Historical Background
Wouk served during World War II in two destroyer-minesweepers converted from World War I-era Clemson-class destroyers, USS Zane and USS Southard (Wouk uses the latter name for one of his characters in the novel; in an allusion to history professor Jacques Barzun of his alma mater, Columbia University, Wouk also has Queeg refer to a previous assignment he had on a ship named the Barzun). USS Caine is a fictional depiction of a DMS conversion. This class was named for Midshipman Henry A. Clemson, lost at sea on 8 December 1846 when the brig USS Somers capsized off Vera Cruz in a sudden squall while chasing a blockade runner. In November 1842 Somers was the scene of the only recorded conspiracy to mutiny in U.S. Naval history when three members of the crew—a midshipman, a boatswain's mate, and a seaman—were clapped in irons and subsequently hanged for planning a takeover of the vessel.
Many of the incidents and plot details are autobiographical. Like both Keefer and Willie, Wouk rose through the ship's wardroom of Zane from assistant communicator to first lieutenant, and then was executive officer of Southard, recommended to captain the ship home to the United States at the end of the war before it was beached at Okinawa in a typhoon.
Read more about this topic: The Caine Mutiny
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