The Nautical Fiction List
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Styles, Showell 1908- (As a Lt. Commander in the RNR he was torpedoed off Tobruk during WW II and spent four hours in the water before being picked up. An avid mountain climber, and author of two standard works on mountaineering.) Septimus Quinn series: (For young readers.) Midshipman Quinn, 1957 Quinn of the FURY, 1961 Midshipman Quinn and Denise the Spy, 1961 Quinn at Trafalgar, 1965 Mr. Fitton series: (Inspired by the adventures of an actual RN officer) A Sword For Mr. Fitton, 1975 ("Acting Lieutenant Michael Fitton, a sailor of Nelson's day, launched himself on a second career--piracy! His intention was to attract the attention of the Lords of the Admiralty with a view to winning a long-delayed promotion. He fought in the Caribbean with a handful of men in small ships, one of them an open long boat, and was secretly subsidised by a consortium of his brother officers who needed to augment their meagre pay." [from bookjacket blurb]) Mr. Fitton's Commission, 1977 (Lt. Fitton incurs the enmity of his admiral, in spite of which he achieves great success in the West Indies in 1803-05, but is then dismissed the service.) Mr. Fitton's Prize, 1993 (HMS FORTITUDE takes a French ship and Fitton is appointed prize-master. He comes under the influence of a beautiful French Royalist and is persuaded to disobey his captain's orders and try and help her cause.) Lt. Fitton Mr. Fitton and the Black Legion Mr. Fitton at the Helm Mr. Fitton in Command The Frigate Captain, 1956 (Fictionalized biography of Thomas Lord Cochrane, from entering the Royal Navy as a midshipman through his stock fraud conviction in 1814. Cochrane was the model for Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey.) Mr. Nelsons Ladies, 1953 (The author uses fiction to give substance to Nelson's female acquaintances who were part of his life prior to his marriage.) The Admiral's Fancy, 1956 (Fictionalized biography of Ben Hallowell, revolving around an uneasy relationship with Emma Hamilton.) The Sea Officer, 1961 (Fictionalized biography of Edward Pellew.) Number Two-Ninety, 1966 (Fictional account of the Confederate raider ALABAMA.) Indestructable Jones, 1967 (David "Indestructable" Jones's adventures in the Royal Navy during the first two years of WW II. He starts out a pacifist volunteer, and progresses through a collection of misadventures, shipwrecks, and survivals to gain a reputation as a fearless, intrepid, and indestructable young officer. Seems to be the first in a series.) Sea Road to Camperdown, 1968 (A novel relating the story of Admiral Duncan, a hulking great man, the opposite of Nelson. He was both 6 foot 6 and 66 years old when he led his motley fleet against the Dutch at the Battle of Camperdown into what was to become the bloodiest sea fight of the Napoleonic era. The battle was fought very shortly after the infamous RN fleet mutinies in 1797. The book includes an account of Duncan grabbing one of the mutineers by the lapels and shaking him over the ship's side!) Vincey Joe at Quiberon, 1971 ("Vincey Joe" was her sailors affectionate nickname for the small brig HMS VENCEJO, captained by Commander John Wesley Wright, who ran secret agents into Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. Based on fact, the book tells of her last cruise in 1804 off the coast of Brittany and in particular amongst the islands in Quiberon Bay. HMS VENCEJO was a small quarterdeck brig with an elm tree wash pump, does that remind anyone of any other ship in the world of nautical fiction?) Admiral of England, 1973 (Novel about Admiral Clowdisley Shovell, ending with his drowning in 1707 when his fleet went aground in the Scilly Isles.) The Malta Frigate, 1983 (A British frigate in action against the French during the siege of Malta (following the Nile)) The Quarterdeck Ladder, 1989 Nelson'S Midshipman, 1991 (A dramatised account of Sir William Hoste's naval career from a midshipman in the 64 gun ship AGAMEMNON, commanded by his patron Captain Horatio Nelson, through to his own masterly handling of his squadron of four frigates off Lissa in March 1811 where he defeated a French and Venetian fleet of superior force.) HMS Cracker Gun-Brig Captain The Lee Shore Stella and the Fireships Mutiny in the Caribbean Seven Gun Broadside The Baltic Convoy A Kiss for Captain Hardy Centurion Comes Home Suthren, Victor (Curator of the Canadian War Museum and yachtsman.) Paul Gallant series: (18th century French Canadian naval officer.) The Black Cockade: Paul Gallant's Louisbourg Command, 1977 (Based on the siege and capture of the French fortress of Louisburg in Nova Scotia during 1745 by a small force of British colonials supported by a fleet of merchantmen.) A King's Ransom, 1981 (Gallant is sent to find a bejewelled statuette being sent to France by the Spanish to seal their alliance, and now lost. "Was LA NUESTRA SENORA DE LA CONCEPCION captured by the British? Was she lost in a storm? Or has she fallen prey to marauding pirates? Gallant's search leads him from the high seas to a British dungeon in Fort Louisbourg, from the arms of a beautiful Micmac squaw into a pitched battle with his greatest enemies. The fearless captain of the ECHO must overcome the treacherous waters of Louisbourg and match wits with the Royal Navy in his quest to retrieve the golden virgin. He is a brave and courageous navigator, but this is his greatest challenge. Whoever finds the statue rules the seas." [from bookjacket blurb]) In Perilous Seas, 1983 (It's 1747 and Gallant is now captain of a frigate assigned to shepherd a convoy of merchantmen from the West Indies to France. "...evading privateers and the British Navy and guarding the person and dowry of Marianne de Poitrincourt, Marquise de Bezy. There is treachery in high and low places, and Marianne and dowry are taken hostage... Gallant once again lives up to his name, and against terrific odds (including a nasty Spanish noble, a vicious Dutch pirate, a British warship and the Carolina waters) [from bookjacket blurb]) Edward Mainwaring series: (Colonial serving in the British navy during the 18th century) Royal Yankee, 1987 (Edward Mainwaring, a provincial lieutenant in the Royal Navy, commands the six gun British schooner ATHENA in the Caribbean during Admiral Vernon's attack on Porto Bello in 1739.) The Golden Galleon, 1989 (Edward Mainwaring's adventures in 1741, as he takes a the sloop of war DIANA around Cape Horn chasing Spanish privateers and finds the fabled Manila Galleon.) Admiral of Fear, 1991 (Edward Mainwaring is sent to Toulon harbor to storm a French fortress.) Captain Monsoon, 1993 (Mainwaring as a captain in 1744. In command of the 44-gun ship PALLAS in action against the French off Mauritius. He is taken prisoner, but escapes and steals a flotilla of bizarre ships and attacks the enemy.) Szilagye, Robert J. and Monroe, Stanley C. Mediterranean Manuever, 1984 (The old carrier CORAL SEA is called back into action to help carry out a daring raid to steal secret electronic stuff from Rooskies.) Talbot, Michael 1932- To the Ends of the Earth, 1986 (Carrying convicts to Botany bay, Australia, one step ahead of France in a battle for dominion over the South Pacific in the 1780s.) Tanner, Mack Target: Subic Bay, 1992 (A bloody coup in the Philippines threatens a USN base at Subic Bay. The base commander, shunned by the Pentagon, partners up with a Soviet fleet for a counterattack.) Tanner, Tony (Editor) The Oxford Book of Sea Stories, 1995 (Stories by Melville, Conrad, Stephen Crane, Kipling, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Peter Ustinov and others) Taylor, Charles D. Show of Force, 1980 (Update of James Fenimore Cooper's tale, THE TWO ADMIRALS. Here, U.S. and Russian admirals and their fleets square off over a missile base in the Indian Ocean.) The Sunset Patriots, 1982 (Why is a US-Soviet fleet steaming into the East China Sea? Inquiring Chinese want to know. A US admiral also wants to know why the 7th fleet is visiting Vladivostock, biggest navy base in the USSR.) First Salvo, 1985 (Strange incidents in Long Island Sound and the Sea of Japan say the Soviets are up to something... like WW III! Should we strike first?) War Ship, 1989 (Russian agents sieze USS GETTYSBURG, sail her to Cam Ranh Bay in Viet Nam. Seals go to the rescue.) Boomer, 1990 (20 years ago, KGB planted an agent in the USN; now he's skipper of a nuclear attack sub. The plot thickens.) Deep Sting, 1991 (Russian spies with mini-subs seeks to destroy the Trident sub base in Bangor, Washington. Navy Seals are in pursuit.) Taylor, J. E. At Close Quarters, 1949 (Spells out sympathetically the reason why the USA felt it necessary to go to war in 1812 against Britain's arrogance at sea. Broadbank with the privateer AVENGER