Dan Krummes' Cruel Seas: Merchant Shipping-Focused World War 2 Nautical Fiction, 1939 to 2004 was published in
hardcopy in 2004, but the companion website, Cruel Seas : World War 2 Merchant Marine-Related Nautical Fiction from the 1930s to Present keeps on growing. With the latest update, the web version contains 402 entries (compared with the 250 entries in the printed edition). Covered are short stories, novellas, and novels in English, published in the U.S., Canada, or Great Britain, that appeared in the popular press, from tony publications to pulp magazines.
Why go to the trouble to hunt down these stories to read when books about the WW2 Navy are so prevalent? From Dan's introduction:
It was little known at the time and barely-remembered today that American, Canadian and British merchant mariners suffered the highest casualty rates of any Allied forces, higher than soldiers, sailors or marines.
The stakes couldn't have been higher--the risk greater--to those who were the transportation backbone of the era. And remember--the library with which you're affiliated, be it local public library or massive academic library, probably has an interlibrary loan service to help you get copies of these stirring narratives!
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