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The Wardroom: An Officer's Tour at Sea and the Crisis of the U.S. Navy
For one naval officer, life aboard a warship revealed a broken culture directly responsible for two of the greatest tragedies in US naval history.
The Wardroom recounts Thibaut Delloue's tour aboard the destroyer USS Carney, at the time one of only a handful of warships permanently stationed n the US Navy's European fleet. Deployed from 2015 to 2017, Delloue sailed across Europe from the English Channel to the eastern Mediterranean, confronted Russian battlecruisers off the coast of Syria, and fought ISIS in Libya, all while struggling with an unhinged captain.
More than one sailor's narrative, The Wardroom explores the mysterious world of Navy surface warfare officers. Delloue's tour aboard the Carney paralleled the 2017 tragedies of the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain, two separate collisions in which seventeen sailors lost their lives. His story reveals how declining training standards led directly to these incidents and what the Navy can do to fix it.
The Wardroom is essential reading for anyone interested in the state of the modern military. It is a first-hand look inside the Navy and how the average sailor lives it.
The Wardroom recounts Thibaut Delloue's tour aboard the destroyer USS Carney, at the time one of only a handful of warships permanently stationed n the US Navy's European fleet. Deployed from 2015 to 2017, Delloue sailed across Europe from the English Channel to the eastern Mediterranean, confronted Russian battlecruisers off the coast of Syria, and fought ISIS in Libya, all while struggling with an unhinged captain.
More than one sailor's narrative, The Wardroom explores the mysterious world of Navy surface warfare officers. Delloue's tour aboard the Carney paralleled the 2017 tragedies of the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain, two separate collisions in which seventeen sailors lost their lives. His story reveals how declining training standards led directly to these incidents and what the Navy can do to fix it.
The Wardroom is essential reading for anyone interested in the state of the modern military. It is a first-hand look inside the Navy and how the average sailor lives it.
198 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 12, 2022
The Wardroom: An Officer's Tour at Sea and the Crisis of the U.S. Navy by Thibaut Delloue illustrates the deficiencies of the modern U.S. Navy system through a surface warfare officer's eyes.
In June 2017, the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship near Yokosuka, Japan; seven sailors were killed. Four months later, USS John S. McCain was rammed by a tanker in the Singapore strait. As a result, ten sailors perished. What is wrong with the U.S. Navy, and who is responsible for the mistakes that result in sailors' deaths in peacetime?
The Wardroom is a recollection, with an analytical bending, of an SWO's (surface warfare officer) service in the U.S. Navy. Following a brief overview outlining his childhood years and training, the author dives deeper into his time as a communication division officer on board the destroyer USS Corney. The author offers a firsthand account of how the warship's hierarchy works and how the on-the-job training is conducted.
The memoir would be less informative if the author focused only on his persona. However, as the title indicates, the author's primary aim is to highlight the weak points of the modern approach to SWO training. Due to the budget cuts, basic training, shaping generalists rather than mariners, takes only nine weeks. The author shows the system's deeply embedded flaws, like combining division leadership with standing watch on the bridge or the absence of standardized tests to get an SWO pin.
As for the book's literary side, the author demonstrates superb writing skills, keeping the reader's interest at all times, even while discussing strictly military matters. Two ship collisions in 2017, as well as troubles with other ships, are painted very vividly and can be taken, separated from the context, for fine pieces of fiction. If the author decides to apply his experience to writing novels one day, fans of military themes will be delighted.
I received an advance review copy through Reedsy Discovery, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
In June 2017, the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship near Yokosuka, Japan; seven sailors were killed. Four months later, USS John S. McCain was rammed by a tanker in the Singapore strait. As a result, ten sailors perished. What is wrong with the U.S. Navy, and who is responsible for the mistakes that result in sailors' deaths in peacetime?
The Wardroom is a recollection, with an analytical bending, of an SWO's (surface warfare officer) service in the U.S. Navy. Following a brief overview outlining his childhood years and training, the author dives deeper into his time as a communication division officer on board the destroyer USS Corney. The author offers a firsthand account of how the warship's hierarchy works and how the on-the-job training is conducted.
