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
Dorris, Michael and Erdrich, Louise
The Crown of Columbus, 1991 (An anthropologist discovers Columbus' lost
diary and reference to "the greatest treasure of Europe", so it's off
to the Caribbean.)
Doss, Vernon L.
Survival, 1981 (Teenage farmboy joins the Navy, and sees the Pacific --
if not the world -- aboard a DE and the PENSACOLA during World War II.
Covers his entire career from boot camp to post-war discharge. Despite
the downer title, an upbeat book.)
Douglass, Keith
Carrier series:
Carrier, 1994 [1](Commonwealth of Independent States (ex USSR)
shatters, so the US carrier JEFFERSON is sent to Russian waters to
prevent the deployment of Russian Typhoon submarines.)
Viper Strike [2]
Armageddon Mode [3]
Flame-Out [4]
Maelstrom, 1993 [5]
Countdown [6]
Seal Team Seven series:
Seal Team Seven [1]
Specter [2]
Nucflash, 1995 (USN Seals deal with nukes, offshore platforms and
psychotic renegades.)
Dowdell, Del
Torpedo Alley, 1988 (The US sub POCATELLO chases the Russian supersub
SUSLOV which is carrying stolen secrets that could render the US Navy
defenseless.)
Dowling, Sherwood
Submarine Chums series: (Adventures of a group of young boys in a
home-made submarine.)
The Cruise of the Gray Whale, 1914 [1] (The first discovery of the
submarine and the chums' first adventures. These are not without
peril, and the stories' real moral lies in the clear-headed, and
innovative way the young hero saves the lives of his companions and
extricates them from danger. Nothing fantastic or unbelievable, just
good common sense, some simple basic physics and the hard lesson
learned that things that appear to be dangerous, probably are, and
that adults should probably be consulted first!)
Gray Whale Warship, 1914 [2]
The Gray Whale Flagship, 1915 [3] (More adventures of the Submarine
Chums but now with two subs! They decide to go into business carrying
passengers on submerged tours, but obviously, since this is a boy's
book series, much trouble ensues with bad guys (and good guys)
galore. "Entertaining reading for the young'uns and the same good
features in this outing as in the first one listed above." [DG])
Gray Whale Derelict, 1915 [4]
Downey, Bill
Black Viking, 1981 (Gunnar Black Wolf, son of a Viking lord and a Moorish
slave, grows up as one of the chosen of Odin and the companion of
prince Harald Finehair. He returns home from fun and freebooting to
find his adoptive parents, wife, and child dead, and vows vengance
against their slayer. In the course of this quest, he becomes outlawed
and is driven to lead a mighty raid against the Franks.)
Doyle, Arthur Conan 1859-1930
Short stories:
The Striped Chest
The Captain of the POLESTAR
The Fiend of the Cooperage
Jelland's Voyage
J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement
That Little Square Box
The Fate of the Evangeline
Touch and Go: A Midshipman's Story
The Tragedy of FLOWERY LAND
Death Voyage
Pirate Stories:
Captain Sharkey: How the Governor of St. Kitt's Came Home
The Dealings of Captain Sharkey with Steven Craddock
The Blighting of Sharkey
How Copley Banks Slew Captain Sharkey
The SLAPPING SAL
Drachmann, Holger Henrik Herholdt 1846-1908
The Cruise of the Wild Duck and Other Stories (Short stories, probably
translated from Danish.)
Drake, David
Mask of the Sun (This is only marginally a maritime fiction item, in that
it starts off with the finding of a gold mask by skindivers looking for
treasure. It is however a good portrait of the world of treasure
hunters, Spanish (and Inca) sixteenth century people and ends up as a
Sci-Fi story where the Inca defeat the Spaniards.)
Draper, Alfred 1924-
Grey Seal, 1981 (GREY SEAL is a coal-burning 600 ton ex-trawler taken up
by the Royal Navy as WW II gets under way. We follow the course of the
war in those early days as the crew come to terms with the dramatic
changes in their circumstances and slowly become welded into an
efficient fighting unit bonded by something stronger but less tangible
than naval discipline. E-boats, aircraft and U-boats take their toll on
GREY SEAL and her crew during East coast convoy duties, the Northern
Patrol and anti-submarine duties off Scapa Flow.)
