The Herman Wouk novel about a fictional Navy mutiny that won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is The Caine Mutiny.
Published in 1951, the novel is set aboard the fictional USS Caine, a U.S. Navy minesweeper operating in the Pacific during World War II. Its central conflict develops around Lieutenant Willie Keith, the ship’s troubled captain Philip Queeg, and a group of officers who relieve Queeg during a crisis they believe threatens the crew and vessel.
Wouk drew on his own World War II Navy service, though the Caine and its mutiny are fictional. The book examines military authority, fear, loyalty, legal responsibility, and the difference between technical command and true leadership. Its courtroom aftermath gives the story a second layer: the officers must defend their actions before a military tribunal.
The title is sometimes shortened incorrectly to “Caine Mutiny,” but the canonical title includes “The.” The novel was also adapted into the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny, starring Humphrey Bogart as Queeg.