The memoir would be less informative if the author focused only on his persona. However, as the title indicates, the author's primary aim is to highlight the weak points of the modern approach to SWO training. Due to the budget cuts, basic training, shaping generalists rather than mariners, takes only nine weeks. The author shows the system's deeply embedded flaws, like combining division leadership with standing watch on the bridge or the absence of standardized tests to get an SWO pin.
As for the book's literary side, the author demonstrates superb writing skills, keeping the reader's interest at all times, even while discussing strictly military matters. Two ship collisions in 2017, as well as troubles with other ships, are painted very vividly and can be taken, separated from the context, for fine pieces of fiction. If the author decides to apply his experience to writing novels one day, fans of military themes will be delighted.
I received an advance review copy through Reedsy Discovery, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 1, 2025
This book should be on the reading list of all Navy officers. The Marine Corps has a Commandant's Reading List; the Navy should have a CNO's Reading List, and this should be at the top. It should be required reading for all Navy personnel responsible for training. There have been numerous Navy ship accidents in the last decade or two, and this book does a good job of pointing out some of the reasons.
I would also recommend this to the Armed Forces Committees of both houses of Congress, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy.
It is a fascinating, yet sad, story about the actual status of Surface Warfare Officer training, or the lack thereof, and why ship accidents occur.
I would also recommend this to the Armed Forces Committees of both houses of Congress, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy.
It is a fascinating, yet sad, story about the actual status of Surface Warfare Officer training, or the lack thereof, and why ship accidents occur.
November 30, 2024
An infuriating read. While the author brings up a bunch of really valid points about the BS of the SWO life, he kills it by the non-ending whining about how hard it was. Look, bitch, I was M-DivO on a 35 years old steam ship followed by 2nd Div on an LSD and then 2 First LT tours on them. If this kid had worked for me, he would have had A Bad Time. No whiners among Boatswain Mates, shipmate. The part that broke me was him bitching about rescuing refugees on a raft in the Med. Bitch, we *lived* for those kind of ops, because the other sort were of the 'kill people, break things' variety, and mom didn't like those at the Thanksgiving dinner table. As a MEU-SOC Gator (look it up) we did this stuff as a routine NEO mission. along with the 15 others in our kit.
I did absolutely break out in laughter for his sentence, "We sailed 5 miles from the shore, unusually close for a surface vessel." This is why we always held the AEGIS-mafia in utter contempt. They were supposed to be the cream of the crop, but were terrified of getting close to land. We did it routinely. It was always fun to get a new report on board from CruDes and watch them crap their pants during 1A. LOL.
Christ, man up kid and stop whining. "Wah was my pussy hurts."
I did absolutely break out in laughter for his sentence, "We sailed 5 miles from the shore, unusually close for a surface vessel." This is why we always held the AEGIS-mafia in utter contempt. They were supposed to be the cream of the crop, but were terrified of getting close to land. We did it routinely. It was always fun to get a new report on board from CruDes and watch them crap their pants during 1A. LOL.
Christ, man up kid and stop whining. "Wah was my pussy hurts."
March 30, 2025
A very interesting read for an old Navyman
I served on destroyers in the 70s and 80s as an enlisted engineer or Snipe as we are known as. I found this book very interesting. The ship collisions covered in here were known to me and the authors opinions are appreciated. His references to his time in the wardroom helped me understand a DIVO'S and bridge watch stander's experiences. Viewpoints, I as an enlisted man engineer had little interaction with. We did not get topside much.
I served on destroyers in the 70s and 80s as an enlisted engineer or Snipe as we are known as. I found this book very interesting. The ship collisions covered in here were known to me and the authors opinions are appreciated. His references to his time in the wardroom helped me understand a DIVO'S and bridge watch stander's experiences. Viewpoints, I as an enlisted man engineer had little interaction with. We did not get topside much.
July 12, 2023
Most accurate depiction of being a SWO in the 21st century I’ve come across and a must read for anyone considering joining the surface navy
August 24, 2023
A good read. I can kinda relate to the author. Albeit, not as a SWO.
August 4, 2024
worth reading
Interesting indictment of Navy SWO culture. The memoir is written almost completely as a monologue, like an oral history, with snippets of dialogue.
Interesting indictment of Navy SWO culture. The memoir is written almost completely as a monologue, like an oral history, with snippets of dialogue.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews