Buckley, F. R. "Watch Below."
An Adventure Magazine“Fact Story,” with a tag line which pretty much sums up its contents:
“The third engineer has the next watch – eight to midnight – and you’re going to stand it with him. Down in the bowels of the ship in convoy with nothing but a fraction of an inch of steel between you and thirteen tons of scalding water — and depth charges hammering the walls that keep the sea outside.”
Buckley takes very much a “you are there” approach to his story and that makes it as fascinating a read today as it would have been during the Second World War at the height of the North Atlantic convoy system (his unnamed vessel — a Liberty ship — is traveling eastbound in convoy). Buckley is one of those rare maritime writers equally adept at bringing to life both the ships’ crew and also the inner workings of her engine room. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in what it would have been like to serve as a member of the engine room crew aboard a Liberty ship in convoy.