HMS Ulysses

Written by Alistair MacLean

Narrated by Denis Quilley

The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of action and suspense – an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II.

Constant patrols have pushed the crew of the HMS Ulysses beyond the limits of endurance. And now they must be put to sea again, to escort a vital supply convoy heading for Murmansk.
 
As they head deep into the frozen waters they are faced not only with the fierce arctic weather, but a swarm of airborne attacks, German ships, then the feared U-boats, all hellbent on destroying the convoy.
 
With each day threatening another sudden attack, and increasing hardships aboard the frozen ship, Ulysses suffers greater damage trying to protect the other vessels. And soon the journey becomes a tense and deadly game of cat and mouse between the crippled cruiser and her silent pursuers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 5, 2007
• ISBN: 9780007257522

Alistair MacLean

Alistair MacLean, the son of a minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a teacher. Two and a half years spent aboard a wartime cruiser gave him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.

Reviews for HMS Ulysses

[Russell Wetherington · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I’m a huge fan of this book and own it and several forms. So I thought I would listen to it as this audiobook. Please note: this audiobook is missing complete sections of storyline Scribed offers this book as an e-book, and I suggest you stick with it and not miss out on critical content.

[damcg63 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a punishing read...just a brutal story. Good, but brutal.

[breic-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fine thriller. It starts slow, but builds into a nightmare. Very exciting. I still prefer Monsarrat's "The Cruel Sea," for its characterizations and plotting—it is more than a historical thriller.

[setnahkt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought of Alastair MacLean as a writer of implausible potboilers, but this, his first novel, is not bad at all. MacLean had served on a Dido-class light cruiser on Murmansk runs – including the infamous Convoy PQ17 – so he knew what he was talking about in this account of the fictional HMS Ulysses escorting a convoy to Murmansk. The characters are somewhat stereotypical – kindly captain, dedicated surgeon, brave able seamen, but the accounts of the variety of ways people can die horribly on a warship in the Arctic ring true. The German attackers are portrayed as just as brave as the defenders; the Americans are given a polite nod. My copy was a cheap trade paperback; a larger format would have made the ship layout in the front papers easier to understand. (It would be useful to copy this and blow it up to a larger format so you could keep track of who’s dying where). Worth at least 3 stars, I think.

[nadineeg-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Full of detail, the sort of book that almost splashes water, or in this case freezing ice over you as you read.

[romain_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Alastair MacLean is famous for his action plots and in many ways HMS Ulysses conforms to type. The book opens with a mutiny. The crew has had a bellyful of the Russian convoys: 4 hours sleep a day, hundreds of days at a stretch in 60 below weather, TB rife below decks, and nothing to eat but corned beef sandwiches. To redeem themselves they are forced to make one more run through the black-out route to Murmansk before being allowed a period of rest in the Mediterranean. Of course they never make it. The convoy is hit by everything the German fleet can throw at it, and the weather – treacherous at the best of times – takes a further turn for the worse.The individual crew members are also straight out of central casting. The Captain, dying of TB, is a saintly creature who rallies his desperate men to the end, the junior officers largely sensitive, articulate and likeable. Hell, even the stokers, knuckleheaded and ignorant, are team players, stoically shoveling coal as the Ulysses nosedives into oblivion. But this is where the comparison to MacLean’s other books stops: HMS Ulysses is his masterpiece, better even than The Guns of Navarone. Surprisingly, it was never filmed, perhaps because the logistics were too complicated or, as is more likely, because everyone dies and the Germans win. Indeed, every miserable way in which a human being can perish in and around the sea is examined in unspeakable, gut wrenching detail. Everything from the quick and merciful plunge into water 100 degrees colder than body temperature to the ‘slow shrieking death by drowning, by burning, by asphyxiation’ in the fiery, oily waters. One needs to be reminded periodically what war is really like, what a disgusting and terrible waste of human life it is – to put a face and name to the man, already burned beyond recognition, being sucked into the path of the propellers. Impeccably researched and written, HMS Ulysses is that reminder.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The crew and the Dido Class cruiser, are sacrificed on the Murmansk run. This is an example of very competent genre fiction, and could be seen as the ancestor of books like "We All Died at Breakaway Station" in Science fiction.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A gripping, frustrating, and involving story of British Naval convoys during World War II. Most of the characters are well-developed and believable, and the technical aspects are not overwhelming. Good read.

