Thanks for reminding me of CS Forester's The Ship, Gareth. I have read it twice. It is probably something to do with the fact that my father and maternal grandfather were in the Royal Navy and I went to the Royal Hospital School for four years. There is something about being taken so thoroughly inside the minds of sailors on WW2 ships which I found irresistable. Two other books which did that for me were Monserrat's "The Cruel Sea" and Alistair MacLean's "HMS Ulysees".
The latter choice may raise some eyebrows here, but I rate it as a book. MacLean had served on the Russian convoys and he knew what he was talking about.
I am surprised that no one has mentioned anything by Somerset Maugham or Oscar Wilde. In particular, Oscar Wilde's childrens' stories are memorable. I was barely able to read "The Selfish Giant" to my daughter without choking on it. There, what a great softie I am really!