73 North [Paperback]

Dudley Pope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2000

The events and decisions that culminated in the Battle of the Barents Sea—what many consider to be the most important naval engagement of World War II's European theatre—in which eight of the German navy's most powerful ships failed to sink a Russian convoy guarded by only four small British destroyers, are brought to life by the author in this tale of men struggling to carry out their orders in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" . . . one can almost taste salt and feel the sting of sea spray . . ." -- Best Seller

"Expert knowledge of naval history . . ." -- Guardian

"When the reader is through the book he will rightly feel that he has been through the battle as well." -- The New York Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Dudley Pope, a naval defense correspondent of the London Evening News, progressed to writing carefully researched naval history. C.S. Forester urged Pope to try his hand at fiction and saw the younger writer as his literary heir. Pope began what was to become an impressive series with Ramage (1965) and, over the next 24 years, produced 17 more novels tracing Lord Ramage's career. Pope died in 1997.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Chatham Publishing (March 23, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861761287
• ISBN-13: 978-1861761286
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,628,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cold day in hell., October 29, 2006

By 

Alexander T. Gafford "alex" (Midland, Ga United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea (Paperback)

A reissue of a book written in 1957 about what now seems an obscure and indecisive clash in the winter sea off Norway at the begining of 1943 prompts the question why ? The reason can only be to remember the courage and endurance of the men involved and their devotion to duty. Dudley Pope pulled no punches in describing the terrible physical hardships of duty on board the warships and merchant vessels of the day in such conditions. He is also very frank in talking of the underlying fear that stuggled in the heart of every man with his conception of himself. Yet, there was one difference between the two sides, as Pope makes clear.

Every British warship officer and seaman knew their duty very clearly, to defend the convoy JW51B at whatever cost. This meant taking a slowly sinking destroyer Achates, crowded with dead and wounded, commanded by a very junior officer,to the proper screening position no matter what. This meant the fleet destroyer screen commander, a position rotating to whoever was still unwounded with an intact ship, constantly interposing his small sqadron between the convoy and the german heavy cruiser Hipper. However the minds of the Germans, most especially their commanders werer not so well concentrated on an aim. Was it to destroy the convoy or to preserve their fleet in being ? Their skills deteriorated by long stays in harbor and their confidence undermined by equivocal orders from Hitler and the Naval High Command the German flag officer and cruiser captains put in an inglorious performance.

Pope invokes great descriptive powers in depicting the effects of exceedingly poor visibility in the few hours of half light available. The radar available was of great value and used skillfully by both sides but by no means gave the God's eye view we would now assume to be the case. A mixture of boldness and caution was required and the British commanders found the right balance and the German commanders did not.

The most powerful effect of the book is the way Pope used inteviews with the surviving British particpants to create a powerful testimony to the skill and resolution of the Royal Navy in 1943. Yet he does not ignore the human cost on the other side. He says the crew of the Freidrich Eckholdt " must have had a dreadful struggle" Indeed so, as their ship was last seen by human eyes on fire from stem to stern after dozens of 6 inch shell hits and not one man survived to tell the story of their frightful end, finally consumed by fire or water.

The afteraction consideration of the Furhrer decision to close down the German surface fleet after this action appears from the hindsight of sixty years to be of little consequence. What is of consequence is the continued testimony that men can bring themselves to the point of sacrificial bravery. Every ship of convoy JW51B made it safely to port. Each man on each one of those ships owed his life to the ability of the escort forces to bear every burden, pay every price. That is what seems important to remember now.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping account of the reality of War at Sea!, September 9, 2011

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: 73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea (Paperback)

In addition to coming from a ship-owning family, author and naval historian Dudley Pope was also a former naval officer who was injured during the Battle of the Atlantic. To this work, therefore, he brings a knowledge and understanding of the subject in addition to providing the reader with a truly gripping account of the grim reality of War at Sea.

In 73 North, Pope recounts the factual tale of a small detachment of British Destroyers which, during WW2 whilst escorting a convoy to Russia, came under attack by a German cruiser group with their own destroyer escort. Although outnumbered and out-gunned, they acquitted themselves in heroic fashion.

In order to underline the way in which this work marks Pope as one of the most proficient wordsmiths ever to put pen to paper and relive a naval battle, I will provide a brief example of the way in which he describes the direct hit on the bridge of the Flotilla Leader, HMS Onslow. With dead and injured all around, one of the officers steps forward to issue commands until he hears someone clear his throat and discovers his captain (Captain Sherbrooke) is alive after all and standing right behind him. Later the doctor is called to the bridge and, quite simply, the following says it all; "He found Sherbrooke, blood streaming from his face, standing against the binnacle. By the flickering light of the flames it took only a few seconds to see that a splinter had smashed his left cheekbone, nose and the left side of his forehead and that his left eye was hanging down his cheek."

There is, however, so much more to this tale than just an accurate blow-by-blow account of such a trying ordeal. For me it was the way in which the doctor who, in a state of complete terror and with knees knocking, explained the overall sense of loss felt when Sherbrooke became injured. This reminded of a similar account from another author when the CO of 2 Para at Arnhem (Lt Colonel John Frost) - another marvellous leader who also seemed so utterly invincible until wounded.

This a great account of the Battle of the Barents Sea and one which should not be overlooked by anyone with an interest in learning what exactly happened.

NM

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very descriptive, March 20, 2009

By 

J. Jones - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea (Paperback)

I bought this as a gift for my father, his father was in the merchant navy and part of the arctic convoys. He said he couldn't put it down but also he didn't want it to end.