[veeralpadhiar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Without doubt one of the best - if not the best - books written about the perils faced by the seafaring men of the Arctic convoys sailing from Britain to USSR in World War-II.

MacLean himself served on a warship in World War-II, so he knows what he is talking about.

One of my favorite books of all time.

Highly recommended.

[mikebrough-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the first grown-up books I read as a teenager (along with numerous Desmond Bagleys). I must have read it once every couple of years since!It can be a bit mawkish at times but, overall, it's a great study of men being pushed to their limits and beyond. Yes, it's the story of everything that can go wrong going wrong - and then some - but it also shows men rising above their limitations and exhibiting real love for their fellow crewmen. The ending brings tears to my eyes every time.One of my top 3 war novels of the last century.Apparently, there's a BBC radio adaptation starring Derek Jacobi and Donald Sinden - 2 knights of the boards. I must try to find that.

[jenianb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Try comparing this with Forester's "The Ship".There are some remarkable similarities. Nonetheless MacLean has written a rattling good sea yarn.

[bnielsen_30 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nordatlanten, ca 1943.Den lette krydser H.M.S. Ulysses bliver sat til at bevogte en konvoj FR 77 til Murmansk. Konvojen skal levere livsvigtig ammuntion, tanks og brændstof til russerne, men samtidig er den lokkemad for Tirpitz. Ulysses er flagskib for bevogningsstyrken på 12 skibe, der skal mødes med konvojen på 20 skibe undervejs og tage over fra den amerikanske bevogningsstyrke.Kaptajnen på Ulysses hedder Vallery og er dødssyg, hvilket kun skibslægen ved. Et oprør blandt besætningen er blevet slået ned kort forinden og det ulmer stadig. Allerede inden de møder konvojen løber et skib på en mine og må vende om med to ledsagerskibe. Siden løber de i en massiv koncentration af tyske ubåde, et overvældende uvejr, et uventet flyangreb, en tysk krydser med bedre radar og bliver sågar ramt af en tysk flyver, de selv har skudt ned. Til sidst dukker den tyske krydser op igen og sænker Ulysses. Stort set er det kun Carrington og skibslægen Nicholls, der overlever.Ulysses bliver brugt i et selvmordsangreb, hvor den vædrer den tyske krydser og tager den med en tur til bunden af havet.I alt kommer kun 5 fartøjer frem til Murmansk.Underholdende beretning om en hård sejlads

[joysgood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the greatest pieces of naval fiction to come out of World War II. A must read for anyone interested in war at sea.

[othersam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although not quite as well known now as he was in his heyday, Alistair Maclean was once the undisputed king of thriller-writers. Even now, titles like The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare are still famous as films, creaky and (endearingly!) old-fashioned though those look today. However, HarperCollins in the UK has recently been reissuing the books, and here's a surprise: the books stand up /just fine/.HMS Ulysses was Maclean's debut: to my mind, it's one of his absolute best. Although the book takes a couple of chapters to get going, once the Ulysses sets out on her fateful mission to the Arctic Seas, to protect vital supply-carrying convoy-ships from the predatory attacks of German U-boats, it's almost impossible not to find oneself taken along for the ride. A passionate, desperate story about the horrors of sea warfare and the incredible bravery and endurance of those who took part, this is a truly thrilling and engrossing read. Highly recommended.

[kateingilo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

and yes, it was one of my favorites a few years ago. I haven't read it for a long time, so I don't know if I would like it as much now.