Known to the USN as the TEMPTRESS Class! I just reread The Cruel Sea, last weekend!
The RN found the RIVER class also to be useful, as did we, as the TACOMA Class. The TACOMA Class was built as an experiment, to see how well a warship built to MARAD standards, rather than BUSHIPS standards would hold up.
North Atlantic weather, propensity to roll, bridge open to the elements: just miserable living conditions. And no, we no longer have a generation willing to suffer such depravations for the survival of the nation.
Think it was around 1963 that I read The Cruel Sea. At 14, it was both fascinating and horrifying. Four years later, I was an RD3 on a Dealy Class Destroyer Escort. It was peacetime during the Cold War. I recalled the book when we were deployed to the Northern Atlantic in a HUK Group steaming in a Formation 1 (column) with 1000 yard spacing between ships and I could not see the ship ahead when we were both in the troughs. Our ship had a DASH deck, so we were top-heavy and rolled badly. That gave me a flashback to the book and I thought how fortunate I was some quarter of a century later. It was only Springtime and we were at peace.
Just bought a used copy of the book from Amazon. It's a book worth a second read, just like this re-post. 5 of my 7 uncles were sailors in WWII, 4 in the Pacific and 1 in the Atlantic. Uncle Kenny, a Seaman, survived the sinking of his torpedoed Destroyer in the Atlantic. Uncle John, a Gunners Mate, was a crew member of USS Arizona. Uncle Dale, a Pharmacist Mate, and Uncle Don, an Engineman, were on small ships on the island hopping campaigns. Uncle Paul, an engineer, was an officer assigned to the Manhattan Project in a small role. Uncle Reese was a soldier in the ETO. Dad was a Clerk in the USAAF and in 1943 became a Pilot. He flew in North Africa and Europe, and later in the Korean War.
I read about these in the TIME/LIFE WWII book on the Battle of the Atlantic when I was a child. My grandfather served in the Navy during the convoy years, so I asked him about the corvettes. A professor after the war, he replied that was very happy to serve on larger ships that did not have such "exciting" seakeeping characteristics.
I read this book as a 9th grader at Frankfurt American High School. It was a fantastic book and a primary influence in my choice of services. Woe betide me, I came from an Army family. My last ship was an MSO, a 172' wooden fleet minesweeper.
A nice revisit. The subsequent trip down the rabbit hole? The losses are tabulated in Wikipedia. The number of entries with 1 survivor, 5 survivors, lost with all hands, etc.? When we were younger and read the Monsarrat novel or watched the movie it was adventure and danger.
Now, however many decades later? Reading the tabulated losses is a tale of horror.
Most of the FbF are singular actions or events that were relatively brief. Six years of the Battle of the Atlantic with just brief rest tours ashore? Beyond Full Bore.
Fullbore!
Known to the USN as the TEMPTRESS Class! I just reread The Cruel Sea, last weekend!
The RN found the RIVER class also to be useful, as did we, as the TACOMA Class. The TACOMA Class was built as an experiment, to see how well a warship built to MARAD standards, rather than BUSHIPS standards would hold up.
https://navsource.org/archives/12/09062.htm
North Atlantic weather, propensity to roll, bridge open to the elements: just miserable living conditions. And no, we no longer have a generation willing to suffer such depravations for the survival of the nation.
Full 4 inch bore!
Great choice. I note that the Flower class (and follow ons) had a superior main gun to our latest except Burkes.
Attributed to Adm Gorshkov in the 80's; "'Better' is the enemy of 'good enough'" Truer words never said.
Think it was around 1963 that I read The Cruel Sea. At 14, it was both fascinating and horrifying. Four years later, I was an RD3 on a Dealy Class Destroyer Escort. It was peacetime during the Cold War. I recalled the book when we were deployed to the Northern Atlantic in a HUK Group steaming in a Formation 1 (column) with 1000 yard spacing between ships and I could not see the ship ahead when we were both in the troughs. Our ship had a DASH deck, so we were top-heavy and rolled badly. That gave me a flashback to the book and I thought how fortunate I was some quarter of a century later. It was only Springtime and we were at peace.
Just bought a used copy of the book from Amazon. It's a book worth a second read, just like this re-post. 5 of my 7 uncles were sailors in WWII, 4 in the Pacific and 1 in the Atlantic. Uncle Kenny, a Seaman, survived the sinking of his torpedoed Destroyer in the Atlantic. Uncle John, a Gunners Mate, was a crew member of USS Arizona. Uncle Dale, a Pharmacist Mate, and Uncle Don, an Engineman, were on small ships on the island hopping campaigns. Uncle Paul, an engineer, was an officer assigned to the Manhattan Project in a small role. Uncle Reese was a soldier in the ETO. Dad was a Clerk in the USAAF and in 1943 became a Pilot. He flew in North Africa and Europe, and later in the Korean War.
https://imageshack.com/i/pn9R0cVDj
I read about these in the TIME/LIFE WWII book on the Battle of the Atlantic when I was a child. My grandfather served in the Navy during the convoy years, so I asked him about the corvettes. A professor after the war, he replied that was very happy to serve on larger ships that did not have such "exciting" seakeeping characteristics.
I read this book as a 9th grader at Frankfurt American High School. It was a fantastic book and a primary influence in my choice of services. Woe betide me, I came from an Army family. My last ship was an MSO, a 172' wooden fleet minesweeper.
A nice revisit. The subsequent trip down the rabbit hole? The losses are tabulated in Wikipedia. The number of entries with 1 survivor, 5 survivors, lost with all hands, etc.? When we were younger and read the Monsarrat novel or watched the movie it was adventure and danger.
Now, however many decades later? Reading the tabulated losses is a tale of horror.
Most of the FbF are singular actions or events that were relatively brief. Six years of the Battle of the Atlantic with just brief rest tours ashore? Beyond Full Bore.
How'd you like to be the lookout stationed in that crow's nest when she's taking 40 degree rolls. Puke-O-Rama!