The Restless Waves, 1983 (GREY SEAL, her main characters still on board,
is rescuing the British Army from the debacle of Norway. Short of fuel
she hides in the fjords and manages to return to England with glory
after using everything that would burn to get there. While at Dunkirk,
after an extensive refit, helping to save the British army again, a
mysterious captain involves them in a secret mission to recover
diamonds, gold and blueprints from a vessel sunk in the exodus from
Holland in the face of the German advance. "A very enjoyable read; I
hope there are more books in the series." [PW])
Druett, Joan
Abigail, 1988 (Inspired by a true story. A young girl inherits her
father's whaling ship when he is murdered in New Zealand in the 1850s,
sets out from US to claim her inheritance, crosses paths with pirates,
and seeks treasure.)
A Promise of Gold, 1990. (A young actress bluffs her way on board the
brig HAKLUYT in the year 1848, to find that the captain and crew are
professional treasure-hunters. She and her brother plan to make a
fortune by stealing a flock of alpaca and selling them in New South
Wales, but instead are carried off to the Californian gold-fields.)
Du Brul, Jack B.
Vulcan's Forge, 1998 (Philip Mercer, geologist and one-time commando,
unexpectedly finds himself caught in the middle of a global crisis when
he tries to rescue the daughter of an old friend who's being kept under
armed guard at a local hospital. A nuclear bomb born undersea volcano
with a rogue Russian submarine lurking near it, a violent secessionist
movement in Hawaii, gun battles in the New York subway system,
diplomatic breakdown in the Far East... can Mercer get us out of this
mess?)
DuMaurier, Daphne 1907-
Frenchman's Creek, 1942 (A romance novel about a woman and a pirate, some
of which takes place on the pirate ship.)
Duprey, Richard A.
Duel on the wind: a Novel of the America's Cup Challenge, 1976 (About a
fictitious 1977 Cup challenge by the Saudi Arabians!)
Durham, Lieutenant Commander Victor G. (Pseudonym)
Submarine Boys series: (Books for boys about life aboard submarine
torpedo boats. "The books are written by an expert and possess, in
addition to the author's surpassing knack of story-telling, a great
educational value for all young readers.")
The Submarine Boys On Duty; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat, 1909
[1] (Two 16-year-old boys, Jack Benson and Hal Hastings, find
employment at a boatyard building a new submarine boat. The
submarine's inventor, David Pollard, hopes to sell his boat, the
POLLARD, to the US Navy. Jack and Hal become crewmembers of the
POLLARD upon her launching, with Jack as captain. Eph Somers, also 16
years old, joins the crew as they successfully demonstrate the
POLLARD to the Navy. During their adventures, the Submarine Boys foil
sabotage attempts by a former employee of the boatyard, capture an
escaped lunatic, and nab the embezzler of a young heiress's fortune.)
The Submarine Boys' Trial Trip; Or, "Making Good" as Young Experts,
1909 [2]
The Submarine Boys and the Middies; Or, The Prize Detail at
Annapolis, 1909 [3]
The Submarine Boys and the Spies; Or, Dodging the Sharks of the
Deep, 1910 [4]
The Submarine Boys' Lightning Cruise; Or, The Young Kings of the
Deep, 1910 [5]
The Submarine Boys For the Flag; Or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle
Sam, 1910 [6]
The Submarine Boys and the Smugglers; Or, Breaking Up the New Jersey
Customs Frauds, 1912 [7]
The Submarine Boys' Secret Mission; or, Beating an Ambassador's Game,
1912 [8]
Eaton, Evelyn 1902-
Restless are the Sails, 1941 (French pirate captain at the siege of
Louisburg, Nova Scotia in 1758.)
Eccles, Frank 1923-
The Barbary Run, 1971 (Captain Lawson, in command of the forty-four gun
frigate, HMS COMUS, is ordered to hunt one of the most notorious
pirates to operate on the North African coast, Yussaiff Ahmed, whose
nefarious activities have sent insurance rates sky high, but it is his
audacious seizure of an East Indiaman which rouses the British
Government to demand his destruction. However, Captain Lawson's mission
is complicated when he finds his admiral's wife adrift in a boat full
of survivors from a pirate attack, and he discovers that she knows more
than she is saying about the pirate leader. An entertaining naval yarn
set in 1816. Needless to say it is promoted as being in the tradition
of C.S. Forester.)
