- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; New edition edition (November 1988)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0870210556
- ISBN-13: 978-0870210556
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.7 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 680 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,120,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
One of the classic naval adventure stories of World War II, Monsarrat's novel tells the tale of two British ships trying to escape destruction by wolf pack U-boats hunting in the North Atlantic. The book was a smash when released in 1951, going through numerous printings. This is the first paperback edition available in ages.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Review
"But the men are the stars of the story. The only heroines are the ships and the only villain the cruel sea itself." And so it is, this engrossing, enormous record of the years 1939 and on into 1945, of Atlantic convoy duty aboard the corvette, Compass Rose, and later, on the ?? a frigate. Lt. Com. Ericson, with a new job, a new ship, and a new crew, is also faced with a new kind of war as an escort of the Western Approaches Command. The training in Scotland gives them faith in what they had called either "a natural bastard", a "crap barge or "gash boat" as the ship responds as quickly as they. There is the shakedown and the shock of the first convoy, the gradual welding together of the regular RN's and the "hostilities only", the building up of a good ship as the Compass Rose reveals her personality, dependability and ability as a watchdog and an anti-U-boat hunter. The refit, after two years of grim incidents, brings changes in many of the lives; they roam from the Mediterranean to the Arctic and there the Compass Rose meets her end, as do 80 out of the 91 aboard. Ericson and his First are confronted with a fresh group to man the Saltash and again the qualities of those in command band them into an efficient unit, ready for the eye-opener of a refit in New York, the Normandy invasion and the surrender of the U-boats at the end of the European war. This is the time-track; the sound-track misses nothing of untidy battle and gruesome death, ribald and masculine comedy, personal and marital problems, tangible and intangible changes against the progress of the war; the horror, terror, elation and pity on the human front and the unrelenting, ever-waiting merciless and impersonal sea. A book that speaks to you and makes you part of its story. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an alternate
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Authentic WWII Sea Salt,
By John Colville (Bridgetown, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Cruel Sea (VHS Tape)
If I were asked to recommend three great movies about any Allied or Axis army, navy and air force in World War II, they would be "The Desert Fox", "The Cruel Sea" and "Twelve O'Clock High". All three were made in black and white soon after the war, and all have the unmistakable realism of true accounts."The Cruel Sea", based on the famous Nicholas Monsarrat novel of the same title, lend its story beautifully to the stark contrasts and subtle mid-tones of black and white film (you don't get all those mid-tones of grey in color film). The story is grippingly personal, tragic and redeeming, gradually and painfully building the intense bond of camaraderie that seems to be particularly strong among navy people - probably because the sea can be the loneliest and most unforgiving place on earth (hence the title). Recalling the names Compass Rose and Saltash Castle, you'll taste the freezing brine of the North Atlantic, smell the mix of diesel fuel, blood and cordite, and hear the cries of your mates drowning in your wake. The real deal in black and white.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good companion to this book,
By
This review is from: Cruel Sea (Paperback)
Written by someone who experienced WWII in convoy escort duty, The Cruel Sea is quite realistic in a double sense: You get the drama of the war as well as the times when war is dull or frustrating, for example when an officer dumps paperwork onto subordinates. Realistic without being cynical is a good combination.And if you'd like to read another book on this theme but with more of the immediacy of the war, try C. S. Forester's, The Good Shepherd, the classic account of a single convoy at the height of the war with U-boats as told by the captain of a US destroyer. Unfortunately, new it seems to be available only in an overpriced but ugly reprint, so you might want to find a used copy. I have a paperback version that I reread every few years. --Michael W. Perry, editor of Chesterton on War and Peace: Battling the Ideas and Movements that Led to Nazism and World War II
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE must-read story about WWII naval surface warfare,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cruel Sea Tie In Edition (Paperback)
This story of the crew of the Compass Rose, a WWII Allied Corvette, is beautifully told with good character development. Fighting dangerous gales, waves and sperstructure ice, the Compass Rose sonarman and tactical teams pursue and are pursued. They wait, listen, move, chase and flee U-boats, torpedo-ing and depth charging their way through North Atlantic misery, locked in a psycho-thriller conflict with the German Wolfpack. The story tells of the physical and mental hardship of the fighting crew of this small, fast, seaworthy and heavily armed surface ship, and the immense toll the Wolfpack took on Allied shipping. The reader explores the bravery and courage of mentally exhausted sailors trying to muster every last bit of reserve to outwit, outpunch, outhunt and out-maneuvre stealthy U-boats and the worst that the North Atlantic winter maritime environment has to offer. Monsarrat has a real page turner here, and he makes the reader feel the emotional duress and psychological stress the crew experiences together and individually as it hunts the hunter and at the same time is being hunted by it. If the classic English sub-titled movie 'Das Boot' is the ultimate undersea perspective of the Allied navy-U-boat conflict, then the surface perspective is definitely the story of the Compass Rose - Lest We Forget.
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