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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




Hancock, Harrie Irving 1868-1922
     Motor Boat Club series: (For young readers.)
       The Motor Boat Club and the Wireless; or, The Dot, Dash and Dare
         Cruise, 1909
       The Motor Boat Club Off Long Island; or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing
         Speed, 1909
       The Motor Boat Club of the Kennebec, 1909

Hanks, Douglas Jr.
     Muskrat: A Surprise Bid for the America's Cup, 1987 (A local favorite
       around the Chesapeake Bay. A group of "good ole boys" (spelled drunks)
       from the Eastern Shore of Maryland mount an America's Cup campaign in
       1987 and take it to Australia. MUSKRAT is the name of their boat and in
       the town of Oxford, Maryland you can now buy MUSKRAT t-shirts and hats,
       and find a half-hull model of the boat on the wall of the local
       drinking establishment. "It's great!" [BS] Apparently only available
       from the author: MUSKRAT, 32 E. Dover St. Easton, Md. 21601)

Hanley, James
     The Ocean, 1943? (Written for a time when a group of men were likely to
       find themselves adrift in a lifeboat with little chance of survival. A
       thoughtful study of human behaviour.)

Harding, Duncan
     Tug of War, 1975 (Adventures of a tugboat during an Arctic convoy in the
       mid-WW II period.)
     Flotilla Attack, 1976 (HMS ROSE, a WW I-era destroyer, fights the Nazi
       invasion of Norway with a crew that believes her to be jinxed, and a
       First Lieutenant under a cloud because of the percieved cowardice of
       his father in  WW I.)
     Torpedo Boat, 1976 (Loosely based on the Royal Navy's involvement in
       Russia immediately after the Fist World War. Using two small but very
       fast torpedo boats, four British sailors attempt to put a British agent
       ashore in Petrograd. Petrograd is believed to be impregnable, and to
       make things even more complicated they are expected to sink a Soviet
       battleship on the way out!)
     Operation Chariot, 1977 (A continuation of HMS ROSE's WW II service.
       Lamb, her erstwhile First Lieutenant, is now her captain. In spite of
       having the reputation as a jinxed ship her crew slowly become proud of
       her. In the attack by commandos and the destruction of the dock gates
       at St. Nazaire by by HMS CAMBELLTOWN, the ROSE is allocated the task of
       ensuring that E-boats do not prevent the escape of the survivors.)

Hardy, Adam (Kenneth Bulmer) 1921-
     George Abercrombie Fox series: (Napoleonic Wars adventures featuring an
     officer in the Royal Navy. Fairly standard, except that the brutal side
     to life in Nelson's navy is played up.)
       The Press Gang, 1972 [1]
       Prize Money, 1972 [2]
       Savage Siege [3] (SIEGE in UK)
       Treasure Map, 1973 [4] (TREASURE in UK)
       Sailor's Blood, 1973 [5] (POWDER MONKEY in UK)
       Sea of Gold, 1973 [6] (BLOOD FOR BREAKFAST in UK)
       Court Martial, 1974 [7]
       Battle Smoke, 1974 [8]
       Cut and Thrust, 1975 [9]
       Boarder's Away!, 1975 [10]
       Fireship, 1975 [11]
       Blood Beach, 1975 [12]
       Sea Flame, 1976 [13]
       Close Quarters, 1977 [14]
     Strike force Falklands series: (Falkland Island War RN adventures)
       Operation Exocet, 1984 [1]
       Raider's Dawn, 1984 [2]
       Red Alert, 1984 [3]
       Recce Patrol, 1985 [4]
       Covert Op, 1985 [5]
       'Ware Mines!, 1985 [6]

Hardy, William M.
     Wolfpack, 1960 (Also published as SUBMARINE WOLFPACK? Three USN subs, one
       commanded by a tired vet on his last patrol, one commanded by a wannabe
       hero, and one by a reserve officer in whom the other two have doubts,
       attack a Japanese convoy in the Luzon Strait.)
     A Time for Killing, 1962 (Events aboard the US submarine MULLET on war
       patrol off the Japanese coast in the last week of WW II. The captain
       wants to live and let live, the XO wants revenge for three crewmen
       killed in an airplane attack.)
     USS Mudskipper: The Submarine that Wrecked a Train, 1967 (Captain of an
       American submarine on patrol off Japanese coast in 1945 gets frustrated
       at a lack of targets, and becomes so obsessed with destroying a coastal
       train that he neglects all of his duties to do so. While based on an
       actual incident, the novel suffers by using it as a metaphor for the
       Vietnam War.)