joins in the war from the beginning but gets off to a poor start and loses the ship and an arm. He is a shorebound spectator to the SHANNON-CHESAPEAKE fight and in the confusion is able to escape his captors and rejoin the British and go on to organise at Lake Champlain a small but tactically important mini-fleet that prevents the Americans from invading Canada.) By Force of Arms ("This stirring sea story of the Napoleonic Wars follows the fortunes of Captain Broadbank, and his privateer schooner the AVENGER, his life, his aims, and the love that came to him so strangely, told against a broad exciting background of the lives and conditions of ships and seamen of that great maritime era." [from the bookjacket of AT CLOSE QUARTERS.) Taylor, Theodore 1921- The Cay, 1969 (When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II, an adolescent white boy, blinded by a blow on the head, and an old black man are stranded on a tiny Caribbean island where the boy acquires a new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old companion.) Cape Hatteras trilogy: Teetoncey, 1974 (Eleven-year-old Ben rescues an English girl from a shipwreck off the Outer Banks of North Carolina; and, though she becomes part of his family, she never speaks.) Teetoncey and Ben O'Neal, 1975 (When the English girl Ben saved from a shipwreck recovers her memory and speech and reveals to him that two chests full of silver went down with the ship, Ben and his friends try to recover them without arousing suspicions.) The Odyssey of Ben O'Neal, 1977 (The further adventures of Ben and Teetoncey as they take to the sea-- he, to find his brother, and she to escape a forced return to England.) To Kill the Leopard, 1993 (WW II. Twice torpedoed merchant captain, now commanding a Q ship, hunts the U-boat that sank him.) Timothy of the Cay, 1993 (Sequel to THE CAY. Having survived being blinded and shipwrecked on a tiny Caribbean island with the old black man Timothy, twelve-year-old white Phillip is rescued and hopes to regain his sight with an operation. Alternate chapters follow the life of Timothy from his days as a young cabin boy.) Taylor, Tom The Sin Bearer, 1986 (Novelization of a biblical adventure and love story, told in Acts 27:1-28:11, about a merchant ship that is commandeered by the Romans to take prisoners to Rome.) Tennyson, Alfred, Lord 1809-1892 The Kraken, 1830 (Short poem about the hideous beast.) The Revenge, 1880 ("In Flores in the Azores, Sir Richard Grenville lay... dum de dum de dum..." classic narrative poem, stirring stuff. In 1591 Grenville bravely tried to fight his undermanned ship, the REVENGE, through a powerful Spanish fleet, being defeated only after 15 hour of battle!) Crossing the Bar, 1889 (Death as an ocean voyage, classic short poem.) Terman, Douglas 1933- Enemy Territory, 1989 (Hi-tech, hi-seas clash between ex Vietnam War POW, now skippering a charterboat in Caribbean, and the Commie who brainwashed and tortured him, with sabotage of an SDI trial at stake.) Terrill, Rogers (Editor) The Argosy Book of Sea Stories, 1953 (A collection of fairly light-weight adventure stories published in the magazine between 1943 and 1953.) Thomas, Craig Emerald Decision, 1980 (A 40-year-old covert mine field in the Irish Sea contains a shattering secret that investigators must dig out of old WW II records and witnesses.) The Sea Leopard, 1981 (British nuclear sub with sonar "cloaking device.") Thompson, Earl (Former merchant seaman) Caldo Largo, 1977 (Mystery novel set in Brownsville, Texas, upper Mexican coast aboard a shrimper. Tough, rough, a little raw sex.) Thompson, Ernest Victor 1931- The Restless Sea, 1983 (Fishing and smuggling off the Cornish coast occupy prizefighter Nathan Jugo. Set about 1810.) Thorndyke, Arthur Russell 1885- Doctor Syn series: (After his wife is kidnapped by pirates, an English cleric takes to the high seas in pursuit of them. In the process, he assumes the persona of a pirate, Captain Clegg. He eventually hunts the pirates down only to learn that his wife is dead and that a price has been placed on his head by King George. After some years, and two books, of high seas adventures, he returns to rural England to shed his past and assume a posting as vicar of Dymchurch. He is accompanied, however, by his former ship's carpenter, Mr. Mipps, who quickly becomes involved in the local smuggling ring. Dr. Syn, fearing for the life of his friend and others, decides to bring the ragtag group of smugglers together by becoming their masked leader, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. The remaining books in the series address his adventures as leader of this group, and the Crown's efforts to capture and kill him. "Great swashbuckling stories!" [KF]) Doctor Syn, 1915 Dr. Syn Returns, 1935 The Scarecrow Rides, 1935 Further Adventures of Dr. Syn, 1936 Dr.Syn on the High Seas, 1936 Amazing Quest of Doctor Syn Courageous Exploits of Dr. Syn Shadow of Doctor Syn Thorndyke, Arthur Russell 1885-? and Buck, William Ray, 1930- Doctor Syn series: Christopher Syn, 1960 Thorne, Anthony I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1943 (Fictionalised but obviously autobiographical account of service on the lower deck of the Royal Navy as a "Y" Scheme entrant in the early days of WW II. His messmates are vividly brought to life in this enjoyable tale of the hardships and boredom of war in an armed merchant cruiser. Service on the lower deck was the norm for "Y" Scheme entrants prior to being selected for officer training. It is interesting to see that the book is bound in light navy blue cloth and along the edges of the top board are three white stripes making it look like a matelot's collar. All this under the Book Production War Economy Standard!) Thorne, John The Secret Service Submarine: A story of the present war, 1915 (The story involves a teacher, unable to join the services because of a leg damaged playing rugby at university, who reluctantly settles down to seeing the war out at a boys school on England’s east coast. Things are not as quiet as they seem - he suspects his headmaster is a spy - his brother commands a submarine - all a good Boy’s Own adventure complete with maps, secret codes etc.!) Tier, Alexander Britannia Rules the Waves, 1944 (The author and another Lieutenant, RNVR, Charles Page, who was responsible for the delightful illustrations, had their work serialised in THE FLEET, the journal of the British Navy, prior to its publication in book form. In this story of an alternative war-time Royal Navy, The WRENS make up the crew of HMS ARDENT, a battleship, much to the disgust of the squadron's other battleship's Captain the Hon. Aloysius Waldemar Fitz-Urse who is the bete noire of ARDENT's Commandant Sneeryng-Robarts. The Marines are also women, Marinettes in fact.... They do meet the enemy and amazingly, the Germans are written up, particularly bearing in mind the time, as only human... A lighthearted and affectionate send-up.) Tillman, Barrett The Sixth Battle, 1991 (Rear Admiral Chuck Gideon served his country in Vietnam and in the Gulf-- but he faces his greatest challenge as the commander of a task force in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast, where a geopolitical time bomb is primed and ready to explode. In a new era of instability the Soviet Union has become the Union of Eurasian Republics, South Africa is prey to UER-sponsored invaders, and the former policeman to the world, Uncle Sam,is called out of "retirement" to bring his most potent air, sea, and land power to bear on a crisis in the making. At the point of the spear thrust for freedom is Admiral Gideon, who orders his flyers into action off an aging aircraft carrier and into the annals of military heroism.) Dauntless, A Novel of Midway and Guadacanal, 1992 (Marine and naval aviators -- both USN and IJN -- at war during the battle of Midway and the battles for Guadacanal. Emphasis on sea warfare and the customs of the sea.) Tilsley, Frank HMS Defiant, 1958 (Mutiny in UK. Story of a mutiny on British frigate in 1796. Filmed as DAMN THE DEFIANT! in 1962 starring Alec Guiness.) Toner, Raymond John Midshipman Davy Jones; being the log of his adventures aboard divers frigates; sloops of war; and other fighting craft of the United States Navy; together with an account of his captivity in, and escape from, the islands of the Bermudas, during the late war with Great Britain, 1812-1815. Wherein may be discovered to those of a nautical mind, sundry time-honored naval customs, and the routine observed aboard United States men of war. To the adventurous, a recounting of gallant deeds of iron men in wooden ships, 1938 (For young readers.) Meeheevee; being an account of the commerce-raiding cruise of the United States frigate ESSEX into the South Pacific seas under command of