The Nautical Fiction List
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Entries preceded by a '*' are reviewed on my Nautical Book Reviews page
Entries preceded by a '+' are available electronically, see the separate Electronic Nautical Books List
Boyd, Dean
Lighter Than Air, 1962 (Lighthearted -- couldn't resist -- novel about
life in the US Navy's blimp service during WW II. It follows the
collisions between a pompous blimp expert, dragooned into service as
the squadron commander, and a maverick Alaskan bush pilot, drafted in
as a blimp pilot, who is wooing an uptight minister's daughter, serving
as a Navy nurse. Fun read.)
Brady, Cyrus Townsend 1861-1920
The Quiberon Touch; a romance of the days when "The Great Lord Hawke" was
king of the sea, 1901 (Lieutenant Philip Grafton fights the French
navy in 1754 under the command of "The Great Lord Hawke". Good sea
battles, and a little romance, too.)
In the Wasp's nests, the story of a sea waif in the war of 1812, 1902
Woven With the Ship, a novel of 1865, 1902 (American Civil War tale.)
The Two Captains: a romance of Bonaparte and Nelson, 1905
On the Old Kearsarge, a story of the civil war, 1909
The Island of Surprise, 1915 (Romance, adventure and danger on islands in
the South Pacific.)
Brahms, Caryl 1901- and Sherrin, Ned
Benbow Was his Name, 1967 (First written for the BBC as a radio, and then
a television play, it concerns Admiral Benbow's 1702 battles with the
French in the West Indies during which his officers refused to engage
the enemy, their subsequent courts martial and Benbow's death from
his wounds.)
Bray, Donald
The Captain's Wife, 1985 (Captain Ned Davy and his tough little wife,
Genevieve, sail to India in the 1780s to rescue a British spy.)
Breslin, Howard
The Silver Oar, 1954 (Story of life in the Massachussets Bay Colony in
the 1680s, loosely based on truth. Smuggler is shipwrecked, taken in by
town, then resumes his trade.)
Brinkley, William 1917-
Don't Go Near the Water, 1956 (Hilarous story of public relations men who
get drafted into Navy without corrupting effect of training, then wind
up smack in the middle of the war in the Pacific.)
The Ninety and Nine, 1966 (US LST 1826 supports the allied landings in
Italy during WW II. A best-seller in its day, with great reviews.)
The Last Ship, 1988 (The guided missile destroyer NATHAN JAMES, the last
US ship afloat after a nuclear holocaust, heads for a Pacific island
haven.)
Brockway, Fenner 1888-? (Baron Brockway)
Purple Plague: A tale of love and revolution, 1935 (The terrible Purple
Plague strikes an ocean liner, dooming it to ten years at sea while the
disease runs its course and 1social revolution ensues aboard ship.)
Brook, Peter
World Elsewhere, 1999 (Based on an actual round the world voyage of a
French ship in the 1770s. The protagonist is a young aristocrat.
"Voluptuous descriptions of freewheeling feasts, hibiscus-scented
breezes, and romps at a swimming hole..." [The Wall Street Journal])
Brookes, Ewart 1901-
Proud Waters, 1954 (When a RNVR officer is is ordered to take command of
a minesweeper at a base close to the German-occupied French coast, he
accepts the post reluctantly. The ship was known to have a sullen crew
and a young lieutenant smarting under the injustice of a previous
commander. But, as he discovers, the task of minesweeping is as
essential as it is perilous)
To Endless Night, 1955 (Also titled THE CURSE OF THE TRAWLER CHARON. The
CHARON was unfortunate to kill a man as she was launched. Bad luck dogs
those sailing in her, especially her skipper. She is taken up as an
ASDIC trawler for the Royal Navy at the outbreak of WW II and her
erstwhile skipper, in greatly reduced circumstances, eventually finds
himself back on board. The pre-war fishing and her war-time service is
interestingly told but all in all a depressing story.)
Nor On What Seas, 1956 (Tug salvaging a broken tanker; drunken captain,
attractive wife, devil-may-care tug mate boards ship to attach tow. Not
as bad as it sounds!)
Brooks, Kenneth F.