Harper, Richard
     Greenland Passage, 1959 (It's May 1945 and U-boat commander Werner
       Reutemann is on an escape mission under the Arctic Ice through the
       Bering sea to Japan.)

Harrigan, Stephen 1948-
     Aransas, 1980 (A richly ambiguous story of self-discovery: an aimless
       ex-hippie is troubled by his training dophins to perform. Evokes the
       atmosphere of Aransas Pass (and Corpus Cristi, Texas) with detailed
       description. Worth a read.)

Harris, John
     The Sea Shall Not Have Them, 1953 (The title is the mottos of the Air/Sea
       Rescue High Speed launch Flotillas of the RAF. This is the heroic story
       of LAUNCH 7525, of four men lost in a rubber dinghy in the North Sea,
       and of those on shore and in the air who direct their destinies. The
       whole action takes place within forty-eight hours in the autumn of
       1944.)
     Close to the Wind, 1956 (Just a perfectly grand novel that blends a rare
       charm with the thrill of high seas adventure as it follows four people
       on a wild voyage through the tiny islands of the South Pacific.)
     Cotton's War, 1979 (Set in the Spring of 1941 around the invasion of
       Greece... fast motor boat action to recover weapons and gold before the
       German hold on the Aegean is complete.)

Harrison, Harry
     The QE 2 Is Missing, 1980 (The QE II is highjacked for a cargo of
       diamonds. Not SF, despite the author.)
     Stars & Stripes Forever, 1998 (England joins the Confederates against the
       US during the American Civil War. Some naval action, with USN ironclads
       mixing it up with CSN ironclads and British wooden warships. WARRIOR
       gets her stuffing knocked out by a horde of monitors.)

Harrison, Payne
     Thunder of Erebus, 1991 (USA and new Rooskie confederation go on joint
       mission in Antarctica, detect devastating discovery deep beneath the
       glaciers, and duke it out over and under the sea. Dynamite.)

Hartog, Jan de 1914- (de Hartog sailed as mate in Dutch ocean-going tugboats.
  Unpopular with the Nazis during WW II, he escaped to London in 1943 and was
  appointed war correspondent for the Dutch merchant marine.)
     Tugboating series:
       Captain Jan, 1940 (Originally published in Dutch as HOLLAND'S GLORY. A
         young Dutchman rises from sailor to command in seagoing tugboats in
         the early years of the 20th century. He fights the sea and also a big
         company that is trying to monopolize the towing business by buying up
         all the smaller fleets and starving its crews to make a profit. De
         Hartog's first novel. Not as well written as his later work, but he
         does an excellent job of describing the seagoing tugs' work and the
         men who manned them. An instant and historic bestseller and a symbol
         of Dutch resistance; the German occupying forces banned the book in
         1942 but it went on selling in large quantities in the underground
         market.)
       The Captain, 1966 (Our Dutch hero now has his master's certificate for
         the big ocean-going tugs. The summer of 1940 finds him entering an RN
         school for foreign captains of rescue tugs. But his old boss, the
         mysterious robber-baron Mr Kwel, pulls strings, and has him yanked
         out to serve as job-captain of various ships of his remaining fleet
         of tugs. He mainly spells captains of the smaller tugs that are
         working local to the UK until the death of the famous and heroic Bok
         Mumble, captain of the largest tugboat in the Kwel fleet, who can be
         considered the Commodore of the Dutch tugboat fleet. It turns out
         that Kwel has been grooming our hero to replace the heroic Captain
         Bok.  Unfortunately for Kwel he has just failed in his last attempt
         to hold this largest tug, the pride of his fleet, from convoy duty.
         The remaining two thirds of the book concern two voyages to Murmansk.
         Prior to his first Murmansk convoy he meets his old RN instructor at
         the school for tugboat captains, and asks him how his old class-mates
         are doing. He is shocked to learn that every single one of them has
         died in the line of duty! Highly recommended by the compiler!)
       The Commodore: a novel of the sea, 1986 (The "Captain", now 70, finds
         himself towing a giant oil rig to Singapore.)
     The Lost Sea, 1951 (Memoirs of a ship's boy on the fleet of fishing boats
       that plied the Zuider Zee in the years before it was diked off from the
       ocean.)
     The Distant Shore, a story of the sea, 1952 (Novel about a salvage ship
       plying the Mediterranean in the years immediately after WW II.)
     The Call of the Sea, 1966 (Single volume collection of THE LOST SEA, THE
       DISTANT SHORE, and A SAILOR'S LIFE (autobiographical).)
     Stella, 1967 (Coastal tugboat captain's romantic liaison set during WW II
       in the British isles.)
     The Trail of the Serpent, 1983 (Escape from the Japanese in Indonesia
       during WW II.)
     Star of Peace: a novel of the sea, 1984 (Aging freighter full of Jews
       flees Nazis.)

