I've been reading the book, Halsey's Typhoon, mention is made of the Wouk novel and film . . . during that horrible typhoon, Cobra, did something occur aboard the USS Hull? Something that would closely resemble what happened aboard the fictional Caine?
Does anybody have any details . . . ?
Wouk's novel is not based on fact. There was an incident during the Viet Nam war which was eerily similar aboard the USS Vance. Roughly 15 years after the novel.
Wouk wrote in a brief preface to The Caine Mutiny that the novel was not based on any particular event. Much of his knowledge of life on board a DMS was based on his own WWII experiences in the Navy, where he rose to be Exec. He also wrote that Tom Keefer and Barney Greenwald were based on various aspects of himself--He based Keefer partly on his own perception of himself at the beginning his career, while he also based Greenwald on himself at the end of his career. See Wouk's recently-published "The Language God Speaks" for a discussion of his thoughts while writing The Caine Mutiny. Also, see The Arnheiter Affair, by New York Times reporter Neil Sheehan, for an account of the removal of the Captain of the Vance, a Destroyer Escort Radar ship, during the Vietnam War. As the previous poster noted, the parallels between the events on the fictitious Caine and those on the real Vance are most eerie.
Perhaps every war, or those involving Naval forces, produce something akin to the Caine Mutiny . . . I believe Wouk must've based the novel on what happened aboard the USSHull . . .
shareAn interesting bit of trivia about the real typhoon. Future President Gerald Ford, then a Navy lieutenant, was serving on one of the ships in the area and was nearly swept overboard. For a few moments he was dangling over the side, hanging on by his fingertips, clutching an inch-high piece of metal ... but catching hold of that saved him from being swept away and lost. Sometimes history turns on tiny events.
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Wouk said in the preface to his novel that the Caine Mutiny was not based on any particular event. He also said in a short recently published nonfiction book that he based some of his characters--notably Willie Keith, Tom Keefer, and Barney Greenwald, on various aspects of himself.interesting. those are three very different personalities, and it was brave of wouk to admit he had anything in common with keefer, who aside from having a superficial sense of humor was a detestable character.
[Wouk] also said in a short recently published nonfiction book that he based some of his characters--notably Willie Keith, Tom Keefer, and Barney Greenwald, on various aspects of himself.
What's the title of that book? Sounds like it would be an interesting read!
I still believe he got the, at least, the outline of the story from what occurred aboard the USS Hull . . . yes, I read that about Ford, a most interesting experience for a futgure president . . . of course, as the author he'd want an "original" idea, or story . . . don't buy it . . .
shareNo. There's a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that expressly states it isn't a true story.
"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."