Fifty Thousand Overcoats, 1973 (Written for older children this story
concerns a British ship's owner/captain, who comes out of retirement
when he believes his ship is being used for nefarious purposes. With
his adopted son he is forced to sail in his ship, which is now being
used as a blockade runner attempting to take supplies, including the
eponymous overcoats, to Bonaparte's army in Russia. Apparently based on
a true incident in 1812.)
The Mutiny Run, 1994 (In 1797 the Royal Navy hurriedly sends HMS
ADAMANT with Midshipman John Lawson aboard on a mission with two goals:
to get the crew away from the influence of the Spithead mutiny and to
boost morale with a bold stroke against the coast of France.)
Eco, Umberto
The Island of the Day Before, 1995 (Allegorical tale about a minor member
of Italian nobility, Roberto de la Griva, who is swept off one ship in
the Pacific and finds an abandoned ship anchored in the bay of a
beautiful island. The ship, while fully provisioned, and apparently
intact has been abandoned by its crew. As Roberto explores the ship, he
muses about his life, the universe and everything.)
Edmondson, G. C.
The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream, 1965 (A USN owned yawl conducting
experiments with newfangled ASW equipment in the 1960s is struck by
lighting in a sudden squall off San Diego and finds itself suddenly in
much colder waters, seriously off course, and in a calm fog... and out
of the fog comes sailing up a Viking longship. Things get interesting
from there.)
To Sail the Century Sea, 1981 (Further adventures of "the ship that
sailed the time stream.)
Edwards, J. C.
Fletcher's Fortune, 1992 (The start of a series of books centered on
Jacob Fletcher, who joins the Navy in 1793. Harry Flashman in a sailor
suit would sum it up, and none the worse for it. The author has
"discovered" a set of papers purporting to be those of Admiral
Fletcher, and the emphasis is on the comic.)
Fletcher's Glorious First of June (Obviously places the Flashmanesque
hero at the famous 1794 naval battle between the British and French.)
Edwards, John E.
Yard-Arm For A Gallows, 1966 (It is 1721 and England is at war with
Spain. Piracy and adventure in the Caribbean.)
Ehrlich, Max 1909-
Deep is the Blue, 1964 (SSBN captain pushes his crew for perfection so
hard that they end up making mistakes. This, in turn, endangers the
safety and mission of the ship on its patrol, and almost leads to an
attack on an allied submarine. Finally, in an effort to shake up the
crew, the captain makes a mistake which almost sinks the sub.)
Eliot, George Fielding 1894-
Caleb Pettingill USN, 1956 (The steam frigate MERRIMACK blockades
Southern ports during the War Between the States.)
Ellsberg, Edward 1891- (Renowned USN diving and salvage expert. Pioneered the
salvaging of submarines with his raising of the ill-fated S-51, for which he
received a DSM, and the rescue of the S-4. Principal Salvage Officer under
Ike in the N. Africa invasion during WW II and worked on the Mulberry
artificial harbor project for the Normandy invasion. He has also written
several excellent non-fiction books.)
Santa Cruz Treasure series: (Exciting diving and salvage adventures.)
Thirty Fathoms Deep, 1930 (Ex-USN salvage officer and ex-navy divers
use a surplus WW I navy salvage ship to go after the treasure of a
Spanish galleon sunk in 30 fathoms near a tiny island off the
Peruvian coast.)
Ocean Gold, 1935 (Ex-USN salvage officer Philip Ramsay takes command of
the LAPWING to recover the remaining treasure of the Santa Cruz, now
hidden underneath the sunken hull of another ship!)
Submarine Treasure, 1936 (Also published as Spanish Ingots. After
jettisoning the Spanish gold to avoid it's confiscation by the
Peruvian navy and scuttling the LAPWING Philip Ramsay charters an old
"S" class submarine, now a travelling exhibition, to recover the
treasure.)
Treasure Below, 1940 (More adventures in the S-53 and the NANTUCKET
LIGHTSHIP(!) as Philip Ramsay and the navy divers try to get the
Santa Cruz treasure back to civilization.)