Hawes, Charles Boardman 1889-1923
     The Mutineers, 1919 (Mutiny on a ship in the Pacific.)
     The Dark Frigate, 1923 (The story of Philip Marsham, a sailor in King
       Charles times who dares not return to England after his ship is taken
       over by pirates, and he is forced to join their crew. Young adult -- in
       same sense that MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER or BOLITHO AND THE AVENGER
       are. Newberry Award winner.)

Haycox, Ernest 1899-1950
     The Adventurers, 1954 (In the 1860s a sea captain goes aground in storm
       on the West Coast, takes to working on a river in Oregon.)

Hayden, Sterling
     Voyage: a novel of 1896, 1976
     (His autobiographical WANDERER is a better book than VOYAGE, though not a
       novel.)

Heatter, Basil 1918-
     The Dim View, 1946 (PT skipper fears that he has lost his nerve after
       being injured in the South Pacific, but must again face the Japanese
       from the deck of his PT boat.)

Heggen, Thomas 1919-1949
     Mr. Roberts, 1946 (US Navy transport RELUCTANT as it sails from Tedium to
       Apathy -- with occasional side trips to Monotony and Ennui -- in the
       back waters of WW II in the Pacific. Novel focuses on the attempts by a
       reserve lieutenant to defy his mustang captain by transfering off the
       ship to a combat position.)

Hemingway, Ernest 1899-1961
     The Old Man and the Sea
     Islands in the Stream (Published posthumously. About an American painter
       who lives on Bimini. The early part of the book (set in the 1930s)
       contains some great sport fishing scenes. During WW II the painter and
       his boat are drafted in the service of American intelligence to track
       down survivors of a German submarine who are trying to escape.)

Hennessy, Max (John Harris)1916-
     Kelly "Ginger" Maguire trilogy: (RN officer)
       The Lion at Sea, 1977 (From 1911 through WW I, Maguire serves on
         armored cruiser HUGUENOT, gets torpedoed on CRESSY, stranded in
         Antwerp in 1914, captured when his submarine is sunk during
         Gallipoli, and sees action on destroyer MORDANT at Jutland.)
       The Dangerous Years, 1978 (Follows our hero through the years between
         WW I and the Spanish Civil War. He has adventures in Russia during
         the Civil War, Shanghai, and in the Red Sea during the Abyssinian
         Crisis.)
       Back to Battle, 1979 (Ginger Maguire, now the most decorated man in the
         Royal Navy, commands a destroyer in Iberian waters during the Spanish
         Civil War, fights at Narvik, Matapan and Crete, and commands an
         escort group on the Murmansk run in action remarkably similar to the
         Battle of the Barents Sea.)

Henrick, Richard P.
     When Duty Calls, 1988 (Russians put first military laser on line in
       Siberia, so SEAL team has to go in by submarine, then destroy site.)
     Cry of the Deep, 1989 (30-year-old US sub SWORDFISH stands between
       gigantic Russian sub and nuclear warfare with US.)
     Under the Ice, 1989 (Airplane carrying the Soviet premier goes down in
       the arctic, and US and USSR subs race to the area.)
     The Golden U-Boat, 1991 (Nazi U-boat sinks with secret weapon; 50 years
       later, fugitive SS officer salvages it. A US sub must deal with the
       Nazi and a Russian boomer. )
     Ice Wolf, 1994 (Nuclear attack sub USS SPRINGFIELD encounters mysterous
       rogue U-boat with ex-Nazi aboard, seeking legendary lost treasure in
       the arctic.)
     Crimson Tide, 1995 (Aboard nuclear sub USS ALABAMA when orders come to
       launch preemptive nuclear strike. Is order real, a test, or a mistake?
       It's impossible to confirm, skipper wants to launch, and exec says no.
       Made into a movie starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington.)
     Sea Devil, 1990 (Soviet stealth sub spearheads sabotage surrounding US
       sub base in Scotland, so super sleuth in special sub seeks shadow
       signals, sound signatures in suicidal search sortie. Spiffy!)

