Nicholas Monsarrat


Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat FRSL RNVR was a British novelist known for his sea stories, particularly The Cruel Sea and Three Corvettes, but perhaps known best internationally for his novels, The Tribe That Lost Its Head and its sequel, Richer Than All His Tribe.

Early life

Monsarrat was born on Rodney Street in Liverpool, Lancashire, to parents Keith Waldegrave Monsarrat FRCS and Marguerite Turney. Monsarrat was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge. In his autobiography, he wrote that the 1931 Invergordon Naval Mutiny influenced his interest in politics and social and economic issues after college.
He had intended to practise law, but decided to pursue working as an author instead. He moved to London and wrote as a freelancer for newspapers. He wrote four novels and a play in the space of five years.

Wartime service

Though critical of military violence, Monsarrat served during World War II, first as a member of an ambulance brigade and then as a member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. His lifelong love of sailing made him a capable naval officer, and he served with distinction in a series of small warships, assigned to escort convoys and protect them from enemy attack. Monsarrat ended the war as commander of a frigate, and drew on his wartime experience in his postwar sea stories.
Resigning his wartime commission during 1946, Monsarrat entered the diplomatic service. He was posted at first to Johannesburg, South Africa and then, in 1953, to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He began writing full-time during 1959, settling first on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, and later on the Maltese island of Gozo.

Ranks

  • July 1940: Sub-Lieutenant
  • October 1940: Lieutenant
  • December 1943: Lieutenant Commander

    Appointments

  • Aug 1940 – Dec 1941: 1st Lt, HMS Campanula
  • Feb 1942 – Feb 1943: 1st Lt, HMS Guillemot
  • Mar 1943 – Oct 1943: CO, HMS Shearwater
  • Dec 1943 – Mar 1944: CO, HMS Ettrick
  • Apr 1944 – Dec 1944: CO,
  • Dec 1944 – Jul 1945: Dept. of Naval Information
"HMS Flower" and "HMS Compass Rose" were Flower-class corvettes in the short story H M Corvette and the novel The Cruel Sea, though the first was a pseudonym for his first ship, Campanula, due to war-time security, while the second was fictional.
"HMS Dipper" and "HMS Winger" were pseudonyms for the Kingfisher-class corvettes in the stories East Coast Corvette and Corvette Command,. Again, LCdr Monsarrat could not disclose the actual names of the ships he was serving in since these stories were also written during World War II.
"HMS River" and "HMS Saltash" were fictional River-class frigates in H M Frigate, and the novel The Cruel Sea. . As with the Flower class corvettes, the first was a pseudonym for the frigate he commanded, while the second was again fictional.

Awards

Monsarrat's first three novels, published during 1934–1937 and now out of print, were realistic treatments of modern social problems informed by his leftist politics.
The Visitor, his only play, was in the same category.
It opened at Daly's Theatre, Leicester Square in 1936, and starred Greer Garson. It closed after three weeks, and the theatre was demolished shortly afterwards. Monsarrat wrote afterwards that it had 'enshrined some of his then dearest convictions and been based on a profound misconception of human nature'.
His fourth novel and first major work, This Is the Schoolroom, had a different theme. The story of a young, idealistic, aspiring writer experiencing the "real world" for the first time, it is at least partly autobiographical.
The Cruel Sea, Monsarrat's first postwar novel, is widely regarded as his best work. Based on his own wartime service, it concerned the young naval officer Keith Lockhart during a series of postings in corvettes and frigates. It was one of the first novels to depict life aboard the vital, but unglamorous, "small ships" of World War II — ships for which the sea was as much a threat as the enemy. Monsarrat's short-story collections HMS Marlborough Will Enter Harbour, and The Ship That Died of Shame, had the same theme and gained popularity by association with The Cruel Sea.
The similar Three Corvettes comprising HM Corvette, East Coast Corvette and Corvette Command is actually an anthology of three true-experience stories he published during the war years and shows appropriate care for what the Censor might say. Thus Guillemot has the pseudonym Dipper and Shearwater the pseudonym Winger in the book. HM Frigate is similar but deals with his time in command of two frigates. His use of the name Dipper could allude to his formative years when summer holidays were spent with his family at Trearddur Bay on Anglesey. They were members of the famous sailing club based there, and he recounted much of this part of his life in a book My Brother Denys. Denys Monsarrat was killed in Egypt during the middle part of the war whilst his brother was serving with the Royal Navy. Another tale recounts his bringing his ship into Trearddur Bay during the war for old times' sake.
Monsarrat's more famous novels, notably The Tribe That Lost Its Head and its sequel Richer Than All His Tribe, draw on his experience in the diplomatic service and make important reference to the colonial experience of Britain in Africa. Portions of these novels were drafted during Monsarrat's time in Quebec, Canada, with the assistance of his typist and line editor Helen McDonald. Several have peripheral associations with the sea: The Nylon Pirates tells a story of crime aboard a modern ocean liner, not pirates in the traditional meaning of the word, but card-sharps, and A Fair Day's Work deals with labour unrest in a shipyard. The Kappillan of Malta is as much a story of a place, the island of Malta, as it is of a priest on that island during World War II.
His book The Story of Esther Costello, later made into a movie of the same name, while perceived as an uncomplimentary description of the life of Helen Keller and her teachers and assistants, is really an exposé of sleazy practices and exploitation of real causes in the fundraising racket, similar to criticisms of televangelism. It caused a minor public outcry when it first appeared, and Keller's staff considered suing him, then tried to limit the distribution of the book.
His final work, unfinished at the time of his death but published in its incomplete form, was a two-volume historical novel titled The Master Mariner. Based on the legend of the Wandering Jew, it told the story of a 16th-century English seaman who, as punishment for a terrible act of cowardice, is doomed to sail the world's seas until the end of time. His hero participates in critical moments in history; Monsarrat used him to emphasize the importance of seamen.

Autobiography

Two non-fiction books, Life is a Four Letter Word: Breaking In and Life is a Four Letter Word: Breaking Out, comprise Monsarrat's autobiography.

Death

Nicholas Monsarrat died of cancer on 8 August 1979 in London. The Royal Navy co-operated with his wish to be buried at sea. The two naval ratings responsible for the lifting of the casket at his burial were AB Graham Savage and AB Stephen Knight, aboard HMS Scylla.

Film adaptations of his works