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

[Kaper]

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.

Can you recall the name?

[OpanaPointer]

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

And having done 22 year, 3 months and 9 days as an enlisted man I found the attitudes the enlisted men displayed very like my own. CSF did his homework. I'm having trouble understanding what the problem with that is.

[Frollo]

That it is not a first-hand account by someone who was actually there, which is was Kaper asked for, pretty simple.

[G, Y?]

@Kaper - A Smack at the Boche: World War Two British Navy diary of Leading Seaman Ronnie Turner serving on the heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins in the South Atlantic

[OpanaPointer]

That it is not a first-hand account by someone who was actually there, which is was Kaper asked for, pretty simple.

I was saying that the author knew some sailors. Second hand reports are better than nothing.

[daveshoup2MD]

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.

Naval only, or also merchant marine?

For the American forces, the US Naval Historical Center has a large collection of oral histories taken down over the years, from both officers and enlisted personnel; the USCG and USMS/MM also have collected oral histories over the years. Obviously, opportunities for new work are getting slender in the 21st Century, but a fair amount of all three can be found on-line. Here's the USNHC, for example:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/l ... .html#Bond

There are also some memoirs in a searchable database at the US Naval Institute:
https://www.usni.org/archives/memoirs

Good luck.

[OpanaPointer]

That's "US Naval History and Heritage Command".

National Archives, I think, is seeking veterans for oral histories. Those should be available online as well.

[daveshoup2MD]

That's "US Naval History and Heritage Command".

National Archives, I think, is seeking veterans for oral histories. Those should be available online as well.

True. Back in ye olden days, of wooden ships and iron men, it was the Naval Historical Center (until 2008, IRRC). I am, in fact, dating myself.

[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.

Naval only, or also merchant marine?

For the American forces, the US Naval Historical Center has a large collection of oral histories taken down over the years, from both officers and enlisted personnel; the USCG and USMS/MM also have collected oral histories over the years. Obviously, opportunities for new work are getting slender in the 21st Century, but a fair amount of all three can be found on-line. Here's the USNHC, for example:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/l ... .html#Bond

There are also some memoirs in a searchable database at the US Naval Institute:
https://www.usni.org/archives/memoirs

Good luck.

Thank you very much. Merchant-marine stories are of interest to me too, so I'll have a look.

[daveshoup2MD]

Thank you very much. Merchant-marine stories are of interest to me too, so I'll have a look.

You are very welcome.

[OpanaPointer]

That's "US Naval History and Heritage Command".

National Archives, I think, is seeking veterans for oral histories. Those should be available online as well.

True. Back in ye olden days, of wooden ships and iron men, it was the Naval Historical Center (until 2008, IRRC). I am, in fact, dating myself.

You should see their stacks. And the archive vault. :drool:

[OpanaPointer]

Thank you very much. Merchant-marine stories are of interest to me too, so I'll have a look.

https://www.usmma.edu/

[daveshoup2MD]

That's "US Naval History and Heritage Command".

National Archives, I think, is seeking veterans for oral histories. Those should be available online as well.

True. Back in ye olden days, of wooden ships and iron men, it was the Naval Historical Center (until 2008, IRRC). I am, in fact, dating myself.

You should see their stacks. And the archive vault. :drool:

Indeed. The last time I was at Pax River and DC, I wanted to swing by, but capitalism got in the way...

[daveshoup2MD]

Thank you very much. Merchant-marine stories are of interest to me too, so I'll have a look.

https://www.usmma.edu/

Lot of good material here, even though it is not "official":

http://www.usmm.org/

[OpanaPointer]

As Ike said, "trust, but verify."