Henty, G. A. 1832-1902 (Was a correspondent during the Crimean war among other
  daring adventures.)
     With Cochrane the Dauntless; a tale of the exploits of Lord Cochrane in
       South American waters, 1896
     By England's Aid; or The Freeing of the Netherlaands, 189?
     By Conduct and Courage; a story of Nelson's days, 1904
     Under Drake's Flag; a tale of the Spanish Main, 19??
     The Young Midshipman; a story of the bombardment of Alexandria, 190?

Hepburn, Andrew
     Letter of Marque, 1959 (Edward Stockton, mate in an American ship bound
       for China in 1812, is impressed into a British frigate. He escapes and
       finds his way to L'Orient, "the bustling intrigue-ridden center of
       privateering". Stockton outfits a lugger he captured during his escape
       and goes privateering. "The stench of smoke and the crash of rigging;
       the shine of the sails as a desperate ship strives to catch the wind;
       the sound of shot and the turmoil of had-to-hand combat..." [from
       bookjacket blurb])

Herbert, Alan Patrick 1890-1971
     The Water Gipsies, 1930 (Life and love on the River Thames.)

Herbert, Frank (Author of the DUNE series of sci-fi novels)
     Dragon in the Sea, 1960 (It's the 21st century and the USA is running
       short on oil. The submarine FENIAN RAM is sent on a clandestine
       mission to tap the enemy's vast underwater oil deposits. Twenty vessels
       have failed to return and this is the final attempt!)

Hersey, John 1914-
     Under the Eye of the Storm, 1967 (Two couples on a weekend sail off the
       Massachussets coast get caught in a hurricane shortly after the boat's
       owner realized that his wife is having an affair with the other
       husband. Sort of BOB AND CAROL AND TED AND ALICE goes to sea.)

Herst, Roger E.
     Ghost Sub, 1979 (US missile sub cruising under the ice pack in Russian
       waters is found and trapped.)

Hickling, Reginald Hugh
     Falconer's Voyage, 1954 (THE ENGLISH FLOTILLA in the UK. Adventures of a
       misantropic Royal Navy landing ship commander in Europe during WWII.)

Higgins, Jack 1929-
     Storm Warning, 1976 (Tells of the attempt by a German sailing ship to
       return to Germany from South America during WW II.)
     Cold Harbor, 1990 (Tiny fishing village on Cornish coast holds the key to
       success of the D-Day landings, and curious Nazis want to know. Typical
       Higgins best seller suspense/adventure/war novel.)

Hill, Ernestine (Hemmings), 1899-1972
     My Love Must Wait, 1941 (Fictionalized biography of Matthew Flinders, a
       Royal Navy officer who conducted the first circumnavigation of the
       Australian coast.)

Hill, Porter (Pseudonym that "masks the identity of a man whose family
  connections with British India go back to the early 19th century.")
     Adam Horne series: (Features the adventures of Adam Horne a captain in
     the Bombay Marine, the British East India Company's private navy.)
       Bombay Marines, 1985 (Adam Horne sent by HEIC to kidnap the former
         commander of French forces in India, General Lailly, from the
         custody of the British Army to the custody of the HEIC. Set in 1761.)
       The War Chest, 1986 (Adam Horne is dispatched to seas around Madagascar
         to capture a war chest being sent from France to pay French troops in
         Mauritius. Set in 1761.)
       China Flyer, 1987 (Horne is sent to China to recover the CHINA FLYER,
         an HEIC ship stolen by a renagade HEIC purchasing agent -- who also
         helped himself to the gold reserves at Madras. Set in 1762.)

Hilton, Joseph
     Ship of the Damned, 1972 (Aboard the cruise ship SAnta Lucia, out of
       Brazil for the Windward Islands with 600 passengers including five
       Americans and Colonel De Sota, a savage revolutionary who hijacks the
       ship.)

Hine, Al
     Juggernaut, 1974 (Nasty guy plants bombs on world's greatest luxury
       liner, threatens to blow it up with 1,200 passengers aboard if he isn't
       paid ransom. Novelization of a movie with Richard Harris and Omar
       Sharif.)

Hirschhorn, Richard
     Target Mayflower, 1977 (Hitler's last desperate gamble: send sub pack to
       Maine, where they will liberate a POW camp filled with Afrika Korps
       troops, invade the US, and threaten Boston with V-2 rockets.)

