Delilah is a novel by American author and former U.S. Navy officer Marcus Goodrich, first published in 1941. The story revolves around the fictional American destroyer USS Delilah and her crew, operating in and around the Philippines during the period from 1916 to 1917.
The novel is loosely based on Goodrich's own experiences as a sailor aboard the USS Chauncey, a destroyer. Much of the book consists of detailed character descriptions, punctuated by plot developments related to the ship's mission of maintaining order in the southern islands of the Philippine archipelago, which were populated by Muslim natives dissatisfied with the central government in the northern island of Luzon. A central theme is the relationship between enlisted men and officers aboard the Delilah, which has been interpreted as a logical link between the strict stratification of naval personnel in the age of sail and the more egalitarian navy that emerged after World War II.
The novel was an immediate commercial and critical success upon publication. Although Goodrich's foreword expressly states his intention to write a sequel, and the story ends on the eve of the United States' entry into World War I following an extensive overhaul of the Delilah, no sequel was ever published. Delilah remained Goodrich's greatest literary success; he is perhaps better known today as the first husband of actress Olivia de Havilland.
