Accounts of the naval war from enlisted sailors (Axis or Allied)

[Kaper]

I'm looking to find "on deck" perspectives of the naval war in the Med region (Mediterranean, Aegean, Adriatic, etc.) from Axis or Allied enlisted sailors, not officers. I can only read accounts that are written or translated into English. I'm only interested in surface vessels, not subs. Anybody got any recommendations?

For instance, I've got a book called The War of the Motor Gun Boats: One Man's Personal War at Sea with the Coastal Forces, 1943-1945 which recounts the service of a rating on British MGBs.

[Sheldrake]

Try the Imperial War Museum. This search is for Royal Navy Mediterranean https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/sear ... with-media

[OpanaPointer]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

[Frollo]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

It's not, not in the least. It's a work of wartime propaganda made by a professional novelist.

Regarding accounts from the Italian side, there are quite a few, mostly written by officers, but I am fairly sure none has been translated into other languages. Since you restricted your search to enlisted men and surface warships, one would be Quelli di sottocastello by Alessandro Caldara, who spent most of the war on the destroyers Dardo and Freccia, escorting convoys between Italy and North Africa, plus a shorter period on the battleship Vittorio Veneto and training with the X MAS until the Armistice.

Another one is L'ultima torpediniera per Tunisi by Alberto Arcene (pen name of Alberto Ferrari), covering the entire life of the escort torpedo boat Tifone, on the "route of death" between Italy and Tunisia.

A third one is Un marinaio, una storia by Michele T. Mazzucato, who spent most of the war on the torpedo boat Calliope (again, mostly escorting convoys to North Africa).

And Diario di un marinaio by Guido Bellocci, who was on the destroyer Euro in the early months of the war, then on the battleship Cavour until her sinking in the Taranto raid, then briefly on the submarine Jalea and finally on the battleship Roma until her sinking, which he survived.

[Kaper]

Hadn't thought of that, thanks.

Hm, I'll look into it.

Italian accounts would be fascinating to read, but sadly I haven't found many in English. The only one so-far that I know is J.V. Borghese's memoir Sea Devils, but it's an officer's account and seems to focus a lot on underwater ops like frogmen and subs. I'll see if maybe any English translations exist of the sources you mentioned...

[OpanaPointer]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

It's not, not in the least. It's a work of wartime propaganda made by a professional novelist.

Based on your experience as an enlisted man?

[Urmel]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

It's not, not in the least. It's a work of wartime propaganda made by a professional novelist.

Based on your experience as an enlisted man?

"The Ship" is clearly a well-done wartime propaganda effort with little relation to the operational reality of the engagement. That doesn't mean that the way the behaviour and actions of the men on board are described are without value, I would expect them to be quite correct, actually. So it depends on what the reader is after.

[OpanaPointer]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

It's not, not in the least. It's a work of wartime propaganda made by a professional novelist.

Based on your experience as an enlisted man?

"The Ship" is clearly a well-done wartime propaganda effort with little relation to the operational reality of the engagement. That doesn't mean that the way the behaviour and actions of the men on board are described are without value, I would expect them to be quite correct, actually. So it depends on what the reader is after.

Again, the OP asked for enlisted men's stories about the war. The "the behaviour and actions of the men on board" is what this thread is about. You're the one off the rails here.

[Kaper]

I am looking for the perspectives of enlisted men on the real events of the Mediterranean naval war. The book I linked in my opening post is an example of the kind of thing I'm looking for: an account of real wartime events from an enlisted sailor who experienced them firsthand.

I'm not going to comment on The Ship because I haven't read it yet.

[Urmel]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

It's not, not in the least. It's a work of wartime propaganda made by a professional novelist.

Based on your experience as an enlisted man?

"The Ship" is clearly a well-done wartime propaganda effort with little relation to the operational reality of the engagement. That doesn't mean that the way the behaviour and actions of the men on board are described are without value, I would expect them to be quite correct, actually. So it depends on what the reader is after.

Again, the OP asked for enlisted men's stories about the war. The "the behaviour and actions of the men on board" is what this thread is about. You're the one off the rails here.

I suggest there is no point to be so angry. I am agreeing with you.

[OpanaPointer]

I'm not angry, I'm trying to keep the thread on task.

[Urmel]

My post was on point. Raise it with the moderators if you disagree.

[Kaper]

Easy lads. You've both made contributions to the thread and I appreciate your inputs on that book. I'll judge for myself whether it has value toward what I'm looking for. Let's move on.

Any other suggestions?

[Frollo]

C.S. Forester's The Ship rings true to this old sailor. (No, my warfare was elsewhere, but the mundane things vary little.)

It's not, not in the least. It's a work of wartime propaganda made by a professional novelist.

Based on your experience as an enlisted man?

"The Ship" is clearly a well-done wartime propaganda effort with little relation to the operational reality of the engagement. That doesn't mean that the way the behaviour and actions of the men on board are described are without value, I would expect them to be quite correct, actually. So it depends on what the reader is after.

Again, the OP asked for enlisted men's stories about the war. The "the behaviour and actions of the men on board" is what this thread is about. You're the one off the rails here.

Yeah. And The Ship is not a memoir of an enlisted man. It's a novel written by a novelist.

[G, Y?]

There's a book in my library about a sailor who served aboard the HMS Hawkins. He was an AA gunner and remarked that the 7.5" guns of the Hawkins deafened him.