Hirt, Douglas
     Riverboat Series: (Adventure aboard the TEMPEST QUEEN on the Mississippi
     in the 19th century.)
       Riverboat, 1995 (TEMPEST QUEEN travels from Napoleon to Natchez in the
         spring of 1859 with a haunted captain, a captured runaway slave, a
         pack of gamblers determined to steal the boat from its captain, and
         a gambler who is determined to stop them. A fun read.)
       Mississippi Pirates, 1995 (The TEMPEST QUEEN is chartered to take Army
         stores and payroll from St. Louis to Leavenworth. A Missouri River
         pirate learns of the cargo, and enlists every desperado along
         the river to hijack the boat. Another fun read. Hirt name drops every
         character on the Missouri River at that time.)
       Assasination, 1995 (The TEMPEST QUEEN stops at Baton Rouge and picks up
         Sen. Stephen Douglas as he goes on a presidential campaign swing
         through the South -- and an assassin who wants to kill Douglas so
         that a Civil War will erupt.)

Hobb, Robin
     The Live Ship Traders fantasy series: (The Live Ships are ships
     constructed from "wizard wood", a rare wood with magic properties. The
     result is that the ships are alive, and self aware. It's not as bad as it
     sounds and the books are good page turners. The series is to be a trilogy
     (aren't they all?) and the first to are out in the UK)
       Ship of Magic, 1998
       The Mad Ship, 1999

Hodgson, William Hope, 1875-1918
     The Boats of the GLEN CARRIG: being an account of their adventures in the
       strange places of the Earth, after the foundering of the good ship Glen
       Carrig through striking upon a hidden rock in the unknown seas to the
       southward, as told by John Winterstraw, gent., to his son James
       Winterstraw, in the year 1757, and by him committed very properly and
       legibly to manuscript, 1920 ("An Edwardian voyage of mystery and
       imagination as bizarre as Conan Doyle's Lost World, as sinister and
       darkly shadowed as the most fevered and haunting creations of Edgar
       Allan Poe" So there you go! Hodgson himself was quite a sailor and was
       killed defending his post in the Great War.)
     Captain Gault: Being the Exceedingly Private Log of a Sea-Captain, 1917
       (Stories from earlier magazine publication, mostly about how the
       roguish Captain Gault outwits customs agents to smuggle diamonds,
       pearls, saccharine, guns, whatever.)
     The Boats of the GLEN CARRIG: being an account of their adventures in the
       strange places of the Earth, after the foundering of the good ship Glen
       Carrig through striking upon a hidden rock in the unknown seas to the
       southward, as told by John Winterstraw, gent., to his son James
       Winterstraw, in the year 1757, and by him committed very properly and
       legibly to manuscript, 1920 ("An Edwardian voyage of mystery and
       imagination as bizarre as Conan Doyle's Lost World, as sinister and
       darkly shadowed as the most fevered and haunting creations of Edgar
       Allan Poe" So there you go! Hodgson himself was quite a sailor and was
       killed defending his post in the Great War.)
     Deep Waters, 1967 (Short stories: The Sea Horses; The Derelict (A very
       creepy story of a ship encountering an ancient derelict that seems to
       be... alive?); The Thing in the Weeds; From the Tideless Sea; The
       Island of the Ud; The Voice in the Night; The Adventure of the
       Headland; The Mystery of the Derelict; The Shamraken Homeward-Bounder;
       The Stone Ship; The Crew of the LANCING; The habitants of Middle Islet;
       The Call in the Dawn.)

Holland, Cecelia 1943-
     The Sea Beggars, 1982 (Fictionalized account of a family during the Dutch
       revolt against Spain in the 16th Century. Significant action at sea, or
       in port -- including a description of the relief of Leyden, when the
       Dutch flooded the polders around the besieged city to bring supplies in
       by ship.)

