Condition Red was written by Frederick J. Bell who, at the time, was a naval officer and captain of the destroyer USS Grayson (DD-435). Therefore, a few words about naval captains could help place the tone and content of this book in perspective.
To start, naval captains are conditioned through a long tradition of unforgiving responsibility. This usually manifests itself in the form of a God complex, merciful if satiated. Next, naval captains and their ships are one in the same. If a ship undertakes a mission, the captain of the ship is the one undertaking the mission. The crew is perceived by the captain as the biological components of the machine he drives. And lastly, naval captains are trained to be deadpan serious while in command. They speak in a calm serious voice and they write as they speak. All of these traits set the tone, mood, and content of Condition Red.
With the above in mind, Condition Red comes across as a mundane naval captain’s report on how he spent the initial months of the war. The destroyer actions recorded by Bell are not that unusual and can be found in other books about destroyers during the war that have much more color and energy. Overall, Condition Red seemed to be mostly intent upon impressing Bell's fellow officers, informing junior officers of their future responsibilities, and contributing to the tradition of creating naval captains in the image of God.