Background
The author dedicated the book "with the deepest respect to the officers and crew of HMS Penelope", and the action described is based on the Second Battle of Sirte. Forester had been invited to a mission aboard that vessel by the Admiralty earlier. Less than a year after the book was published, the Penelope was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank with more than half her crew.
Read more about this topic: The Ship (novel)
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