Holling, Holling Clancy
     Paddle-to-the-Sea, 1941 (This childrens' book Follows the journey of a
       toy canoe carved by a Native American boy, launched at Lake Nipigon,
       Canada, travelling through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, with a
       series of adventures on the way, each described in a one page text with
       illustrations. Great amounts of geography, natural history, historical
       detail are included. The Holling style is very characteristic: sort of
       a 40's and 50's David Macauley.)
     Seabird, 1948 (Juvenile book about a whaling ship's boy who carved a gull
       of walrus ivory in 1832, and their adventures into the Twentieth
       Century as he grows up to become a clipper captain, his son becomes a
       reluctant convert to steam, his grandson becomes a ship designer, and
       his great-grandson an airplane pilot. Many illustrations by the author.
       Realistic look at whaling.)
     Pagoo, 1957 (The story of a hermit crab, delightfully told with detailed
       full color plates facing the text pages. On the text page margins are
       pen and ink drawings illustrating the many aspects of the tale.
       "Informative captivating stories told in an easily digestable manner to
       learn. The hallmark that is the key to all of Holling and Lucille's
       books." [KE])

Holt, Tom
     Flying Dutch, 1991 (An utterly bizarre and entertaining yarn about how
       Cornelius Vanderdecker became immortal and cursed, and how the saga
       ends. In this madcap telling of the Flying Dutchman's tale, Van
       Derdecker and his besotted crew do come ashore once every 7 years. As
       their adventures progress to modern times, "Dutch" meets a woman who is
       destined to keep him ashore, and encounters the man who started the
       entire immortality caper in 1585. It's a page turner.)

Homer
     The Odyssey (Odysseus and his crew have many adventures on the wine-dark
       sea on their way back from the Trojan Wars, the translation by Alexander
       Pope is probably the best.)

Homewood, Harry -1984 (Old submariner, served in "S" boats before WW II, then
  in the Pacific during the war.)
     Final Harbor, 1980 (Submarine USS MAKO in action against the Japanese in
       WW II.)
     Silent Sea, 1981 (Submarine USS EELFISH in action against the Japanese
       in WW II -- a sequel to FINAL HARBOR, with some of the same
       characters.)
     Torpedo!, 1982 (Cold War confrontation between US and Soviet nuclear
       submarines after Soviets sink US Sub. Includes the same characters as
       FINAL HARBOR and SILENT SEA.)
     O God of Battles, 1983 (WW II Pacific epic, on, above, and below the sea.)

Hoover, Thomas 1941-
     The Moghul, 1983, (Captain Brian Hawksworth sails to India as an emissary
       of King James to the Great Moghul Jahangir and gets into battles with
       the Portuguese.)
     Caribbee, 1985 (Barbados buccaneers battle British for independence.)

Hope, Laura Lee
     Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on the Rolling Ocean, 1925 (Although Bunny
       Brown gets top billing in the title, little Sue is by no means a shadow
       character in this story and the girls will enjoy it as much as the boys.
       The Brown family embarks on a steamer passage to the West Indies and
       along the way experience a temporary marooning on a tropical isle, the
       discovery of a wild man, the saving of a shipwrecked mariner (the wild
       man) and a general good time by all. For young readers.)

Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 1844-1889
     The Wreck of the Deutschland (Poem about the wreck of a german packet
       steamer on the sands off the English coast, it's based on an actual
       wreck in the late Victorian era.)

Hopwood, Cap. R. A. RN
     The Old Way, And Other Poems, 1916

Horan, James D.
     Seek Out and Destroy, 1958 (Aboard the Confederate commerce raider LEE in
       the dying days of the Civil War, as it wreaks havoc on the Yankee
       merchant fleet -- even after the war ends. Novel closely based on
       the exploits of the SHENANDOAH.)

Horsley, David
     Vinegar Johnnie (Johnny Bates is the WW II corvette HMS DESBOROUGH's
       first lieutenant, who takes over command from his sick captain. While
       on convoy protection duties as part of an escort group she faces
       atrocious weather, never far from the Focke-Wolfe Condors and the
       U-boats, trying to pick up as many survivors from stricken ships as
       possible. The author seems to dwell on just seeing bits of bodies after
       explosions and suffering in general, which is probably what it was
       like! "Two swooping seagulls led the watchers to believe that human
       remains may....." Bates' step brother is a Swordfish pilot on a carrier
       and after being shot down is rescued by a U-boat but is reunited, under
       peculiar circumstances, with his brother - this tends to destroy the
       credibility of what started out as a good yarn.)

Hough, Henry Beetle
     Long Anchorage, a New Bedford Story, 1947 (Novel about the whaling days
       of New Bedford.)