Run to the Lee, 1965 (Not great literature, but a very satisfying tale
about a run down the Chesapeake Bay in a snowy gale on a schooner that
turns from a race for profits, to get a load of coal from Balto to
Solomons and an equally profitable cargo of oysters back, to one for
survival. "A great read this time of year [winter]" [TCP])
Brown, Jamieson, 1916-?
Destroyers Will Rendezvous, 1959 (Three Australians find adventure and a
different way of life as naval officers on loan to the Royal Navy
during WW II. Notable for having a hero named Ramage.)
Bruff, Nancy
The Manatee, 1945 (Nantucket, whaling, romance, and dark secrets.)
Brunner, John 1934-
The Great Steamboat Race, 1983 (Mississippi steamboats race to from New
Orleans to St. Louis. Purely historical change of pace from a noted SF
author. Good read.)
Buchheim, Lothar Gunther
The Boat, 1975 (DAS BOOT, WW II German submarine; very authentic. The
author sailed as a photographer in German U-boats, his non-fiction
U-Boat War, 1978 contains many of his pictures.)
Buffett, Jimmy
Tales of Margaritaville: Fictional Facts and Factual Fiction, 1989
(Stories set on the Gulf coast, Florida Keys and Caribbean, the nautical
ones seem to be more factual, but considering the title...)
Where is Joe Merchant?, 1992 (A rock star committed suicide, or did he?
According to the tabloid headlines, he's very much on the move. Follow
a fictional gumbo of dreamers, wackos, pirates, and sharks on a wild
chase for the truth through the Caribbean. A fun read.)
Buffett, Jimmy and Buffett, Savanah Jane (Jimmy's daughter)
The Jolly Mon, 1988 (Childrens picture book about a Bob Marley-esque
sailing singer.)
Trouble Dolls, 1991 (A girl searches for her missing scientist father.)
Bullen, Frank Thomas 1857-1915 (Born in London, he had no formal education
after the age of 9, died in Madeira. He had 36 books published, as well as
numerous articles and essays.)
The Cruise of the Cachalot: Round the World After Sperm Whales by Frank T.
Bullen First Mate, 1897 (Bullen drew on his youthful experiences as a
whaler for this novel about a cruise to the South Pacific whaling
grounds.)
Deep Sea Plunderings, 1901 (Stories of the sea - Some whaling.)
A Sack of Shakings, 1901 (Odds and ends of sea stories.)
A Whaleman's wife, 1902
A Bounty Boy: Being Some Adventures of a Christian Barbarian on an
Unpremeditated Trip Round the World, 1907? (South Pacific whaling
adventure for young readers.)
Burke, James Lee 1936-
Detective Dave Robicheaux series: (Robicheaux's father was killed on an
oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the stories always involve the sea and
its characters in and around the Louisiana coast.)
Dixie City Jam, 1994 [7] (Dave finds a wrecked U-boat off the Louisiana
coast. It has sufficient positive buoyancy to drift around. The
discovery starts off a chain of events when various vested interests
attempt to force Robicheaux into revealing its whereabouts. Well
above the usual murder/mystery genre.. beautiful writing.)
Burns, Walter Noble 1872-1932
A Year with a Whaler, 1913 (Whaling in Alaska from San Francisco.
Fiction?)
Burton, Hester
Castors away!, 1962 (Juvenile fiction about the battle of Trafalgar.)
Burton, Sir Richard Francis 1821-1890
The book of The Thousand Nights and a Night: A plain and literal
translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments; made and annotated by
Richard F. Burton, 1885 (Sinbad the Sailor's Adventures, other trans-
lations and many abridgements of Burton's and others exist.)
Bushnell, Oswald A. 1913-
The Return of Lono: a novel of Captain Cook's last voyage, 1951
(Reconstructs the momentous visit to Hawaii by Captain Cook. Told from
the point of view of midshipman Forrest of the RESOLUTION. Hawaiian
history and customs are accurately portrayed. Author is the foremost
Hawaiian historical novelist.)
Butler, David 1937-
Lusitania, 1981 (Epic novel about the doomed liner and the people
involved with her. "...Rich historical thriller, moving pschological
profile, satisfying romance...")
