HMS Ulysses (novel)
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 1994 paperback edition published by HarperCollins in London. |
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| Author | Alistair MacLean |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | World War II Novel |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Released | 1955 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 357 pp (1994 paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Followed by | The Guns of Navarone |
HMS Ulysses (titled H.M.S. Ulysses in the United States) was the first novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and ultimately, one of his most popular. Originally published in 1955, it was also released by Fontana Books in 1960. His experiences in the Royal Navy during World War II provided the basis for the story.
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[edit] Plot summary
The novel features a cruiser, one of a unique type similar to the real Dido class cruisers (MacLean had served on HMS Royalist of that class), extremely well armed and one of the fastest ships in the world. With her crew upon the brink of mutiny, the Ulysses puts to sea again to guard a vital convoy heading for Murmansk. Attacked by dive bombers, torpedo planes, U-boats and a German cruiser, the convoy is reduced from over 30 ships to 5—and to protect these the Ulysses, whose crew have finally pushed the boundaries of duty, sacrifice themselves to destroy an attacking German warship.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
The novel received good critical notices as well, with a number of reviewers putting it into the same class as two other 1950s classic tales of World War II at sea, Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny and Nicholas Monsarrat's The Cruel Sea. [1].
[edit] Allusions/references from other works
The same background of the World War II Murmansk convoys, with the combination of extreme belligerent action and inhospitable nature pushing protagonists to the edge of endurance and beyond, appears in Dutch novelist Jan de Hartog's The Captain (1967). Comparisons may be also be drawn with Wolfgang Ott's 1957 novel Sharks and Little Fish, written from the viewpoint of a sailor in the German surface and U-boat Kriegsmarine.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
HMS Ulysses has never been filmed. However, it was adapted by Nick McCarty for a BBC Radio 4 play of the same name which was first aired on 14 June 1997 in the Classic Play series. It starred Sir Derek Jacobi as Captain Vallery and Sir Donald Sinden as Admiral Starr. [2]
[edit] See also
- Arctic convoys of World War II
- Convoy PQ-17 was almost completely destroyed by the Germans
- HMS Rawalpindi, an armed merchant cruiser that sacrificed itself by attacking a German warship.
