- For the first film of the novel, see Brown on Resolution (film). Forever England redirects here - the phrase is also a quotation from Rupert Brooke 's poem " The Soldier " For the second film, see Sailor of the King. Sailor of the King, also known as Single-Handed and Brown on Resolution, is a 1953 War film based on the novel
Brown on Resolution is a nautical novel written by CS Forester. Cecil Scott Forester was the Pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith ( August 27 1899 – April 2, 1966) an English It is set during World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The hero of the novel, seaman Brown, is the sole survivor of a sunken British warship, picked up by one of the German warships of the German Asiatic Squadron after the German victory at the Battle of Coronel. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A warship is a Ship that is built and primarily intended for Combat. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The World War I naval Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel
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Historical background
As so often with Forester's novels, the action takes place against a background of carefully researched historical fact. During the early part of the Great War, Germany had a small squadron of modern vessels in the Far East. When war was declared, SMS Emden was detached to serve as a commerce raider. Early service The Emden was launched on 26 May 1908 and commissioned into the Kaiserliche Marine, Germany's Imperial Navy on The larger vessels of the squadron set out to return to Europe. The German squadron encountered an inferior British squadron off the coast of Chile, and defeated it at the Battle of Coronel. Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the The World War I naval Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel The German fleet then rounded Cape Horn and encountered a superior British squadron, which defeated it at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War All the German ships were sunk in this battle, with the exception of the SMS Dresden, which escaped back in to the Pacific Ocean. Service history At the outbreak of the war in 1914 the Dresden was preparing for the return journey to Germany
Plot
In the novel the German vessel (the fictitious SMS Ziethen) where Brown was held prisoner suffers damage in the second battle. Her captain plans to pull into an isolated Pacific anchorage to try to repair his vessel. In the novel, he chooses (fictitious) Resolution Island, in the Galápagos.
The resourceful Brown escapes, steals a rifle and a small amount of ammunition, and makes his way ashore.
Her captain having already careened his vessel, the vessel's main battery could not be brought to bear on Brown, and he was able to pick off exposed crew-members who are trying to repair her punctured hull plates. In Forester's description Resolution is an impenetrable tangle of scrub and thorn bushes, making it difficult for shore parties to run our hero to ground.
Brown is eventually killed by a German shot. He never learns that his actions delayed the repairs long enough to ensure that the German vessel fails to escape her British pursuers. Ironically, Brown is the illegitimate son of a senior British naval officer who benefits from his action, although they do not know of each other.
Parallels in Forester's work
This novel has some parallels to Forester's Death to the French. Death to the French is a 1932 novel of the Peninsular War during the Napoleonic Wars, written by C In both novels the hero is an enlisted man, cut off, and acting alone. In both novels the enlisted man's dogged and surprisingly effective actions are attributed to a kind of instinctive shrewdness rather than to conscious planning.
Film versions
The novel had been filmed twice. John Mills played the title role in the 1935 version, called Brown on Resolution. Sir John Mills CBE (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 1908 &ndash 23 April 2005) was an English Forever England redirects here - the phrase is also a quotation from Rupert Brooke 's poem " The Soldier " The 1953 version was called Single-handed in the US and Sailor of the King in the UK. Sailor of the King, also known as Single-Handed and Brown on Resolution, is a 1953 War film based on the novel
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