Wilson, Sloan Voyage to Somewhere

Late (1944/45) World War 2 tale set aboard a small (180') , recently commissioned U.S. Navy supply vessel (the SV-126); included in this bibliography for its interesting descriptions of South Pacific convoy life. The novel is set primarily in New Guinea and the recently reconquered Philippine Islands, where the SV-126 is engaged in running non-essential supplies (such as a shipment of candy bars!) to isolated military outposts linked up only by sea. In early 1945 the vessel joins a series of convoys running north out the Philippines to a island beachheads on the way to Japan. These South Pacific convoy descriptions are of particular note, as is an interesting subplot which involves the somewhat unsuccessful introduction of a “Negro” seaman into the hitherto all-White crew of the SV-126.

Wilson’s novel amply documents the torpor and tedium of sea life in the waning days of World War 2 , as well as the waste and bureaucratic inefficiency which often bogged down the United States’ war effort. For another “early” post-War look back at military-related sea life, see Gore Vidal’s Williwaw, also published in 1946.

And an interesting “sea fiction” sidebar: Wilson also makes reference to the Armed Services Editions of paperbacks created specially for U.S. fighting forces and merchant seamen during the War (see p. 91 of the novel). He relates how, after having exhausted such leisure time activities as the construction of “objets d’art” made from spent shell casing and the fabrication of fancy macrame belts, the SV-126's crew develop a mania for reading – which is satisfied by the ship’s collection of Armed Services paperbacks. Like all fads, though, the reading boom is short-lived and the crew moves back to handicrafts and games of poker!