 |
 First edition | |
| Author | C. S. Forester |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
Publication date | 1935 |
The African Queen is a 1935 novel written by English author C. S. Forester. It was adapted into the 1951 film of the same name.
In August/September 1914, Rose Sayer, a 33-year-old British woman, is the companion and housekeeper of her brother Samuel, an Anglican missionary in German East Africa. [N 1] World War I has begun, and the German military commander of the area has conscripted all the natives; the village is deserted, and only Rose and her brother, who is dying, remain. Samuel dies during the night. That day, Allnutt a London Cockney, arrives at the village. He is the mechanic and skipper of the African Queen, a steam-powered launch, owned by a Belgian mining corporation, that plies the upper reaches of the Ulanga River. Allnutt's two-man crew has deserted him because of the rumours of war and conscription. He buries Samuel and brings Rose to the launch.
The African Queen is well-stocked with tinned food, and carries a two-hundredweight cargo of blasting gelignite. It also holds two tanks of oxygen and hydrogen. Rose is inflamed with patriotism, and also filled with the desire to avenge insults that the Germans had piled on her brother. She realizes that the main German defence against a British attack by water in the area is a gunboat, Königin Luise, which guards the fictional Lake Wittelsbach [1] into which the Ulanga feeds. She asks Allnutt if he can make the gelignite into a makeshift torpedo. After some thought, Allnutt concludes that by loading the gelignite inside the emptied tanks, putting them into the bow of the launch, and rigging a detonator, they could turn the launch itself into a large torpedo. Allnutt and Rose set off down the Ulanga, her steering and him maintaining the launch's ancient steam engine.
The descent to the lake poses three main problems: passing the German-held town of Shona; navigating heavy rapids and cataracts; and getting through the river delta. After days on the river, they come close to Shona, and Allnutt's nerve fails. He refuses to take the launch under fire, anchors in a backwater, and gets drunk on gin. Unable to work the launch single-handedly, Rose sets out to make Allnutt's life miserable until he agrees to her plan. While he is asleep, she pours all his gin overboard, then refuses to speak to him. The weak-willed Allnutt eventually gives in, and the launch gets underway again. They come in sight of Shona at midday. The German commander assumes that the launch is coming in to surrender (because he believes no boat could pass the rapids downriver from the town, so Shona is the only possible destination). After realising his mistake, he and his men open fire, but the launch sustains only minor damage as it passes the town.
The African Queen then spends days shooting the rapids; Exhilarated, Allnutt and Rose are reconciled and become lovers. He reveals that his first name is Charlie. On the third day, the launch strikes on rocks while navigating some rapids, goes off course and does not respond well to the tiller, so they are forced to anchor on the lee side of a rock outcropping. Allnutt dives into the water to inspect the launch's underside and finds that the driveshaft is bent and the propeller has lost a blade. Over the next weeks they slowly repair the damage without being able to beach the launch; Allnutt has to dive repeatedly to remove the shaft and propeller. On shore, they gather wood and construct a makeshift bellows to heat the shaft so Allnutt can straighten it. Then Allnutt makes a new propeller blade out of scrap iron and bolts it to the stump of the old blade. After numerous dives to fix the shaft and propeller, they continue on their way and pass the rapids, coming out of the Ulanga River into the Bora River, which feeds into the lake. By this point, Rose has become an expert at using the tiller and reading the complex changes of the river.
Passing the river delta is long and arduous. Tormented by biting insects, sickened by malaria, and wracked by the heat and thunderstorms, they drag the launch through miles of reeds and water-grass with their boat-hooks, occasionally diving to cut fallen logs out of their way. Though the launch is shallow (with a draft of only thirty inches), it constantly runs aground on the thick mud. After weeks of labour, they emerge into the lake.
They hide the launch in a stand of reeds and begin constructing the torpedo. Allnutt releases the gas from his tanks and unscrews the valves, leaving a hole big enough for him to fill the tanks with gelignite, packed in mud. He cuts two holes in the front of the launch, right at the waterline, and fixes the tanks there; he then constructs detonators from nails and revolver cartridges, so the gelignite will detonate on impact. All that is left is to pilot the launch right into the side of the Königin Luise, and the resulting explosion will destroy both vessels. They have been keeping track of the gunboat's habits, and choose a night when it will be anchored close to them. They argue about which of them should pilot the launch and which should stay behind, but end up agreeing that they will both go. They fire up the engine and set out on the attack, but halfway to their target a storm sweeps up and overwhelms them; the launch sinks, and Rose and Allnutt have to swim for safety.