Byrne, Beverly
The Outcast: The Griffin Saga Volume 1, 1981 (Roger Griffin, banished
from the court of Charles II, builds trading empire.)
Bywater, Hector C.
The Great Pacific War: A History of the American-Japanese Campaign of
1931-33, 1925 (A British naval corespondent, author of many books on
naval affairs and a friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bywater caused a
sensation with the publication of this novel. In fact the first
American edition was printed in England and shipped across to the
States for the Houghton Mifflin Company of New York and Boston. The
story's feasibility and likelihood were rubbished by Bywater's
contemporaries and the navies of America and Great Britain alike. After
all it was a bit far-fetched! The Japanese striking a surprise blow on
the American Pacific Fleet, attacking the Philippines, someone from the
Philippines taking command of the American counter-attack and island
hopping towards the Japanese mainland, a naval battle in mid-ocean the
turning point of the war, American industrial power eventually
redressing the naval balance etc. Whatever next! Obviously he was not
totally correct: he was ten years out and he had the Japanese surrender
after leaflets were dropped on Tokyo!)
(See Honan, William H. for biography, BYWATER: THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE
PACIFIC WAR, 1990)
Cable, George Washington 1844-1925
Gideon's Band, 1914 (Based on the author's experiences on the
Mississippi River. Intriguing rival steamboat owners, and the cholera
epidemics of the late 1840s.)
Caidin, Martin 1927-
The Last Fathom, 1967 (Russians plant doomsday bomb in middle of Atlantic
to destroy America and Europe, and secret US sub, controlled by only
two men, tries to stop it.)
Aquarius Mission, 1978 (US submarine investigates the disappearance of
two nuclear subs, discovers a strange world miles deep.)
Cailou, Alan
Dead Sea Submarine, 1971 (Arabs are moving a submarine across the desert
to the Dead Sea, and commandos are sent to stop it.)
Calin, Harold
Black Cargo, 1969 (Sexual tension aboard ship during the darkest days of
the slave trade.)
Slave Ship, 1977 (Young idealist from New England ships out on a slaver,
learns about the evil trade first hand.)
Callison, Brian
A Flock of Ships, 1970 (Deals with the crew of a British merchantman in
WW II in the South Atlantic. The ship is carrying new radio codes to
other merchant ships, and the Germans want them. U-boats stage a number
of distant pyrotechnic displays which spook the freighter's crew,
driving them to anchor in the lagoon of a Tristan da Cunha-like island.
there they fight it out with the subs, there being no survivors. The
story is told as the journal of the freighter's first mate, which is
discovered aboard the still-anchored ship by an RN survey ship in the
mid-1960's.)
A Plague of Sailors, 1971 (Following an earthquake in Israel, an Arab
dissident group steals a vial of anthrax bacillus, and attempts to
smuggle it into Israel aboard an Egyptian relief ship. British naval
special forces that operate out of a dummy steamship line set out to
foil the plot. Set approximately 1971-72.)
The Dawn Attack, 1972 (Fictional account of a British Commando raid on a
Norwegian port during WW II, based on a number of actual raids.)
A Web of Salvage, 1973 (Battered old salvage tug TACTICIAN is on her
final voyage home when a mayday call during a force 10 storm leads them
into a dangerous mystery.)
A Ship is Dying, 1976 (The last minutes of a sinking ship, very evocative
and very "real-time", and to set it apart from other disaster novels
it's not five hundred pages long and is illuminated by the hell-red
glow of Callisons wit. Very recommended by JH. Watch out for the
parrot!)
An Act of War, 1977 (A FRENZY OF MERCHANTMEN in UK. The Soviet Navy in
the 1980s blockades the Baltic Sea to British shipping. In retaliation,
a Royal Navy ship provokes the Soviets into an act of war. Soon nukes
and Nazis are flying around.)
The Judas Ship, 1978 (Merchantman attacked and damaged by German surface
raider seeks the shelter of a narrow river harbor in Brazil for
repairs, only to discover that the Raider is moored up-river of the
ship, repairing damage done to it by the merchantman. The Germans
cannot attack the merchantman while it is in the river because the
raider would be trapped if the merchantman sank in the channel.)
The Auriga Madness, 1980 (A terrible disease drives a ship's crew mad
with disasterous results.)