Captain David Porter, U. S. Navy, anno 1812-14, 1940 (Fictional account of the famous voyage.) Gamble of the Marines, 1963 (A US Marine accompanies the frigate ESSEX on her raiding expedition to the Pacific during the War of 1812. For young readers.) Tonkin, Peter The Coffin Ship, 1989 (The VLCC PROMETHEUS is plagued by mysterious accidents before sailing from the Persian Gulf with 250,000 tons of crude. Will she make it?) The Fire Ship, 1990 (A sea thriller in which three separate incidents of terrorism, seas apart, are linked to one group, led by a madman. The action begins aboard the trial voyage of a high-tech multihull in the Indian Ocean.) Topol, Edward1938- Submarine U-137, 1983 (In 1981 Soviet submarine U-137 ran aground off the Swedish coast near a major Swedish naval base. The Soviets claimed faulty navigation equipment ...But was it??) Torrey, Michelle Bottles of Eight & Pieces of Rum, 199? (Kip attempts to fake his class assignment, an oral report on pirates, by using his grandfather's tales. The plan backfires and he turns to his grandfather for help. Unable to believe the story his grandfather tells, Kip follows his instructions and takes out a bottle from a chest in the attic. Instantly he is being fished out of the sea by pirates and learns about their life by becoming one. Adventures follow, of course, but startling surprises as well as Kip uses his modern skills in the age of wooden ships. For 9 to 12 year olds.) Tracy, Don 1905- Crimson is the Eastern Shore, 1953 (A romantic tale of strong-minded men and women on Maryland's Eastern Shore during the tumultuous events of 1812.) Carolina Corsair, 1955 (The year is 1717 and Edward Teach -- Blackbeard the Pirate -- is plaguing the American coast in an alchoholic haze. Novel that makes Blackbeard's irrational behavior a consequence of alcoholism.) Tracy, Louis 1863-1928 The Captain of the Kansas, 1907 (Gallant captain of the KANSAS, on a run from Chile to England, with the help of assorted more or less useful passengers, overcomes sabotage, Indian attacks, and the stormy sea and finally gets the girl to boot. It's a pretty good look at the racial stereotyping of the day, but holds up pretty well after 90 years.) Traven, B. 1890-1969 The Death Ship: the Story of an American Sailor, 1934 (Black comedy about the black gang of a doomed freighter by the mysterious author of THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.) Treece, Henry 1911-1966 Viking's Dawn, 1956 (Tells the story of the earliest Vikings, before they were the kings of the sea.) The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, 1958 Trelawny, Edward John 1792-1881 (Served in the Royal Navy 1805-1812, including several years in the Indian Ocean and East Indies against native pirates and French naval vessels and privateers. Later became friendly with the poets Shelley and Byron, and imbued with high Romantic ideas, travelled to Italy, rranged cremation for Shelley who drowned 1822, then to Greece with Byron for revolution against Turks.) Adventures of a Younger Son, 1831 (RN midshipman deserts in India because of harsh treatment, joins an American privateer sailing under French letter of marque, has various adventures in the Indian Ocean and East Indies. He's indignant about the ill treatment of the natives by foreign intruders, but behaves just as callously himself. Some episodes (e.g. ship overrun by man-hungry naked Malay women) were omitted from the original edition, because of protests by Trelawny's friend Mary Shelley, but are restored in the Oxford English Novels edition, 1974, which also has useful notes.) Trevor, Elleston (Author of FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX) The Big Pick-Up; a novel of Dunkirk, 1955 Gale Force, 1956 ("A shattering story of a [steam]ship's fight for survival in the Atlantic gone mad." [from bookjacket blurb]) Trew, Antony 1906- Two Hours to Darkness, 1962 (Captain of a British Polaris submarine goes mad during a patrol in the Baltic Sea in 1960s. He plans to launch Polaris missiles at the USSR, while his exec, learning of the plot is determined "to keep his yardarm clear," and not endanger his own chances of promotion.) The White Schooner, 1969 (Mystery and revenge in the Balearics.) The Moonraker mutiny, 1972 (Crew mutinies and abandons freighter on way to Australia.) Kleber's convoy, 1973 (Johan Kleber commands a wolf pack hunting a Murmansk bound