Hough, Richard Alexander 1922-
     Archy Buller - Rod McLewin series: (Buller is a rich officer, McLewin is
     a poor enlisted man.)
       Buller's Guns, 1981 (Archy Buller and Rod Maclewin serve in the Royal
         Navy in the 1880s-1890s, on the quarterdeck and fo'csle respectively,
         but get bound into firm friendship through action, despite the
         differences in class.)
       Buller's Dreadnought, 1982 (early 20th century RN, including battle of
         Tsushima (between the Russian Baltic Fleet and the Japanese), where
         Buller and McLewin were observers.)
       Buller's Victory, 1984 (Archy Buller and his son fight WW I, including
         Cradock's defeat off Chile, von Spee's defeat at the Falklands and
         the battle of Jutland.)
     (Hough has also written many naval history books.)

Howard, Edward, 1793?-1841
     Rattlin the Reefer, 1836 (Picaresque depiction of school and naval life
       in Napoleonic times. Mainly autobiographical, much in the style of
       Marryat, who edited it.)
     The Old Commodore, 1837 (Tells the tale of Commodore Sir Octavius
       Bacuissart, Royal Navy and his adventures ashore and afloat during the
         Napoleonic Wars.)
     Outward Bound; a Merchant's Adventures, 1838 (Another picaresque account,
       with scenes, some delightful, some horrific, set in the West Indies.)

Howard, Robert E. 1906-1936 (The creator of Conan the Barbarian)
     Black Vulmea's Vengeance & Other Tales of Pirates, 1976

Hoyt, Edwin Palmer
     Stephen Decatur series: (Fictionalized adventures of the American hero)
       Hellfire In Tripoli, 1973 [1] (Stephen Decatur burns the captured
         American frigate PHILADELPHIA in Tripoli Harbor.)
       Against Cold Steel, 1974 [2] (Stephen Decatur launches a gunboat attack
         against Tripoli in 1804.)
       Decatur's Revenge, 1975 [3] (The end of the war against the Barbary
         states.)

Hoyt, Richard 1941-
     Fish Story, 1985 (Salmon fishing in American Indian waters leads to
       murder and sawed-up bodies. Yuk.)
     Siege, 1987 (Group of terrorists infiltrate Gibraltar and take 20,000
       British subjects hostage. The CIA comes to the rescue.)

Hughes, Richard A. 1900-1976
     In Hazard, 1938 (Relates the story of a ship, the ARCHIMEDES, caught in a
       hurricane in the West Indies. The story is a simple one and it is very
       powerfully written. Closely based on the 1932 ordeal of SS PHEMIUS,
       which spent 5 days in a Caribbean hurricane.)
     A High Wind in Jamaica, or, The Innocent Voyage, 1956 (19th century
       pirates inadvertently kidnap children; filmed in 1965.)

Hugo, Victor 1802-1885
     The Toilers of the Sea, 1866 (Sailing and steaming around France, Spain
       and England, with smuggling, storms and octopus-monsters mixed in.)
     Ninety-Three (A chapter about what a loose cannon on deck can do
       justifies this book as nautical. "...a nutmeg." [KW])

Hulme, Kathryn Cavarly 1900-1981
     Annie's Captain, 1961 (Biographical novel about the author's great, great
       grandfather, a clipper ship captain, and his bride Annie.)

Hungerford, Edward Buell 1900-
     Fighting frigate, 1947 (The hero is a boy from one of the New England
       states who goes to sea and is immediately pressed into the RN. His
       struggle then centers on his goal of returning to a US ship to fight in
       the war of 1812. The USS CONSTITUTION and the BON HOMME RICHARD figure
       in the story.)
     Emergency Run, 1948 (Aboard the USS OREGON during the Spanish American
       war.)
     Escape to Danger, 1949 (Fiction about John Paul Jones.)
     Forbidden Island, 1950 (Fictionalization of the Perry expedition to
       Japan that uses the POV of twin brothers -- one shipwrecked off
       Okinawa and held in Japan, and the other a sailor that volunteered for
       Perry's expedition in an effort to rescue his brother. For young
       readers.)