Sextant, 1981 (In 1941 the MV HIGHLANDER was torpedoed and sunk with all
hands. In 1981 the captain's sextant is discovered as part of a thief's
loot. The captain's son sets off to find out what really happened forty
years ago. This leads him to a small community (in N Scotland?) where
the other loot was from. Although the community is close-mouthed, he
slowly comes to discovered what happened to his father.)
Spearfish, 1983 (Captain Crofts is called on to board and capture a ship
full of present-day mercenaries.)
The Trojan Hearse, 1990 (WW II action as the Germans plot to revenge the
St. Nazaire raid. U-boat Captain Reitz gets do do the honours. The plot
is a bit stretched but this is more than made up for by Callisons
writing -and the pace at which it is forced on. "Recommended" [JH])
The Bone Collectors (The name given by U-Boat crews to the ships assigned
to pick up seamen who had abandoned ship. It is a novel of ordinary
Merchant Navy convoy men seen through the eyes of the chief officer of
the OLYMPIAN, one of the Bone Collectors.)
Edward Trapp series:
Trapp's War, 1976 (Edward Trapp, smuggler and captain of the rust
bucket CHARON, the only ship able to sneak in and out through the
German blockade of Malta, is called back to active service in the RN,
and inveigled into helping relieve the siege of Tobruk during the
African campaign in WW II.)
Trapp's Peace, 1980 (The sequel to Trapp's War. Further adventures of
Captain Trapp and his merry men. After smuggling illegal immigrants
across the English Channel, Trapp gets involved in nefarious
activites in the Mediterranean. Was he really being paid to ship used
construction equipment from Port Said to Malaga? Or was he expected
to scuttle it en route?)
Trapp & WW III, 1988 (Trapp returns to muddle through another adventure
with thieves, psychopaths, armies, navies, and air forces of several
nations all adding to the fireworks. Set in the 1980s.)
Crocodile Trapp, 1993 (Trapp and his team must be getting a little long
in the tooth by now, considering that Trapp was supposed to be an RN
Midshipman in WW I. Whatever, this time they are involved in the
usual illegal, dangerous cross and double cross, this time it
involves a Chinese triad, mad professors, crocodiles, buried treasure
and the jungles of Papua New Guinea.)
Cameron, Ian 1924-
The Midnight Sea, 1958 (The aircraft carrier HMS VIPER is escorting a
convoy to Russia and has to fight the weather and the Germans all the
way. The Captain's son joins the ship off Scotland, as batsman (officer
in giving directions to aircraft pilots by means of hand-held "bats").
The story matter-of-factly unfolds. The characters do not seem to be
fleshed out, the loss of a ship or aircraft takes few words. In spite
of this by the end of the book you have the whole picture of the sea
war as fought by the Royal Navy and in this particular case the Fleet
Air Arm in those inhospitable latitudes. Strangely enough the enormous
effort and sacrifice made by the convoy to reach Russia and by the
Germans to prevent them doing so is convincingly demonstrated.)
The White Ship, 1975 (A Spanish treasure ship goes aground in the South
Shetland Islands in 1818. In 1974 an expedition searching for golden
seals finds the treasure ship, and unquiet ghosts that give them more
then they bargained for.)
Cameron, J. D.
Omega Sub Series: (USS LIBERATOR, a USN SSN survives a nuclear war, and
the crew spends its efforts trying to rebuild the world.)
Omega Sub, 1991 [1] (On top secret manuevers beneath the polar ice cap,
the USS LIBERATOR surfaces to find the Earth in flames from a global
thermonuclear war -- a war so complete that they do not know what
started it. The crew then begins seeking out survivors to forge a new
future.)
Omega Sub: Command Decision, 1991 [2] (LIBERATOR comes across a
Japanese trawler fleet that has survived the war, but had its crew
destroyed after the shooting stopped.)
