winds of the North Atlantic, almost feel the exhaustion, almost feel the drudgery and misery of convoy escort duty.

Over half a century later, the historian Paul Kennedy still considered Monsarrat's fictionalisation of his experiences as the best and most authentic guide to the mentality of the wartime escort commander. [2] Film and radio adaptations [ edit ] Saltash Castle was portrayed by Castle-class corvette HMS Portchester Castle, pennant F362, as in the film. Although she had been paid off in 1947, she was held in reserve until broken up in 1958, and so could be made available for use in the film. The Cruel Sea_1953 | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Archived from the original on 7 September 2010 . Retrieved 30 October 2010. His final work, unfinished at the time of his death but published in its incomplete form, was a two-volume historical novel titled The Master Mariner. Based on the legend of the Wandering Jew, it told the story of a 16th-century English seaman who, as punishment for a terrible act of cowardice, is doomed to sail the world's seas until the end of time. His hero participates in critical moments in history; Monsarrat used him to emphasize the importance of seamen.In literature and in film, war is sometimes glorified - and it certainly was in the years following the wars in which the action took place. Sometimes, it's deliberately horrified - "The Longest Day", "Saving Private Ryan", "Taegukgi", "All Quiet on the Western Front" and a whole host of other books and films testify to this. It is a masterpiece, I feel in some respects very ahead of its time (coming from my novice literature experience) it doesn’t shy away from anything, even delving into the troubles of married life with a no holes barred approach, which I would guess for the time it was written was taboo to say the least. Resigning his wartime commission during 1946, Monsarrat entered the diplomatic service. He was posted at first to Johannesburg, South Africa and then, in 1953, to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. [5] He began writing full-time during 1959, settling first on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, and later on the Maltese island of Gozo. [6] Ranks [ edit ] The Reconciliation (1984) – TV film, directed by John Jacobs, starring Roger Rees, John Castle, Jim Norton, Meg Davies, teleplay by Roy Russell.

The film portrays the conditions in which the Battle of the Atlantic was fought between the Royal Navy and Germany's U-boats, seen from the viewpoint of the British naval officers and seamen who served in convoy escorts. It is based on the best-selling 1951 novel of the same name by former naval officer Nicholas Monsarrat, though the screenplay by Eric Ambler omits some of the novel's grimmest moments.Hauptfuhrer, Fred (2 July 1979). "To Ann and Nicholas Monsarrat, the Sea Is Never Cruel: It Inspires His Fiction and Their Idyll". People. People . Retrieved 20 April 2017. HMS River" and "HMS Saltash" were fictional River-class frigates in H M Frigate (1946), and the novel The Cruel Sea (1951). (In the 1953 film version HMS Saltash was depicted by Castle-class corvette: HMS Portchester Castle, and hence named " Saltash Castle").