Pigboats, 1931 (Saga of a USN "L" class submarine during WW I.)
Submerged, 1931? (Lieutenant Knowlton commands the American submarine
L-200 attached to Britain’s Grand Fleet in the First World War. Driven
by enemy destroyers, crippled and helpless, to a depth she was not
designed for we follow the despair and desperation of her people as
their morale disintegrates in the face of what appears to be certain
death. "Rare to find credible dialogue from this period - so in spite
of being a little unbelievable (by today’s standards) - an enjoyable
read." [PW])
S-54, Stories of the Sea, 1932 (Sea stories.)
Hell on Ice; the Saga of the "Jeannette", 1938 (The personal narrative in
fictional form of the chief engineer, G.W. Melville, of the tragic
USN expedition "to that unknown part of the world lying North of
Behring's strait." 22 of the 34 men in the JEANETTE died while trying
to reach Siberia after she was crushed in the ice in June 1881.)
Captain Paul, 1941 (Fiction about John Paul Jones.)
"I have just begun to fight" The story of John Paul Jones, 1942
(Fictionalized for young readers)
Cruise of the Jeannette, 1949 (Fictionalized for young readers.)
Mid Watch: a novel, 1954 (Boiler blows up in an old US Navy cruiser
making a full power run sometime before WW I. Ensign is made scapegoat
and court martialled.)
Ellsworth, John (Editor)
Tiller and Pen: A Collection of Sailors' Stories (Modern short fiction.)
Esler, Anthony
For Love of a Pirate, 1978 (16th century English corsair captures the
daughter of Cuba's Spanish governor, chases galleon carrying gold.)
Evans, Alan 1930-
David Cochrane Smith Series:
Thunder at Dawn, 1978 (Commander David Cochrane Smith pulls off heroics
in an outdated British Cruiser off Chile in 1917 against two German
cruisers. Probably based on the battle of Coronel.)
Ship of Force, 1979 (Smith is given command of a motley collection of
rejects in the Dover Patrol and given the assignment of killing
U-boats through aggressive patrolling. He cannot convince his
superior of the futility of the task or get support to stop a German
surprise that he is expecting -- despite its potential to lose the
war for Britain.)
Seek and Destroy, 1984 (Commander Smith and three British torpedo boats
pursue the German battleship SALZBURG off the Italian Coast in 1917.)
Dauntless, 1985 (Smith uses a mixed force -- his command, the light
cruiser DAUNTLESS, a seaplane carrier, a USN subchaser, and a
merchantman carrying a British infantry battalion that has murdered
its commanding officer -- to interdict Central Power reinforcements
and supplies in the Palestine theater in 1916. Just as he has things
under control -- in time to support Allenby's attack on Bersheeba --
the Germans use a BLUCHER class heavy cruiser to run the 5000-man
Afrika Legion into the theater. Smith is ordered to stop them.)
Audacity, 1985 (In command of a British "Q" ship, Smith tries to
deliver a cargo of gold and a mysterious woman to a Russian group
fighting the Germans in 1918.)
Orphans of the Storms, 1990 (At the start of WW II Captain Smith foils
an attempt by a German light cruiser to aid the GRAF SPEE.)
Sink or Capture, 1993 (Captain David Smith, thought by some to be unfit
for command, is still serving in the Royal Navy in 1940. In this
story, which stretches credulity to the utmost, Smith searches for
his daughter Susan. He takes part in HMS COSSACK's boarding of the
ALTMARK in Jossingfjord, survives the ramming of the HIPPER by the
GLOWWORM and the novel's climax is his light cruiser engaging the
German heavy cruiser BRANDENBURG in the Battle of Narvik knowing his
daughter is aboard the German ship....)
Deed of Glory, 1984 (The lives of a Regular Royal Navy officer, his
artist cousin, who joins the Royal Marines after WW II breaks out, an
ex-USN officer who joins the Royal Navy, and a Frenchwoman whose father
was a senior port offical intertwine around the raid on St. Nazaire
during the early stages of WW II. The book starts with the British
evacuation of St. Nazaire in 1940, and climaxes with the raid on the
Normandie Dock in 1942.)
Eagle at Taranto, 1987 (Based on true events. Tells the story of the
pilots of the Fairey Swordfish biplanes ("stringbags") who attacked the
Italian fleet anchored in the harbor of Taranto, Italy in 1940.)
Night Action, 1989 (British MGBs raid a German-held French town to rescue
an atomic scientist during WW II.)
Sword at Sunrise (Adventures of the LCT CLIMAX at the D-Day invasion.)
Eyster, Warren
Far From Customary Skies, 1953 (WW II destroyer.)
Fabry, Joseph B.
Swing shift: Building the Liberty ships, 1982
Falkner, John Meade 1858-1932
Moonfleet, ? (Fifteen-year-old orphan gets caught with smugglers in
Moonfleet, England, which leads to complications impelling him into a
search for the cursed Mohune treasure. For 19th century young readers
-- or 20th century adults that don't need sex to enjoy a plotline.
Young readers today would probably find it too difficult.)
Farnol, Jeffery 1878-1952
Black Bartlemy's Treasure, 1920
Martin Conisby's Vengeance, 1921
(Eighteenth century pirate adventures in England and the West Indies.)
Farrell, F. L.
Surface Raider, Ca. 1975 (Routine novel of the pursuit of the German
pocket-battleship GRAF SPEE by British cruisers across the South
Atlantic to the showdown off Montevideo in December of 1939. Told in
the first person by a seaman in the B-turret of HMS AJAX. A Badger
Book. Similar to THOSE WHO SERVE and CORVETTE PATROL.))
Faulkner, William
Mosquitoes, 1927 (The title refers to the annoying people around whom the
novel centers. Most of the story takes place on a short cruise from New
Orleans. "Although far from Faulkner's best work, it is an enjoyable
read." [SB])
Fenner, Phyllis R. (editor)
Pirates, Pirates, Pirates: Stories of cutlasses and corsairs, buried
treasure and buccaneers, ships and swashbucklers, 1951 (for young
readers.)
Feuchtwanger, Lion 1884-1958
Proud Destiny, 1947 (Intrigue, wit and folly involved in getting France
to support the American rebels in 1776.)
Finer, Alex
Deep Water, 1983 (Deep diving sub explores an undersea volcano 6 miles
down, with the CIA aboard looking for secrets.)
Finney, Jack
Assault on a Queen, 1959 (Six adventurers raise a WW I German U-Boat in
the 50's, refurbish it, and use it to conduct an armed robbery of the
QUEEN MARY. Made into a movie during the 60's.)
Fisher, Leonard Everett
Death of the Evening Star: The diary of a young New England Whaler (For
young readers. Boy goes on whaling cruise in the Atlantic during 1840s,
is sole survivor of shipwreck.)
Fitzgerald, Penelope
Offshore, 1979 (The story of a community living on converted barges and
boats at a wharf in Battersea in the 1960s. The people are like the
boats - 1/2/ and 1/2, neither truly of the land or the sea.)
Flanagan, Thomas
The Year of the French (A story of the Irish rebellion of 1798, the one
Wolfe Tone was involved in, and the attempt by the French to support
that rebellion with an invasion force.)
Fleming, Thomas J.
Time and tide, 1987 (US cruiser JEFFERSON CITY flees disaster at the
battle of Savo Island, but makes up for it in adventures across the
Pacific in this WW II novel.)
Fletcher, Inglis (Clark), 1888-
Lusty Wind for Carolina, 1944 (Captain Woodes Rogers fights pirates in
the early 18th century Carolina colonies.)
Cormorant's Brood, 1959 (Romance, adventure and intrigue in early 18th
century North Carolina.)
Rogue's Harbor, 1964 (Colonists in 17th century North Carolina try to
practice free trade and evade taxes. One family's son joins a merchant
captain, another is captured by pirates.)
Follet, James 1939-
The Wotan Warhead, 1979 (The skipper of a WW II U-boat carrying a torpedo
with a deadly warhead is pursued by the British as he tries to carry
out a secret mission.)
Churchill's Gold, 1980 (In 1941 a German spy discovers an attempt to
secretly move British gold reserves from South Africa to the United
States via a merchantman, leading to a Nazi attempt to capture the ship
on the high seas.)
