The Good Shepherd is a nautical war novel set during the Battle of the Atlantic, WWII, in 1942. Commander Krause, the captain of the fictional US Navy Mahan-class destroyer USS Keeling is in overall command of an escort force protecting an Atlantic convoy, shepherding it through the Mid-Atlantic gap where no antisubmarine aircraft are able to defend convoys. The voyage, Krause's first wartime mission, is a difficult one, and covers 13 watches (52 hours) aboard the ship's bridge as German U-boats haunt the small fleet. The book is told in third person entirely from Krause's point of view as he fights to save his ship and complete his mission, detailing his mood swings from intense and focused excitement and awareness during combat to his resulting fatigue, depression, and self-doubt.
The book illustrates the difficulties of the Battle of the Atlantic: the struggle against the sea, the enemy, and the exhaustion brought on by constant vigilance. It also details the problems of the early radar and ASDIC equipment available and the poor communications between the fleet and Admiralty using HF Radio and early manual cryptography.
The story was adapted into the feature film, Greyhound, written by and starring Tom Hanks. Principal photography began in Spring 2018 aboard the USS Kidd, and the film was released in July 2020.
Did you find this review helpful?