The Cruel Sea

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Cruel Sea is a novel about life on a corvette in the Royal Navy in World War II, written by Nicholas Monsarrat.


Tropes used in The Cruel Sea include:
  • Brits With Battleships: Brits in corvettes, for the most part.
  • Ensign Newbie: Ferraby and Lockhart. Lockhart gets better rather faster than Ferraby does.
  • Fluffy the Terrible: As the name says, the "Flower" class Corvettes were all named for kinds of flowers. It is specifically mentioned that the Navy had made sure "Pansy" was not on the list.
  • Foregone Conclusion: We are told on the first page that Compass Rose will sink and be replaced.
  • The Neidermeyer: Bennett, a lazy bully. He bullies Ferraby in particular, because Bennett thinks it's fun.