Omega Sub: City of Fear [3] ("When you think of a post-apocalyptic
setting you think, 'I've seen it before.' But, this book takes that
setting and totaly refreshes it. After a few pages you find yourself
wondering what's around the next corner and holding your breath as
you flip the page. Will it be the irradiated freak white shirts who
are spreading like an infection across the radioactive remains of the
earth, or will it be an entire island mysteriously desserted by all
it's inhabitants?" [RB])
Omega Sub: Blood Tide, 1991 [4] (LIBERATOR cruises the South Pacific
saving survivors of the nuclear war from a lunatic and an army of
sadistic killers, but bad guys kidnap the captain and demand the sub
for ransom.)
Omega Sub: Death Dive, 1992 [5]
Omega Sub: Raven Rising [6] (Hidden in an underground fortress, the
insane U.S. president and his elite corps of stormtroopers, survivors
of the nuclear holocaust that has left the world in ruins, make plans
to enslave what remains of the human race.)
Cameron, Lou 1924-
The Amphorae Pirates, 1970 (Diving for ancient treasures off Greece.)
Campbell, John T.
Raid on Truman, 1991 (Crew of nuclear carrier is knocked out by nerve gas
and North Korean troops take it over. Small bunch of crew survives, and
tries to free ship.)
Carin, Michael 1951-
Five Hundred Keys, 1980 (A student tries for a quick buck on a 38' boat
carrying drugs from Morocco to Newfoundland with deadly results.)
Carlisle, Henry 1926-
Voyage to the First of December, 1972 (THE SOMERS MUTINY in the UK. Novel
based on the true events surrounding the attempted mutiny on board the
USN brig SOMERS in 1842, for which the son of the Secretary of War was
hanged.)
The Jonah Man, 1984 (Fictional biography of Capt. George Pollard,
commander of the whaleship ESSEX which was sunk by a sperm whale in the
Pacific, the survivors ate their shipmates to stay alive. Told in his
own fictional words.)
Carpenter, Scott (Malcom Scott) 1925- (The astronaut)
The Steel Albatross, 1991 (One of the techno-thriller genre. Our Hero is
a misfit US Navy pilot who joins the SEALs and is sent to command a new
class of submarine -- one that soars in the ocean currents. With his
super vessel, he protects the world from the Soviet bad guys.)
Carr, Philippa 1906-
The Lion Triumphant, 1974 (Heroine meets jake the ship captain, is
kidnaped by Spanish pirates, and winds up in the Canary Islands just
before the defeat of the Spanish Armada.)
Carse, Robert, 1903-
The Beckoning Waters, 1953 (A novel of the Great Lakes in the late 19th
and early 20th century.)
The Fabulous Buccaneer, 1957 (Novel about Alexander Selkirk, the early
18th century privateer whose marooning on Juan Fernandez, off the coast
of Chile, was the real-life inspiration for Robinson Crusoe.)
Morgan the Pirate, 1961 (Henry Morgan is sold as a slave in Panama,
returns as pirate captain to plunder and destroy.)
Carter, Peter
The Sentinels, 1980 (HMS SENTINEL tries to snuff out the slave trade on
the African coast. Our heroes are midshipman John Spencer and Lyapo, a
slave.)
Carter, Robert
Armada, 1988 (This novel, of Elizabethan England locked in a bloody war
with Spain, explores the religious and secular conflict as it affects
the two nations, and in particular, two very different brothers. All
the historical heroes have a role in this rambling saga which covers
two continents and two decades.)
Casey, John 1939-
Spartina, 1989 (Modern novel about a grumpy Rhode Island fisherman
struggling to build a fishing boat in his back yard and get ahead.)
Cassell, Stephen
The Last Voyage of the SSN Skate, 1988 (Old US nuclear attack sub is
caught in a CIA intrigue.)
Castlemon, Henry 1842-1915
Frank Nelson in the Forecastle, or, the Sportsman's Club Among the
Whalers, 1876
Catherall, Arthur 1906-
Tugboat BULLDOG series (Set around the adventures of a seagoing salvage
tug, the BULLDOG, which is owned by 18-year-old Jack Frobisher, and
commanded by Husky Hudson, six-foot, tow-headed and tough. Young adult)
Sea Wolves, 1959 (Dutch tanker runs aground in Souruba harbor. When
BULLDOG responds to the call before her rivals, one of them attempts
to steal the ship aided by the eruption of a volcano long believed to
be extinct.)
