Chapter 40, "The Last Captain of the Caine" Summary

Willie moves his belongings into Queeg's room and lies down on the bunk. It is a strange sensation. Queeg is now the grand historical figure in his life - not Hitler or Tojo, but Queeg. His mind is painfully divided between the thrill of command and the misery of May's lengthening silence. The Caine is a broken down hulk, a pitiful caricature of its past glories. He writes another letter to May from Okinawa. A typhoon brushes past Okinawa, and Willie is on the bridge for 30 hours, maneuvering the engines and rudder to keep the anchor from dragging. At dawn the crew sees a dozen ships stranded on beaches and reefs all around the bay, some high and dry, others on their sides in shallow water. Willie becomes a...