Cruel Sea

Another strange coincidence. There have been a few lately, perhaps more than would normally be expected.

I know not why.

These have involved persons, places and events. Some I have fallen out of familiarity with or just plain forgotten over time. Trouble is, as soon as a distant memory is re-kindled by chance, a passing mention or even something on the TV or radio there is an almost immediate reinforcement by bumping into someone not seen or heard from for a long time, getting a letter about something long archived or a resurfacing of old issues.

This has been the situation this week. There has been a dramatisation of the 1951 book, 'The Cruel Sea' by Nicholas Monsarrat. The film version was amongst the black and white gems broadcast over the Christmas and New Year period but I only caught a short section, whilst channel hopping, with Jack Hawkins in his duffle coat on the open Bridge of HMS Compass Rose before the action really kicked off.

I admit that a copy of the book has been on the shelf and within reach for at least thirty years and I have frequently pulled at the spine with a view to actually reading it but not so far. The radio version, over two hour long episodes, has made me determined to spend time in the pages of the book. I expect to be as distressed and disturbed by the written word as I have been by the harrowing adaptation on the airwaves.

Montsarrat based his story on his own experiences of naval escort duty for the convoys of merchant shipping in the North Atlantic and to Russia which took place from 1941 until the end of the Second World War. The latter was a response to Stalin's demand for help to stem the huge losses in manpower, civilians and territory being exacted by the armed forces of Germany at that time. The allied convoys delivered, in that period, over four million tons of armaments from guns to lorries as well as general supplies from telephone wire to army boots.

The task was the most arduous and challenging for those at sea not just from wind, waves and ice but from a constant and materialised threat by the naval and air power of the mainly Norway based military of Germany including the prowling wolf packs of U-Boats. In the four years of the supply runs to Russia a total of 78 convoys made the journey in both directions. Out of 1400 merchant ships in this period 85 were lost to action or accident and the Naval escort lost 16 main vessels including 2 Cruisers and 6 Destroyers. The losses on the German side were as significant to surface ships and involving over 30 U Boats.

The facts are well documented but the first hand account given by Montsarrat really demonstrates the human impact of a harsh environment and the persistent menace of peril. For its time the book was seen as a rarity in its portrayal of the sheer futility of war. The film was acclaimed similarly as an antidote to a trend for jingoistic and Imperialistic depiction of the main theatres of war coming from the Hollywood studios. The main characters are thrown together from various former civilian roles and classes and struggle to cope with their shipside responsibilities and the cramped, cold and claustrophobic conditions on board. Back-stories show problems at home, hesitancy and lack of self confidence and esteem, friction between the Officers and Ratings but with a common bond, to survive physically and mentally, developing amongst the adversity.

The threat of being torpedoed with no warning must have been unbearable particularly to the crew below decks who would have little chance to escape. The Escort vessels, although at risk, were fast and manoeuvrable and adopted a zig-zag course through the convoy lines both to sweep for U Boats and to temper their superior speed compared to the heavily laded steamer, freighters and tankers. The sights and sounds of an attack by a torpedo on a slow moving, highly flammable fuel ship cannot be appreciated without having been there, nor the torment and torture of the crew in having to abandon ship but into a sea of burning oil.

I have been moved and distressed by the recollections of actions in just one part of the World War and from just one book that was published in 1951.

So why has it taken until 2013 for proposals to be discussed to recognise the courage, endeavour and suffering of those men and women, Naval, Merchant and Civilians who served on the Atlantic and Russian Convoys?