Dangerous Cargo, 1960 (BULLDOG attempts salvage of the SULU PRINCE, an
aged freighter on fire off the Little Laut Islands in the Macassar
Straits. Unknown to BULLDOG, the SULU PRINCE is gunrunning for
Indonesian rebels, who bribe the BULLDOG's rival salvors to SINK the
SULU PRINCE.)
China Sea Jigsaw, 1961 (BULLDOG attempts to salve the 7,000 ton
passenger ship TAI LUNG, but Karmey, a rival tugboat captain sends a
false report that the TAI LUNG has sunk and BULLDOG was found
abandoned. To transform it into an accurate report, and settle the
score for past encounters, Karmey rams the TAI LUNG.)
Lost With All Hands, 1940 (The trawler BLACKBALL ANNIE sets out on her
maiden voyage in the hope of making a good haul, but her skipper has
reckoned without Mark Slane the new cook's assistant. What connections
has Slane with the mysterious Viktor Nordt and the gunboat HKLA? What
has happened to the four trawlers "lost with all hands..."?)
Lost Off the Grand Banks, 1962 (Boys fishing for cod find a stranded sub
under ice.)
The Strange Intruder, 1968 (THE STRANGE INVADER in Scotland. The survivor
of a wrecked schooner brings a reign of terror to a remote island off
Scotland.)
Last Horse on the Sands, 1972 (A brother and sister risk their lives and
that of an old cart horse while trying to rescue victims of a plane
crash before the tide comes in. For young readers.)
Catto, Max 1909-
Murphy's War, 1968 (In the final days of WWII in Europe, a U-Boat off the
coast of southern Africa torpedos an Australian armed merchant cruiser
and the hospital ship it is escorting, machine guns the survivors, then
sails up a jungle river to wait out the war's end. A survivor from the
AMC, a disreputable petty officer, salvages a Swordfish floatplane from
the wreck, and hunts the U-boat with it. Filmed in 1971.)
Causley, Charles 1917- (Editor)
The Puffin Book of Salt Water Verse, 1978 (Poems about sailors,
fishermen, ships, storms dreams, treasures and above all the ocean.)
Cave, Peter, 1940-? and Wreddon, Margaret
Pisces Rising, 1978 (Marine biologist H. Grossman is working in an
underwater city when the marine world strikes back at the dry land. An
eco-horror novel.)
Chalker, Jack L. 1944-
The Devil's Voyage, 1981 (The sinking of USS INDIANAPOLIS during WW II.)
Challoner, Robert
Jamaica Passage, 1982 (Piracy and passion in the 1820s aboard the 8 gun
ARGO, fastest ship afloat.)
Run Out the Guns, 1984 (Quite a lively tale with some potential. This
novel's hero is Commander Lord Charles Oakshott and is set during the
Napoleonic era.)
Chamier, Captain Frederick, R.N. 1796-1870 (Chamier enetered the navy in 1809
aboard the SALSETTE, which took part in the Walcheren expedition. Between
1810 and 1827 he was employed chiefly in the Mediterranean but left the Navy
as a commander in 1833 (he made captain in 1856). He edited an important
continuation of James' NAVAL HISTORY. [From the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich's, biography)
Ben Brace, The Last of Nelson's Agamemnons, 1836 (A nautical biography of
Horatio Nelson as seen by a sailor who has been with him since his
midshipman days. There several interesting passages relating to Emma.
Ben Brace is said to be modeled on Nelson's coxswain. After Nelson's
death Ben retires to Greenwhich; marries and lives an interesting life
eventualy becoming wealthy.)
Arethusa, A Naval Story, 1837
The Life of A Sailor, 1832 (Autobiographic?)
Jack Adams, or The Mutiny of the Bounty, 1838 (Alternate title: JACK
ADAMS, THE MUTINEER)
The Spitfire, A Nautical Romance, 1840
Tom Bowling: A Tale of the Sea. 1839 (Ten year old Tom is rescued from a
drunken pedlar and taken in hand by the Rev. Mr Monckton, whose
daughter Susan teaches Tom the 3 R's. At age twelve Tom goes to sea,
where his courage, zeal, and education attract the patronage of Nelson
and Collingwood and lead to rapid advancement. He is post captain at
20, marries Susan, and finds that he is really the stolen son of a
noble family. Tom serves through the Napoleonic wars, and dies as
Admiral Sir Thomas Bowling, Governor of Greenwich Hospital. The story
contains detailed accounts of many real actions, and first-hand
descriptions of conditions in the Royal Navy. Supposedly based on the
life of Captain Richard Bowen, 1761-1797, who was killed in the action
at Teneriffe in which Nelson lost his arm.)
