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Harrison Chan

Ms. Nicholson

AP English

4 April 2010

CS Forester’s The Good Shepherd

The 310 page novel, The Good Shepherd, was written by C.S. Forester, and

published in 1955 by Little, Brown and Company. Cecil Scott Forester was born on

August 27th, 1899 in Cairo, Egypt to a British family. Forester was educated in

England first at Alleyn’s School in Durwich, then Durwich College, and finally at

Guy’s Hospital. However, he never completed his studies at the hospital. He married

once in 1926 to Kathleen Belcher and had two sons with her. They divorced near

the end of World War II. During the Second World War, Forester moved to the

United States where he wrote propaganda encouraging the US to join the allies. In

1947, he remarried to one Dorothy Foster and subsequently settled in California.

Forester’s other noted works include the Horatio Hornblower series, The African

Queen, and the non-fiction novel, A Ship of the Line.

The Good Shepherd is a novel of realistic fiction and can be categorized as a

book of sea stories. Commander George Krause is the protagonist, commander of

the USS Keeling, a ship of the line, a destroyer, with one purpose. He must guard

the convoy of Allied supply ships at all costs and eliminate or deter all threats.

Krause is a practical man, faced with dozens of decisions every hour that control the

threads of Fate that hold the convoy together. Through his decisions, men will live

or die. The antagonist is never truly named, but from the text, the reader can infer

that in a way, the mysterious Doenitz is Krause’s primary opposition. Ruthless,

cunning, and dangerous are all perfect ways to describe the commander of the
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German submarine forces. At his orders, wolfpacks of U-Boats roam the Atlantic,

searching for the herds of convoy ships, searching for the stragglers, the weak, the

openings to grab a victory.

Other major characters include the commanders of the three ships escorting

the convoy with Krause, all older and more experienced than Krause, but not

outranking him. At the helm of the British corvette, the HMS James is a British

officer, never named, but shown to be a determined commander with excellent

experience. The James’ close companion, the Viktor, is a Polish destroyer from

whom the only communication comes through another English officer serving as

liaison between the Keeling and Viktor. Finally, the Canadians put forth one more

corvette, the Dodge, commanded by another unnamed officer. Aboard the Keeling,

noted characters include the heads of watch, Lieutenant Carling, Lieutenant

Nystrom, and Executive Officer Charlie Cole. Each officer has a different personality,

with Cole being the most experienced and confident.

Commander Krause is tasked with a rigorous, dangerous task. He must escort

a convoy of supply ships piloted by civilian crews across the entire Atlantic Ocean

while maintaining a formation as well as possible and zig-zagging at set times. At

the same time, he must contend with attacks, intrusions, and probes from the

roaming wolves of the ocean, German U-Boats. Over the course of his mission, he

will without a doubt lose ships. Men under his command will die, but the question is,

how many will he save, and how many will fall prey to the wolves.

In the simplest context, The Good Shepherd is a novel about the importance

of duty, as the shepherd protects his sheep from the wolves. Krause is the

shepherd, he has been tasked by his village (the Allies) to protect their sheep (their

resources, the ships of the convoy) with help from a few friends (the other escort
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vessels) from the wolves (German U-Boats) as they go to pasture (go to be used in

Europe). Taken this way, the entire novel can be interpreted as one massive

analogy. The shepherd’s task is a hard one, for he is but one and the wolves are

many. They are sly and sneaky, slipping in among the sheep covered in sheep’s

clothing. At a few points during the journey, the U-Boats do exactly that, they slip in

among the convoy and use the tumultuous roar of the convoy’s propellers to mask

the sound of their passage. Krause is bound by his duty, duty above all, to protect

the most important resources of the convoy. If a supply ship, one of many in the

convoy is hit, there can be nothing done about it but to attempt to patch it up and

hope the convoy’s single rescue ship can aid her. On the other hand, if a ship of war

is struck, all must be done to save her for a ship of war is a rare and expensive

resource, far more so than a single supply ship. Though a decision to leave a supply

ship to save a ship of war might cost the Allies a single ship of supplies, the cost is

small considering she can be replaced in days, while a ship of war takes weeks.

This novel was excellent, and I could not help but to keep turning the page to

discover the fate of Krause and his ships. My favorite part occurs toward the end of

his journey when he closes to close quarters with a German U-Boat and

subsequently destroys it with five-inch shells. The battle is played out order by

order with vivid reality. I can almost picture in my mind the flash of the muzzle and

the subsequent whang-o as the gun fires, then the splashes and explosions as the

shells hit steel and water. I am afraid, that I am unable to choose a least favorite

part for the entire novel was enjoyable. If battle was not the focus of the chapter,

then the reader was given a window in to Krause’s mind to see the gears working as

he decided how he must issue his orders to satisfy the ships under his command

while maintaining as much order and haste as was possible. I would recommend
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this book in an instant to anybody with an interest in war, naval practices, dramatic

battles, or World War II.

I, Harrison Chan, do certify that I have read and completed reading of The

Good Shepherd by CS Forester by the date of April 2, 2010.


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Harrison Chan