Reeman, Douglas Rendezvous -- South Atlantic

Reeman’s dedication page sets the tone for this World War 2 novel of the sea lanes: “To the armed merchant cruisers RAWALPINDI, JERVIS BAY, LAURENTIC, DUNVEGAN CASTLE and to all those other proud ships which sailed in peace but went to war when they were most needed.” Rendezvous — South Atlantic follows the fortunes of an ocean liner-turned-armed merchant ship (the fictitious S.S. BENBECULA) during the early years of the Second World War (roughly from 1940 through 1942) in a variety of settings: on solo patrol duty in the North Atlantic and on convoy work in the North and South Atlantic and later in the Indian Ocean. Pluses: the BENBECULA and her crew are well drawn, and by tale’s end the reader has a real affection for the valiant, and enemy action battered, ship. Minuses: a cardboard love affair between the ship’s commander and a young Royal Navy Wren that stretches the reader’s credulity with an over-reliance on coincidental meetings.