Most of the crew die in the freezing waters, but Ericson, Lockhart, Ferraby, and a few others are rescued the next day however Ferraby suffers a breakdown forcing him to go to hospital.Įricson, now promoted to commander, and Lockhart, now a lieutenant-commander, take command of a new ship, the fictitious River-class frigate HMS Saltash. They are nearly sunk several times until in 1943 they are finally torpedoed and forced to abandon ship. 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. Somehow the tradition of the Royal Navy and the knowledge of the importance of their work carries them through. 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. 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 built to protect Allied convoys.
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. Only Ericson and the petty officers are in any way experienced.ĭespite these initial disadvantages, the ship and crew work up a routine and gain experience. His officers are mostly new to the Navy, especially the two new sub-lieutenants, Lockhart and Ferraby. Lieutenant-Commander George Ericson, a Merchant Navy and Royal Naval Reserve officer, is recalled to the Royal Navy and given command of the fictitious Flower-class corvette HMS Compass Rose, newly built to escort convoys. The novel, based on the author's experience of serving in corvettes and frigates in the North Atlantic in the Second World War, 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.
It contains seven chapters, each describing a year during the war. It follows the lives of a group of Royal Navy sailors fighting the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. The Cruel Sea is a 1951 novel by Nicholas Monsarrat.
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