What was the worst part of being on a boat?

During WW2, the worst thing was, obviously, being attacked by depth charges or bombs. It is impossible to truly explain what it was like to someone who didn’t experience it first-hand. Depth charging has been described as like being in a drum that is being hit by a large hammer. The difference was that your life was in immediate danger, and your job was to be still and be quiet. The crew could hear the attacking ship – even without the aid of sonar – and could often hear the depth charges as they hit the water. If the depth charges were close enough, they would hear the click of the detonators right before they exploded.

After that, the worst part could be the smell, the inability to shower often enough, close quarters, lack of exercise or lack of sunshine. It depended on what was most important to each individual.