Hunt, Todd
     The Ship With a Flat Tire, 1964 (An ensign, supply corps, reports aboard
       a ship that was to have been named for Carrie Nation, "But, with the
       confusion of the war and all that..." ended up as USS CARNATION, ASS-1.
       He is educated in the ways of the navy, as distinct from the ways of
       officer candidate and supply corps school. The ship is to be retired
       unless it gets some recognition and political backing. This makes the
       captain and XO nervous since careers do not advance from the deck of a
       sinking ship - however figuratively. The ensign, of course, saves the
       day by ingratiating himself and the ship to a crusty old senator. The
       "flat tire" reference comes from an attempt to doll the ship up as an
       ante-bellum river boat for some kind of festival and an inner tube
       deflates at exactly the wrong moment. PG rated for slapstick humor.
       "Tedious attempt at humor... Yawwwn." [ML])

Hyne, Charles John Cutcliffe Wright 1866-1944
     Adventures of Captain Kettle, 1898 (Book of sea stories reprinted from
       PEARSON'S MONTHLY. Captain Kettle is an honest, simple, brave man who
       gets into some fairly tight scrapes (smuggling, revolution, and so on),
       mostly around South America; he is sometimes tempted to be unfaithful
       to Mrs. Kettle (who waits back home in South Shields) but always does
       the Right Thing. Fun stories.)
     Prince Rupert, the Buccaneer; his adventures, set to paper by Mary
       Laughan, a maid who through affection followed him to the West Indies
       and the Spanish main, acting as his secretary, he deeming her a male,
       though timid; which account is now put into more modern English, 1900
       (Fictional account of Prince Rupert of Bohemia's piratical cruise in the
       Caribbean after the downfall of Charles I of England, of whom he was a
       staunch supporter.)

Icenhower, Joseph B.
     Mr. Midshipman Murdock and the Barbary Pirates, 1956 (Little Jim Murdock
       joins the USS LIBERTY, 44, sister to the frigate UNITED STATES and
       sails to the Mediterranean. Definitely for a younger audience.)
     Mr. Murdock Takes Command, 1958 (Midshipman Murdock is made prize
       master of a ship captured from one faction in the Haitian Rebellion,
       but gets captured in turn by his captives. When his captors are about
       to be run out of the town in which he is held, Murdock -- with the
       beautiful daughter of a French emigre in tow -- escapes just before the
       Haitians massacre the prisoners, and captures his captor in turn. Set
       in the 1790s. Haiti never changes, does it?)

Innes, Hammond 1913-
     Wreckers Must Breathe, 1940 (A U-boat hiding out in a cave in the Cornish
       cliffs during WW II.)
     Maddon's Rock, 1947 (Mystery, adventure, treasure and salvage on the
       North Sea in 1945.)
     The Survivors, 1949 (THE WHITE SOUTH in UK. Adventurer and Norwegian
       girl go on whaling expedition to Antarctica to investigate the
       mysterious death of her father. Filmed as HELL BELOW ZERO.)
     Cruise of Danger, 1952
     The Wreck of the Mary Deare, 1956 (Salvage tug finds liberty ship adrift
       in the English Channel with only her captain aboard.)
     Atlantic Fury, 1962 (Evacuation of missile tracking station on island west
       of the Hebrides goes awry. The Royal Artillery at sea!)
     The Strode Venturer, 1965 (A new island appears in the Maldives in the
       Indian Ocean. The head of a shipping company tries to help the local
       people but a terrifying crash at sea jeopardizes more than those
       hopes.)
     North Star, 1974 (Drifting North Sea oil rig in a hurricane.)
     The Last Voyage: Captain Cook's Lost Diary, 1979
     Solomon's Seal, 1980 (Philately and fraud in the South Seas, mixed up with
       independence in Papua New Guinea and Bouganville and an old colonial
       trading house.)
     The Black Tide, 1982 (Wrecked oil tanker off Cornwall.)
     Medusa, 1988 (Worn out British frigate has to cope with modern gunrunners
       and terrorists.)
     Isvik, 1991 (An old wooden ship, with only the stumps of its masts, the
       helmsman frozen to the wheel, all coated in ice, is sighted in the
       Antarctic. Could a ship remain locked in the ice for centuries, or was
       there a more sinister secret?)

Innes, W. Joe, and Bunton, William
     In Pursuit of the Awa Maru, 1980 ("Docudrama" fictionalization of the
       events leading to the torpedoing of the AWA MARU by a USN Submarine
       during WW II. The AWA MARU was a mercy ship carrying illegal war
       materials, but guaranteed safe passage. This book mixes fact and
       fiction liberally, making it difficult to establish which are which.)

Iverson, Marc
     Persian Horse, 1991 (In the Persian Gulf, Iranian commandos storm the
       frigate USS BULKELEY, kill the captain, take over the ship. But a
       handful of sailors elude capture and try to take the ship back.)

Copyright © John Kohnen 1999
Commercial reproduction prohibited without written consent


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