Charles, Robert
Sea Vengeance, 1974 (A freighter is hijacked by the Viet Cong and comes
under attack by both US and Vietnamese fighter planes.)
Charrier, Larry
Tidelines, 1995 (Contemporary, small time commercial fishing in Southeast
Alaska , British Columbia and the Northwest. based on the author's
experiences.)
Chase-Riboud, Barbara
Echo of Lions, 1989 (Novel based on the AMISTAD incident in 1839, when
a cargo of slaves captured the vessel they in which they were being
transported.)
Chidsey, Donald B. 1902-
Captain Adam, 1953 (Aboard the schooner GOODWILL TO MEN in the Caribbean,
fighting smugglers, coasters, pirates and men o' war in the 18th
century.)
Edge of Piracy, 1964
Cheney, Theodore A. Rees
Day of Fate, 1981 (Chinese get a copy of a US super sub and set out for
Hudson Bay to destroy America.)
Chester, Alan
The Cygnet Adventure, 1984 (A dramatisation/fictionalised account of
William Dampier's historically factual 1680s adventures in the
Philippines, Sumatra, north coast of Australia and the Andaman
Islands. Rollicking good tale full of blood and thunder and dusky
maidens with "breasts standing high and firm like half-coconuts"!)
Childers, Robert Erskine 1870-1922
+The Riddle of the Sands, 1903 (Pre WW I yachtsmen find German military
preparations. One of the Best. The classic adventure of cruising along
the sand banks of the North Sea. Compare to Maurice Griffith's non-
fiction books about the same areas. See also biography The Riddle of
Erskine Childers, by Andrew Boyle, 1977.)
Christopher, John
The White Voyage, 1960 (Danish freighter-passenger vessel sailing from
Dublin to Copenhagen experiences rudder and hatch failure during a
storm on the North Sea. After the panicked crew abandons the ship
during the height of the storm, the officers and passengers work
together to survive an arctic shipwreck.)
Clagett, John
The Slot, 1958 (PT boats in the Solomon Islands during WW II.)
Torpedo Run on Iron Bottomed Bay, 1969 (A seventeen-year-old sailor tries
to prove the sincerity of a Japanese-American friend serving on his PT
boat in the Pacific during World War II.)
Typhoon 1944, 1970 (Japanese kamikazes and a typhoon test the courage of
the men aboard a United States Navy destroyer in World War II.)
Rebel, 1964 (Ras Hubert, Lt. USN, goes south after his home state leaves
the Union, commands the LITTLE REBEL on the Mississippi, the PAMLICO on
the Atlantic Coast, and becomes the Confederate's greatest naval hero
-- while killing his best friend, and falling in love with a Union spy
in the process.)
Surprise Attack, 1968 (The surprise, tragedies, and triumph of the naval
battle of Leyte Gulf as experienced by five boys not long out of boot
camp. For young Readers)
Papa Tango, 1982 (A novel of Charles Noble, former commander of PT-97
during the Guadalcanal campaign, whose wartime experiences are awakened
at a reunion in 1965.)
Clancy, Tom 1947-
The Hunt for Red October, 1984 (Nuclear submarine hunt.)
Red Storm Rising, 1986 (A non-nuclear WWIII, concentrating on the new
Battle of the Atlantic.)
Debt of Honour, 1994 (A US-Japan war, fought mostly at sea and in the
air.)
Clark, Halsey (Ian McMahan?)
Pacific Standoff, 1983 (US sub skipper takes command of new construction
fleet submarine after commanding another sub on war patrols, takes his
new command, MANTA, through shake-down and commissioning, then for a
series of successful war patrols in the Pacific. Due to feelings of
inadequacy he continues in command after he has become too fatigued to
function at top efficiency, leading to a demise in a blaze of glory.)