The two are separated in the storm, and they are captured by the Germans the next day. They are brought before the captain of the Königin Luise to be tried as spies. Both refuse to say how they came to the lake, but the captain sees "African Queen" written on Rose's life-saver and deduces that they must be the mechanic and the missionary's sister from the missing launch. He decides it would be uncivilised to execute them, so he flies a flag of truce and delivers them to the British naval commander, who dismissively sends them to separate tents under guard while he takes his newly arrived reinforcements out to sink the Königin Luise. Having succeeded in this, he sends Rose and Allnutt to the coast to speak to the British Consul and advises Allnutt to enlist in the British Army. The couple agrees that when they reach the coast they will ask the Consul to marry them.
Many scholars now consider this novel The African Queen to be the classic study in foolhardiness masquerading-as-courage of the genre commonly found in 'Misadventure Fiction' which began as a noticeable literary trend in the early 2000s.
The MV Liemba, named SMS Graf von Goetzen during World War I, was the inspiration for the German gunboat.
The novel was made into a film in 1951: The African Queen , starring Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnutt and Katharine Hepburn as Rose Sayer. Allnutt is changed to a Canadian in the film to explain Bogart's accent. The church is changed to Methodist from Anglican - though the paper which Allnut delivers to the missionaries in the first scene records the elevation of a college friend of the missionaries to being a bishop, which makes no sense given that the Methodist Church of Great Britain has no bishops. There are significant changes to the plot after the sinking of the African Queen. [2]
In 1977, a one-hour made for television film called The African Queen aired on CBS. Intended as a pilot for a television series following the further adventures of the Alnutts, it stars Warren Oates as Charlie and Mariette Hartley as Rose. [3]
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, as well as medium-sized or smaller vessels, such as the midget submarine and the wet sub. Submarines are referred to as boats rather than ships irrespective of their size.
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also known as U-boats.
The African Queen is a 1951 adventure film adapted from the 1935 novel of the same name by C. S. Forester. The film was directed by John Huston and produced by Sam Spiegel and John Woolf. The screenplay was adapted by James Agee, John Huston, John Collier and Peter Viertel. It was photographed in Technicolor by Jack Cardiff and has a music score by Allan Gray. The film stars Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn with Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Walter Gotell, Richard Marner and Theodore Bikel.
German submarine U-869 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II, her keel was laid down 5 April 1943 by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Weser of Bremen. It was commissioned on 26 January 1944 with Kapitänleutnant Hellmut Neuerburg in command. Neuerburg went down with his boat. The wreck of U-869 was discovered off the coast of New Jersey in 1991.
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
Type X (XB) U-boats were a special type of German submarine (U-boat). Although intended as long-range mine-layers, they were later used as long-range cargo transports, a task they shared with the Type IXD and Italian Romolo-class submarines.
The history of the submarine spans the entire history of human endeavor as mankind has since early civilization sought to explore and travel under the sea. Humanity has employed a variety of methods to travel underwater for exploration, recreation, research and significantly, warfare. While early attempts, such as those by Alexander the Great, were rudimentary, the advent of new propulsion systems, fuels, and sonar, propelled an increase in submarine technology. The introduction of the diesel engine, then the nuclear submarine, saw great expansion in submarine use – and specifically military use – during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. The Second World War use of the U-Boat by the Kriegsmarine against the Royal Navy and commercial shipping, and the Cold War's use of submarines by the United States and Russia, helped solidify the submarine's place in popular culture. The latter conflicts also saw an increasing role for the military submarine as a tool of subterfuge, hidden warfare, and nuclear deterrent. The military use of submarines continues to this day, predominantly by North Korea, China, the United States and Russia.
MV Liemba, formerly Graf Goetzen or Graf von Goetzen, is a passenger and cargo ferry that runs along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. The Marine Services Company Limited of Tanzania sails her, with numerous stops to pick up and set down passengers, between the ports of Kigoma, Tanzania and Mpulungu, Zambia.