Forbes, George 1849-1936
Adventures In Southern Seas, or A Tale of the Sixteenth Century, 1920 (A
fictionalized and illustrated account of the voyages of Dirk Hartog,
sixteenth century Dutch explorer of the Antipodes. The account has
everything; giant sea spiders (octopus), hopping creatures (kangaroos),
and so on. "It is interesting to read the melodramatic accounts of
these sixteenth century sailors of what we now know to be quite
ordinary creatures, well known to every schoolboy." [DG])
Forester, Cecil Scott 1899-1966 (Prior to Patrick O'Brian, regarded as the
uniquely satisfying novelist on naval life in the Napoleanic period. Also
wrote several histories.)
Brown on Resolution, 1929 (Also published as SINGLE-HANDED in the US.
Marooned British sailor takes on WW I German raider single-handed,
filmed as Sailor of the King.)
The African Queen, 1935 (steam launch on African river.)
To the Indies, 1940 (THE EARTHLY PARADISE in UK, historical fiction about
Christopher Columbus.)
The Captain From Connecticut, 1941 (US frigate captain ca. 1812.)
The Ship, 1943 (An account of a fictitious engagement between British
light cruisers and a far more powerful Italian force during WW II.
Inspired by the 2nd Battle of Sirte, which occurred March 22, 1942 when
4 light cruisers and 11 destroyers successfully defended a Malta-bound
convoy against an Italian task force composed of the modern battleship
Littorio, 2 heavy cruisers and 4 light cruisers by actually attacking
the Italians under cover of smoke. Follows the course of the battle
from the perspectives of several different members of the crew of the
fictitious cruiser HMS ARTEMIS, of the same class as HMS PENELOPE,
which participated in the actual battle and to whose crew the book is
dedicated. As a war-time novel, THE SHIP is somewhat propagandistic in
tone, but nevertheless provides the reader with a good sense of the
diverse nature of the crew and its interaction in battle, the tactics
employed against such seemingly hopeless odds, and of the battle
itself. Although quite readable, THE SHIP is not as well-written as
another of Forester's WW II novels, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, nor is the
characterization as vivid.)
The Good Shepherd, 1955 (US destroyer escorts N. Atlantic convoys
during WW II.)
The Man in the Yellow Raft, 1969 (WW II stories: The Man in the Yellow
Raft; Triumph of the Boon; The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck; Dr.
Blanke's First Command; Counterpunch; USS Cornucopia; December 6th;
Rendezvous.)
Gold from Crete, 1970 (WW II stories: Gold from Crete; Dawn Attack; Depth
Charge; Night Stalk; Intelligence; Eagle Squadron; An Egg for the Major;
"You are Welcome"; The Dumb Dutchman; If Hitler had Invaded England.)
The Horatio Hornblower Saga: (With dates covered by each book)
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower [6/1794 - 4/1798] (Midshipman Hornblower, new
to his ship and the Royal Navy, stands up to a bully, loses his first
command, and becomes a prisoner with a duchess under his care, but
surprises continue.)
Lieutenant Hornblower [5/1800 - 4/1803] (Hornblower must deal with
poverty, a near-mutiny, a mad captain, hand-to-hand combat, command,
and perhaps the most difficult, his landlady's daughter, Maria. Told
from the point of view of his friend Bush.)
Hornblower and the Hotspur [4/03 - 7/05] (Commander Hornblower marries
Maria and blockades the French in the sloop HOTSPUR.)
Hornblower During the Crisis [1805] (Unfinished)
Hornblower and the Atropos [12/05 - 1/08] (Our hero takes part in Lord
Nelson's funeral and goes treasure hunting in the Levant, among other
adventures.)
Beat to Quarters [6/08 - 10/08] (THE HAPPY RETURN, In the UK. Captain
Hornblower must deal with the tin-pot Central American dictator El
Supremo and the romantic temptation of Lady Barbara. The first book
in the series to be published.)
Ship of the Line [5/10 - 10/10] (Commanding the ship of the line
SUNDERLAND, our hero is captured by the French when his ship is
overwhelmed by a superior force after a series of daring raids along
the Spanish coast.)
