The Good Shepherd: A Novel
Forester is well-known for his Horatio Hornblower novels, but he wrote several other works of fiction which are of value to anyone interested in the military. Forester’s novels provide insight into how the leader in the story thinks through the problem he is facing. This is one of Forester’s strengths as a storyteller and it makes The Good Shepherd a valuable book.
The Good Shepherd is a set during World War II. Commander Krause, captain of the destroyer USS Keeling is providing escort duty for a convoy of more than 30 ships in the North Atlantic from the United States to Great Britain in late 1942. Convoy duty during this period of the war was extremely hazardous. Krause’s convoy is attacked by a wolfpack of German submarines and must do their best to fight them off and protect the merchant ships they are escorting.
Krause’s task is further complicated because he is the senior captain among four destroyer escorts (a pitiably small number to provide security to so many ships). This is his first combat mission while his subordinates of the British Royal Navy (and one Polish Navy ship) already have more than two years’ experience. Krause must lead the sailors on the Keeling and he must gain the confidence of his allies while facing a resourceful and relentless enemy.
Forester is at his best when allowing readers to enter the mind of the protagonist. This allows the reader to think through the situation along with the character. As just one example, Krause is forced to decide whether to reverse course to aid a merchant ship which has been torpedoed by a German submarine.
“There were powerful arguments against turning back. Night would be falling before he reached there. He would be astern of the convoy again, with all the prolonged delay before he could rejoin it, especially if the convoy were to get into serious disorder. Whatever mischief a U-boat might do had by now been already done; he could not remedy that. Nor could he hope to avenge it with his small remainder of depth charges. He might pick up survivors—but Cadena and Viktor were on the spot and he would not be there for half an hour. But what would the men on board the convoy think of him if they saw him placidly steaming along ahead of them while their comrades died astern? He went to the T.B.S. [Talk Between Ships – an inter-ship radio system] Dodge and James answered promptly enough; they were aware of trouble in the convoy and asked for orders; he could only tell them to stay on station. But he could not raise Viktor on the circuit at all. He said “George to Eagle. George to Eagle. Do you hear me?” and received no reply. Viktor was ten miles away—possibly more by now—and it was quite possible that she could not hear. It was faintly possible that her hands were so full she had no time to reply, but it was hardly likely. Krause stood holding the handset yearning inexpressibly to hear one single word even from that nonchalant English voice. The commodore was blinking away, his light directed straight at Keeling; it must be a message for him. And it must be urgent, for it was almost too dark for Morse messages to be safe.”
This is classic Forester. Krause clearly lays out the problem and evaluates the information he possesses before deciding. This technique allows the reader to form their own opinion in parallel and compare their decision to that in the story.
Decisions like this are sprinkled liberally throughout the book. This makes The Good Shepherd — and most of Forester’s books — valuable to anyone interested in improving their decision-making ability. This technique also imparts a deeper appreciation for the difficulties faced by convoy commanders in the North Atlantic during World War II. The Good Shepherd is the basis for the recent movie, Greyhound, with Tom Hanks which also attempts to capture the stresses faced by a wartime convoy escort commander. Both the book and the movie are worth the time investment.
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