German submarine U-521 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
HMS Nomad was an Admiralty M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She was sunk during the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
German submarine U-353 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 30 March 1940 at the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft yard at Flensburg, launched on 11 November 1941, and commissioned on 31 March 1942 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Römer. After training with the 5th U-boat Flotilla based at Kiel, U-353 was transferred to the 1st U-boat Flotilla at Brest in France for front-line service from 1 October 1942.
Motoscafo armato silurante, alternatively Motoscafo antisommergibili and commonly abbreviated as MAS, was a class of fast torpedo-armed vessels used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. Originally, "MAS" referred to motobarca armata SVAN, Società Veneziana Automobili Navali.
HMS Splendid was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was laid down on 7 March 1941 and launched on 19 January 1942. After an initial patrol through the Bay of Biscay to Gibraltar, Splendid conducted two patrols in the Mediterranean Sea; one was abandoned after technical problems and on the other she sank two Italian ships. On her next patrol, the submarine attacked two Italian convoys, sinking an Italian destroyer in the second attack. Based in Algiers, the boat operated north of Sicily, sinking six Italian ships, including two tankers and two heavy merchant ships. Splendid was detected by a German destroyer on 21 April 1943 while patrolling off Naples, Italy; the submarine was attacked with depth charges by the destroyer and forced to surface, after which she was scuttled and her surviving crew members taken prisoner. She was the most successful British submarine by tonnage sunk between November 1942 and May 1943.
HMS Sea Rover was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in July 1943, she conducted one war patrol off Norway, before being re-assigned to the Pacific theater. Arriving in February 1944, the boat conducted several patrols in the Strait of Malacca, sinking one transport, one gunboat, one merchant, three sailing vessels, two coasters, and one lighter. During this time, she was attacked several times by aircraft and surface ships; in one attack, she took on two tons of water from leaks caused by depth charges. Sea Rover collided with an Australian corvette in December 1944, and she was sent back to England, then the United States, for repairs. After the war ended, the boat was sent back to England, placed in reserve, then sold for scrap in October 1949.
HMS Stoic was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1950.
HMS Amphion was an Active-class scout cruiser built for the Royal Navy before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she was initially assigned to the First Fleet and became a destroyer flotilla leader in mid-1914. When the war began, her flotilla was assigned to the Harwich Force. While patrolling on the first full day of the war, Amphion and her destroyers encountered and sank a German minelayer, SMS Königin Luise, but not before she had laid many of her mines. While returning from patrolling the following morning, Amphion struck a mine on 6 August 1914 off the Thames Estuary and sank with the loss of 132 crewmen killed. She was the first ship of the Royal Navy to be sunk in the First World War. The wreck site is protected and may not be dived upon without permission from the Ministry of Defence.
HMS Dryad was the name ship of the Dryad-class torpedo gunboats. She was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 22 November 1893, the first of the class to be completed. She served as a minesweeper during World War I and was broken up in 1920.
German submarine U-198, was a Type IXD2 U-boat which fought in World War II. She was built by the Deschimag DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen. She was laid down on 1 August 1941 as yard number 1044, launched on 15 June 1942 and commissioned on 3 November under Kapitän zur See Werner Hartmann.
SMS Luise was a steam corvette of the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was the second member of the Ariadne class, which included two other ships, Ariadne and Freya. Ordered as part of a large naval expansion program after the Austro-Prussian War, she was laid down in 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. She was launched in December 1872 and completed in June 1874. Luise was a small vessel, armed with a battery of just eight guns.
HMSCicala was a Royal Navy Insect-class gunboat. She was built in 1915 for shallow water work, possibly on the Danube or in the Baltic Sea during the First World War. Cicala was deployed to the Baltic for the 1918–19 British campaign against the Russian Bolsheviks. Whilst there her crew mutinied and refused to follow orders to attack a Russian shore battery. The mutiny was quelled when Admiral John Green threatened to open fire on the Cicala; five men were sentenced to imprisonment by court-martial over the matter. Cicala afterwards served on the China station, acting against pirates. She was at Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded in 1941 and provided fire support for the unsuccessful British defence. On 21 December 1941 she was struck by Japanese bombs and was afterwards scuttled.