Flying Colours [11/10 - 6/11] (The French want to execute Hornblower as
a spy, but he and the crippled Bush, along with his coxswain Brown,
manage to escape and make their way down the Loire river.)
Commodore Hornblower [5/12 - 10/12] (Hornblower leads a squadron in the
Baltic trying to protect trade and stop Napoleon's advance.)
Lord Hornblower [10/13- 5/14] (Hornblower must rescue a known tyrant
from the mutiny of his crew.)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies [5/1821 - 10/1823] (Admiral
Hornblower struggles to impose order in the Caribbean following the
Napoleonic Wars, surviving pirates, revolutionaries and a
hurricane.)
Short stories:
The Hand of Destiny, COLLIERS November 23, 1940
Hornblower's Charitable Offering, ARGOSY (UK) May 1941
Hornblower and His Majesty, COLLIERS March 1941
(See also C.S. Forester THE HORNBLOWER COMPANION, 1964)
The Cadet Hornblowers: (A four-volume abridgement of eight Hornblower
novels tailored for young audiences. Any references to s-e-x are removed,
and the resulting books focus on the action scenes with brief narratives
explaining the intervening background.)
Hornblower Goes To Sea, 1948 (Excerpts from MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER
and LIEUTENANT HORNBLOWER.)
Hornblower Takes Command, 1953 (Excerpts from HORNBLOWER AND THE
ATROPOS and BEAT TO QUARTERS.)
Hornblower in Captivity, 1938 (Excerpts from SHIP OF THE LINE and
FLYING COLOURS.)
Hornblower's Triumph, 1945 (Excerpts from COMMODORE HORNBLOWER and LORD
HORNBLOWER.)
Forrest, Anthony (Norman MacKensie and Anthony Brown)
John Justice series: (Another Napoleonic War naval series.)
Captain Justice, 1981 (John Justice is sent on a secret mission to
France to determine the fate of a British spy.)
The Pandora Secret, 1983 (Justice charged with protecting a submarine
which Fulton was building for the Royal Navy from French agents.
Note: has historical basis -- Robert Fulton did try to sell a
submarine to the Royal Navy.)
A Balance of Dangers, 1983 (Captain Justice from the Board of Beacons,
Bells, Buoys and Mercantile Messengers is sent to Holland by a friend
to investigate a timber brig seen there that supposedly had sunk. He
discovers a French plot to get Denmark to enter the war on the French
side and sweep the Royal Navy from the oceans with the Danish fleet
(fat chance). He heads to Copenhagen for intelligence and triggers
the 1807 raid on Copenhagen -- led by Arthur Wellesley, who gets a
horse from Justice.)
Forrester, Larry
Battle of the April Storm, 1969 (Based on the true story of HMS
GLOWWORM, a British destroyer that fought through a German destroyer
screen to engage and finally ram the heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER.
GLOWWORM's skipper was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, on the
recommendation of the German commander.)
Forsyth, Frederick 1938-
The Devils Alternative, 1979 (The plot is fairly involved, but part of it
involves the hi-jacking of the world's biggest tanker by terrorists who
threaten to open the manifolds and start the pumps, polluting the whole
North Sea. Not mainly a nautical novel, but the hi-jacking of the VLCC
is enough to get it included here.)
Foster, Walter Bertram, 1869-
Swept out to Sea, or Clint Webb Among the Whalers, 1913 (South Seas
whaling adventure for young readers.)
Foxall, Raymond
The Noble Pirate, 1978 (18th century English highwayman switches to
preying on ships in the English Channel instead.)
Foy, George
Asia Rip, 1984
Tidal Roll, 1984 (Fishermen versus the "Organization" on Atlantic waters
and the New York fish market.)
Coaster, 1986 (Our hero's ship sinks in English Channel, and he searches
for answers from Wales to Antwerp.)
