The cruel sea
by Nicholas Monsarrat · first published 1951
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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. It contains seven chapters, each describing a year during the war. 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 o
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There are some splendid UK films about the Battle of the Atlantic - my favourite being The Cruel Sea. NB The author of the novel on which the The Cruel Sea is based, Nicholas Monsarrat, wrote a moving account of his own service - Three Corvettes - which is one of the few books that has reduced me to…
on “Quiet naval hero who rescued Enigma machine dies aged 95” ↗I started the site about 8 years ago because 1) these lists have lots of great selections that you might not come across otherwise (e.g., "The Cruel Sea" by Nicholas Monsarrat) and 2) .mil web sites tend to get reorganized regularly and older content seems to get swept away. So I hope this site helps to preserve some things that might otherwise be lost.…
on “U.S. Army Engineer School Commandant’s Reading List” ↗> NB The author of the novel on which the The Cruel Sea is based, Nicholas Monsarrat, wrote a moving account of his own service - Three Corvettes - which is one of the few books that has reduced me to tears. Funnily enough I happened to read the book while…
on “Quiet naval hero who rescued Enigma machine dies aged 95” ↗I can recommend Three Corvettes by Nicholas Monsarrat - the author of The Cruel Sea - it is his account of his experiences at sea during WW2. One of the few books that has moved me to tears.
on “Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest Passage attempt” ↗"The Cruel Sea" was also made into an excellent movie with some genuinely shocking moments for a film made in 1953. However, I am particularly fond of Nicholas Monsarrat's "Three Corvettes" his non-fiction account…
on “U.S. Army Engineer School Commandant’s Reading List” ↗"ordered all vessels scuttled, rather than having them fall in enemy hands" The Cruel Sea ends with a corvette passing some tied up U-boats - given that Nicholas Monsarrat served in corvettes (as described the in Three Corvettes) I don't think he'd have got that detail wrong.
on “Sights and sounds of the final hours of World War I” ↗Agree. Monsarrat wrote a horribly graphic description of the aftermath of a torpedo strike on an oil tanker in "The Cruel Sea" [1]. Not only do the crew have to survive the sinking, they then have to (try to) outswim the burning oil. In the same book Monsarrat also has a very angry dig at the home population who then casually…
on “Body Count of the Roman Empire” ↗Some UK war movies fall into the "wars really suck" category - an obvious example being The Cruel Sea based on the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat who served in Royal Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic: "This is a story of the Battle of the Atlantic, the story of the ocean, two ships, and a handful of…
on “Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda” ↗