Williwaw: A Novel

In Short

Set during the Aleutian Islands campaign of World War II, the novel follows the crew and passengers of a small U.S. Army freight vessel on a routine run between remote outposts. As an arrogant Army officer insists on keeping to a schedule despite signs of a dangerous subarctic tempest—a williwaw—the tension on board reaches a boiling point. The journey tests the seamanship of the civilian captain, exposes the deep personal rivalries among the crew, and results in a fatal accident at sea. Its tight, unsparing realism has preserved it as a masterwork of war literature.

The Story

The narrative opens in the dismal gray humidity of an Alaskan harbor as the crew of an Army transport ship prepares to haul cargo and passengers down the chain of the Aleutian Islands. The ship is commanded by Evans, a veteran seaman who left school early for the water and holds a quiet disdain for regular military pretension. His crew is a uneasy mixture of temperaments: Martin, a reflective and perpetually tired mate; Duval, a proud Chief Engineer of Cajun heritage; and Bervick, a second mate whose long-festering envy of Duval centers on their competing affections for Olga, a woman back at the Big Harbor.

Added to this volatile mix are three passengers: Major Barkison, an ambitious, status-conscious officer obsessed with military decorum and his impending promotion; Lieutenant Hodges, his observational subordinate; and Chaplain O'Mahoney, a well-meaning priest prone to sea-sickness and vague premonitions. Despite low barometer readings and ominous clear warnings of approaching heavy weather, Major Barkison presses for an immediate departure to reach Arunga, eager to deliver his reports and solidify his career advancement.

As the vessel enters open water, the sky darkens into a bitter wall of snow and gale-force winds. The gale rapidly evolves into a full-scale williwaw, a violent hurricane-like storm peculiar to the region. Mountainous thirty-foot seas batter the hull, tearing away rigging, splintering the mast, and disabling the steering apparatus. Evans and his deckhands battle the elements directly, barely managing to guide the vessel into a rocky, sheltered reef near Kulak to ride out the worst of the impact.

Amid the chaos and screaming winds on deck, personal hatreds spill over. During an emergency repair task in the dark and rolling seas, Duval and Bervick find themselves alone near the vessel's stern. Duval vanishes into the icy water. Bervick sees his rival's dark form disappear into the trough of a wave, yet he deliberately stays silent, letting the ship pull away without sounding the alarm or stopping the engines. He rationalizes the death to himself as a tragic spill caused by the storm, keeping his secret hidden beneath the clatter of the waves.

The ship eventually limp into port at Arunga, damaged but intact. Safely ashore, the dynamic shifts instantly. Major Barkison, now safely promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and secure on solid ground, assumes the role of investigating officer for Duval’s disappearance. Eager to protect his own record and avoid scrutiny over his insistence on sailing into a storm, Barkison quickly rules the death a routine accident in the line of duty—while subtly insinuating that Captain Evans displayed poor judgment by venturing out. The novel ends on a note of muted irony as the crew prepares to sail for Seward, their internal scars and secrets buried beneath the routine of military bureaucracy.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Captain Evans wakes with a hangover in the harbor, gathers paint supplies, and prepares his small vessel for a run down the Aleutian chain. Tensions between Bervick and Duval surface immediately over a shared love interest, setting a bitter tone among the crew.

Leaving port Major Barkison and Chaplain O'Mahoney board the ship, eager to reach their destination on schedule. Despite falling barometric pressure and warnings of bad weather from the local maritime signs, the ship casts off into the dark, rippling waters of the Bering Sea.

The strike of the storm As the vessel clears the protection of the island, a ferocious williwaw hits, tossing the ship into deep ocean troughs. Mountainous waves smash the wheelhouse, tear away the mast, and force Evans into a desperate struggle to keep the wheel from spinning out of control.

A quiet murder During a night-time attempt to secure loose equipment on the pitching deck, Duval falls overboard. Bervick watches him vanish beneath the waves and deliberately chooses not to raise the alarm, later lying to the crew that he saw nothing.

Arrival at Arunga The battered transport finally grounds itself in safe harbor, surviving the gale with broken glass and missing rigging. The passengers and crew step ashore onto the solid earth, relieved to have cheated the sea.

The administrative cover-up Newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Barkison conducts a brief, superficial investigation into Duval’s death. He closes the case as a routine line-of-duty accident to cover his own reckless orders, leaving Evans frustrated and Bervick secretly relieved.

The People

• Captain Evans: The ship’s skipper who has spent most of his life at sea since age sixteen. Practical, quiet, and intensely focused on his vessel, he harbors a subtle contempt for army officers and regular military life, finding peace only in the rhythm of the ocean.
• Bervick: The second mate, whose deep personal hatred for Duval turns lethal during the gale. He is driven by jealousy over a woman and a desperate need to asserted himself against the Chief's mocking superiority.
• Duval: The Chief Engineer, a man proud of his pure French ancestry in New Orleans who regularly taunts Bervick. His arrogance and rivalries ultimately leave him vulnerable on the storm-swept deck.
• Major Barkison: A rigid, career-minded Army officer who views the voyage strictly as a hurdle toward his promotion. He hides his fear behind military posture and quickly turns patronizing and self-serving once back on land.
• Martin: The observant first mate who registers the growing exhaustion of sea life, serving as an anchor of calm narrative observation throughout the voyage.
• Chaplain O'Mahoney: A well-meaning, slightly naive priest who suffers from severe seasickness and attempts to interpret the dangerous voyage through vague spiritual premonitions.

In Its Own Voice

"The cold damp air was refreshing as it blew in his face."

Evans leans out the wheelhouse window, trying to clear his head as the barometer falls and the sky darkens before the gale.

"He felt the vastness of this sea and the loneliness of one small boat on the dividing line between gray sky and gray water."

Evans steps onto the deck alone, acutely aware of how isolated their tiny vessel is in the immense wastes of the Bering Sea.

"He watched the dark object on the water as it slipped slowly away."

Bervick stands motionless on the afterdeck, silently choosing not to call for help as Duval disappears into the freezing waves.

What It's Really About

Beneath its realistic narrative of a struggle against nature, the book is a study of human isolation and the thin veneer of discipline under pressure. It examines how small, petty human animosities—jealousy over a woman, status disputes, regional pride—can expand in closed environments until they become fatal. The narrative contrasts the indifferent, raw force of the natural world with the self-serving, bureaucratic rationalizations of military authority. When faced with survival, nature acts without malice, but the men on board bring their own quiet, calculated cruelties with them, which are easily swept under the rug by institutional paperwork once the danger has passed.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate crisp, unadorned WWII sea fiction and psychological realism will find this novel exceptionally rewarding. Written when the author was only nineteen years old, it avoids romanticized heroism, offering instead a cool, clinical, and visually sharp picture of war's forgotten northern front. The prose is clean, economical, and modern, free of bloated descriptions or sentimental melodrama.

The book does reflect its period setting, depicting military rigidness, casual rank discrimination, and the coarse, transactional view of relationships typical among isolated soldiers of that era. Its tension does not stem from massive naval fleet battles, but from the claustrophobic dread of a small wooden deck caught between a freezing sea and human malice. What stays with you long after finishing is the haunting simplicity with which life and death are handled—how a man can slip silently into the sea, and how easily an organization can move on as if nothing happened.