Challenge, 1988 (Paul Briggs, once a promising boat designer, has fallen
into despair over the disappearance of his wife and daughter. He and
his cousin Jack have been contracted by a well-heeled corporate
syndicate to design a yacht for the America's Cup competition. For the
investors, the Cup bid is little more than a splashy publicity ploy to
sell cheap electronic gadgets. But for Paul Briggs, its tha chance to
save the Maine boatyard that's been in the family for five
generations, and the town of French Harbor, with its cast of
curmudgeonly Downeast inhabitants. The project takes on even more
urgency when Jack is murdered one night by an intruder clearly looking
for the yacht plans and test results. Suddenly Paul Briggs is tossed
into a maelstrom of murder, sabotage and treachery; someone has
determined to sink the CHALLENGE effort before the boat can be
launched, and Paul must unravel the plot and stop the perpetrators
before it's too late.[from bookjacket blurb])
Francis, D. B.
Run of the Sea Witch, 1978 (Young boy joins his family for a 2-week run
on a shrimp boat off Key West. For young readers.)
Fraser, George McDonald 1925- (Author of the Flashman series.)
Flash for Freedom! 1971 (In this novel Flashman, amongst other things, is
shanghaied onto a slaver under the command of a former Oxford don of
all things.)
Flashman's Lady, 1977 (While Flashy and his wife are visiting Singapore,
she is kidnapped by a notorious pirate. Flashy enlists (reluctantly!)
in the brown-water navy of James Brooke, White Rajah of Sarawak, and
sails up the jungle-lined rivers of Borneo to destroy the pirates in
their lair and rescue the fair Elspeth. Great fun with Flashy
blubbering and whining his way to eventual victory (mostly brought
about through the efforts of his betters).)
The Pyrates, 1983 (Comic spoof of Hollywood sea movies. "I cannot resist
a book in which one man thinks he is a famous French pirate because he
was hit over the head with a skillet while taking a French lesson at
the age of eight... a book in which characters 'speak in that genuine
Mummerset growl which was to keep Robert Newton in gainful employment
for so many years'... a book in which the action is interrupted by a
strike by the Union of Pirates, Buccaneers and Merchant Adventurers
Afloat. And I cannot resist a book in which we are told: 'We last left
our hero in an open boat off the coast of Madagascar. In the last two
chapters, he has rowed a distance of 1,500 miles, a physical
impossibility, but we warned you on page 13 we were going to take
certain liberties with history, geography and the grammar of the French
language.' What's more, after listening to the dreadful modern dialogue
of CUTTHROAT ISLAND, I yearn to hear: 'Arrgh!' and 'By the powers!' and
'Damn me for a lizard else,' with which the book is full." [From a
review found in the Searoom mailing list])
French, Joseph Lewis 1858-1936 (Editor)
Great Sea Stories, 1955 (Fiction and non-fiction: The Invincible Armada,
S. Purchas; The Revenge, W. Raleigh; Early Arctic Adventure, W.
Barents; The Sword of Alan, R. L. Stevenson; In good King George's
Time, T. Smollett; Fishers of the Deep, P. Lotti; Firebrand, L. R.
Freeman; The Whale, J. F. Cooper; In the Hornet'S Nest, M. Scott; The
Duel, W. C. Russell; In Nelson's time, J. Masefield; The Great Sea
Serpent, F. Whymper; A burial at Sea, R. H. Dana; The Phantom Ship, F.
S. Bassett; The Last Whale, W. H. Macy; Cape Horn, H. Melville; The
Octopus, V. Hugo.)
French, Peter 1918-
The Ocean Mistress, 1961 (A Clipper captain, his wife, his mistress and
his true mistress - the sea.)
Freuchen, Peter 1886-1957
Sea Tyrant, 1932 (Danco Kellar, greatest whaler of them all, and captain
of the NORTH CAPE, takes his ship into the far North on a whaling
expedition that becomes a frenzied battle for survival.)
Whaling Boy, 1958 (Danish boy goes on a whaling cruise to the arctic. For
young readers.)
Frew, James
In the Wake of the Leopard, 1990 (Nazi gold & jewels in a sunken U-boat
in the Bahamas. Years later the discovery of some of this involves an
Austrian actress, an ancient flying boat and a bloodstained schooner in
an attempted recovery during a hurricane.)
Frye, Pearl 1917-
The Sleeping Sword, a biographical novel (1798-1805), 1952 (Fictional
partial biography of Lord Nelson.)
Gallant Captain; a biographical novel based on the life of John Paul
Jones, 1955
Copyright © John Kohnen 1999
Commercial reproduction prohibited without written consent