The Enemy: A Novel of Life Aboard a U.S. Navy Destroyer in World War II

by Wirt Williams

The Enemy, first published in 1951, is the wartime account of a fictional U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Dee (based on the author's experiences while serving aboard the USS Decatur in the North Atlantic). The ships' mission is to locate and destroy German submarines while protecting an aircraft carrier. The book details life aboard the destroyer and the inevitable conflicts that arise between men at sea for long periods. The ship also encounters and engages enemy submarines, receiving slight damage. Following author Wirt Williams' service aboard the USS Decatur, he was transferred to the Pacific theater where he captained a Landing Ship. After the war, Williams worked as a reporter, then became an English professor in California. He continued to write and published six novels, and was nominated for three Pulitzer Prizes, once for his reporting and twice for his novels. The Enemy was his first novel. Williams passed away in 1986 at the age of 64.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1951

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1943 and Lieutenant (j.g.) Peter Taylor serves as the Communications officer aboard the Destroyer U.S.S. Dee whose mission is to hunt for and destroy German subs in the Atlantic. The novel is told from his first-person perspective and chock full of shipboard life over a two-month mission. As they hunt the elusive enemy subs, readers learn a lot about the way the ship operates, about the key members of the crew and above all what it means to wait. Indeed, a major theme of the novel is what it’s like to wait interminably for military action and the toll it takes on a person. Fortunately, the author is adept at demonstrating the effects of this without subjecting readers to it. He avoids lengthy info dumps of technobabble in favor of having the characters interact in interesting ways. That and the first person perspective serves to make an interesting story about the long boring periods of Navy ship life.

This is the author’s first novel and given the amount of accurate details, it’s not surprising to discover that he served on a similar ship with a similar mission himself, specifically as an Ensign aboard the USS Decatur, hunting German subs in the North Atlantic. Write what you know. The novel was first published in 1951 so the experience was fairly fresh for him. Some readers will prefer to have more action in the form of actual sub battles but considering that the real drama and apprehension lies in a potential contact with a sub or group of subs and then not knowing what will happen next. Is the "Enemy" really just the German subs or is it also perhaps the men themselves, fighting against the survival instinct, fear, or the nature of the hunt?

I was pleasantly surprised by this one and I certainly learned a lot. I experienced the impact of that “I was there” feeling I always hope for in a book like this. I’m glad I took a chance on it.

[Daniel Villines · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always a pleasure to take a chance on a book and then find it to be enjoyably unique. Writ Williams takes WWII naval warfare beyond the typical scenes of artillery salvos, depth charges, and torpedo attacks. Rather, The Enemy is a book about its characters and their life in the Navy on board a small ship in the Atlantic.

What Williams captures so well is that quality of Navy life (and for that matter the military experience) known as the wait. The wait is a period of time that has to be suffered by individuals before a pre-disclosed fate can actually be experienced. If you or your unit has been assigned a task in the Navy, you will have to experience the wait before the task can transpire. And while the wait itself is not that exciting, the effect that it has on individuals is interesting. It brings out the true nature of people while at the same time forces people to repress their fear of the future. It forces people to cope as best they can.

Williams takes his characters through the wait. His characters range in experience from the newest sailors to oldest of salts. He also explores a range of personalities and how different people behave under the prolonged stress of not being able to do what they have sent to accomplish. And the ship, old and outdated, experiences its own form of waiting as it steams towards a new war 20 years after being launched too late for the First World War.

The Enemy accomplishes what it promises to do in that the characters truly act out life aboard a Navy destroyer during WWII. Only Williams, who once lived through his own story and then became an accomplished writer, could write such a novel in such a convincing manner. And it is my hope, that such truth will not be forgotten in favor of more flashy war stories of the typical type.

[Steve Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute classic story of life on a submarine hunting destroyer in WWII. Not a lot of action but wonderful description of the actual reality of how a destroyer worked.

[Curtis Edmonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ENEMY is sort of like the Atlantic version of THE CAINE MUTINY, except that there is a lot more focus on the tedium of naval warfare and a lot less focus on the individual characters. You can tell, sort of, that Williams was thinking along those lines when he wrote it. The problem is that none of the ordinary characters are interesting, and the interesting characters are not ordinary--they're written as extreme versions of real people. It is very closely observed, almost to a David Foster Wallace level, especially given the focus on routine and tedium. But there is loss here, and combat, and torpedoes in the water, and an uncertain outcome. Give it a chance.

[George P.Shovar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I had hoped for.

While the story lacked action, it was true to what one might expect in the tedium of a long fruitless war patrol. It is clear the cold was over riding and very harsh. It reads as a war log of a great deal of boredom and cold. It lacks a meaningful story! Save your time.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has any WWII destroyer story in Atlantic waters had less drama? Yes, two interesting plot twists--but they're postponed to the last 10 percent of the book, with the sole combat scenes. And neither the ship, much less the narrator himself, come face-to-face with the enemy.

[Michael E. Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great second world war story

It does not take much imagination to realize and understand what these real men went through on the sea and the ocean
Mike
God bless them all

[bob carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

From one old salt to another.

Like a trip down memory lane. Good read. Somewhat nostalgic for me. Good writing though with plenty of detail. Nice book.