Clavell, James
Tai-Pan, 1966 (Dirk Straun builds Hong Kong and the Noble House -- a
trading company -- in the early 1840s. To do so, he must overcome
pirates, incompetent British officials, rival shipping companies, Royal
Navy officers that are waiting for him to step out of line, and the
forces of nature. Most nautical of the Asia series, and very nautical.)
Cleary, Jon 1917- (Australian known for his adventure fiction and his Scobie
Malone detective series.)
The Long Pursuit, 1967 (Escape by sea from the Japanese at the beginning
of WW II.)
Clement, Hal 1922-
Mission of Gravity, 1954 (The planet Mesklin has a monstrous
gravitational field... up to 600 times that of earth... yet is
inhabited by insect-like creatures who ride the planet's oceans on
hinged rafts (hinged because they need to flow over the surface...
caught between two wave tops at that gravity would snap any craft in
half). An earth probe has gone missing and needs to be recovered. So a
bargain is struck with a Mesklinite merchant skipper who is ready to
collaborate in return for scientific knowledge. Sci-fi for sure, but
nautical too.)
Clowes, Sir W. Laird 1856-1905 and Burgoyne, Alan S.
The Captain of the "Mary Rose": A tale of tomorrow, 1892 (Set in 1905 at
a time of strained international relations. Sailors ashore in Toulon
from the British and French fleets have a serious entente un-cordiale
which extends to their higher commands and results in a naval battle
off the port in which the Royal Navy is severely mauled - a day later
French torpedo boats destroy units of the Royal Navy off Portsmouth.
Subsequent French strategy is to lay a naval siege to Gibraltar and
deny access to the Mediterranean. (The latter situation was a probable
the result of the Admiralty's decision not to maintain a naval
superiority in the Mediterranean but the investiture of Gibraltar is an
unlikely French strategy, but Clowes used it to emphasise the danger.
To alert public opinion was the main reason Clowes wrote the novel) The
hero is a disgraced naval lieutenant (he leaked details of the Toulon
incident to the press) who is given command of a privately owned new
armoured cruiser that is to operate as a privateer ???? He offers to
run the French blockade to take orders, for the British counter attack,
to the trapped remnants of the Mediterranean Fleet. In this he
succeeds, creating havoc amongst the French on the way. The MARY ROSE
plays a leading part as the British attack the French from both sides.
Our hero is knighted and reinstated in the Royal Navy as a full
captain.)
Trafalgar Refought, 1905 (From 1890 to 1895 Clowes was the naval
correspondent for the Times and one of the most influential naval
experts of the day; he actually died just before the Centenary for
which this book was written. In this constructive study the British and
French fleets are as they were at the time (1905) but the Spanish seem
to have the Russian type of warships that were to suffer at the hands
of the Japanese at Tsushima. The strategic situation runs parallel with
the real lead up to Trafalgar, even Diamond Rock is captured by the
armoured cruiser CENTAUR. The fleet actions are described with the aid
of numerous pullout charts and the likely tactics described in some
detail. "Very interesting - its pity Jellicoe and Beatty did not read
this book!" [PW])
Clowes, William Laird, 1856-1905 and Robinson, Commander C. N.
The Great Naval War of 1887, 1886 (Originally serialised in the ST. JAMES
GAZETTE and published as a novelette of 64 pages of first person
accounts. The frontispiece is a pull-out chart of the Battle of
Flamborough Head. The breakdown of relations between Britain and
France, the results of the inevitable naval clash and the military
invasion are described and tabulated in some detail. Contempory famous
names are barely disguised. In spite of many individual acts of courage
the French humiliate and defeat the British and all "because the
government failed to properly fund the Royal Navy!")
Cobb, James H.
Series: (The adventures of the female captain of a USN "stealth"
destroyer. Set in the near 21st century. "Very well done battle
sequences." [TP])
Choosers of the Slain, 1996
Sea Strike, 1997
Coleman, Lonnie 1920-
Ships Company, 1952 (WW II troop transport in the Mediterranean.)
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 1772-1834
+The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1798 (Poem.)
Copyright © John Kohnen 1999
Commercial reproduction prohibited without written consent