convoy, while an old friend commands its destroyer escort.) The Zhukov briefing, 1975 (Soviet sub runs aground off Norway.) Death of a Supertanker, 1978 (A supertanker runs aground on the African coast, leaving behind dead sailors and a massive insurance bill. Someone on board had sabotaged its navigation gear. Suspects range from a crewman up to the captain.) The Antonov project, 1979 (US and UK intelligence want to know what's with Russia's new class of bulk carrier ships that never take on cargo.) Sea Fever, 1980 (During a single-handed round trip race to the Azores from Britain our hero finds stowaway aboard his small ketch. Her presence will disqualify him, but only if she is discovered. Is winning worth throwing her overboard?) Running wild, 1983 (Anti-apartheid activists escape S. Africa in a ketch.) Bannister's Chart, 1984 (Mystery and suspense as a cruise ship get battered by a cyclone and diverted on a treasure hunt.) Yashimoto's Last Dive, 1987 (Japanese submarine commander and British destroyer captain in a duel on the Indian ocean during WW II.) The Chalk Circle, 1989 (Spy thriller set in Mozambique. Survivors of a wrecked big game fishing boat and a small aircraft are drawn into an intrigue.) Trimble, Hugh J. 1924- Return from the Deep, 1958 (A US sub skipper sinks a Japanese ship, finds out later that it contained US prisoners of war, including his best friend. Based on an actual incident during WW II.) Tucker, George F. The Boy Whaleman, 1924 (Whaling voyage to the Pacific and Arctic.) Turnbull, Archibald Douglas Cochrane the Unconquerable, 1929 (Novel based on the adventures of RN hero Thomas Cochrane. "Since man first pushed out upon blue water, there has been only one Thomas Cochrane. Because the Golden Age of Sailors is dead, there can never be another quite like him, asking no odds in weather or war. Alike against political double-dealing and naval corruption ashore, or against overwhelming gales and roaring broadsides afloat, he set a straight course and steered it with a high heart. From a downfall that must have killed a lesser man, he rose to new and greater heights. The spars of this tale are history; it's sails, romance. Who must, may hunt out the robands bending sails to spars") Tute, Warren (Royal Navy officer 1932-1946.) The Cruiser, 1955 (Life-history of LEANDER class cruiser ANTIGONE from the peace-time Caribbean to WW II in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.) The Rock, 1957 (Gibraltar at war during WW II. Lots of sea action.) The Leviathan, 1959 (Life story of LEVIATHAN, a ship patterned on the QUEEN MARY -- the crew's pub even has the same name as that on the QM -- from its launch through peacetime and wartime service until it is sunk in WW II.) The Admiral, 1963 (The career of Mark Hamerlock, RN, from entry as a midshipman 1897, through service in China and at Jutland, to retirement as an admiral in 1942. Not terribly original, but a lot of good period detail.) Unsworth, Barry 1930- (Editor) Classic Sea Stories, 1994 (Huge 616 page book has 80 classic tales, accounts of great navigators, fierce sea battles, legends, sea gods and lost islands. Authors include Homer, Conrad, Melville, H. C. Anderson, Poe, Washington Irving, Defoe and Jules Verne.) Vail, Philip, 1914-1988 (Noel B. Gerson) The Sea Panther, 1962 (William Bainbridge's exploits, from 1797 through his capture of the JAVA in 1812, interpreted in fiction of dubious accuracy. Bainbridge is given the capabilities of a comic book superhero -- regularly besting Royal Navy warships with a merchantman. Additionally, all American frigates are 44s -- including PHILADELPHIA, ESSEX, and CONSTELLATION -- and the Royal Navy frigate JAVA is transformed into a 64-gun ship of the line.) Van der Post, Laurens The Hunter and the Whale, 1967 (Big game hunter and whaling captain trade pot shots at an elephant and a whale.) Van Zwienen, John Pivot, 1980 (Germans mount an effort to hit the Empire State Building with a V-2 launched from a U-Boat. The expedition experiences difficulties due to production bottlenecks, denial of reality by the senior leaders in 1944-45, cronyism, and mysticism -- a combination which makes allied forces trivial by comparison.) China Clipper, 1983 (Potboiler set in the 1840s-1860s centering on the exploits of an American seafaring and shipbuilding family, a renegade Englishman, and a nymphomaniac who starts out the novel as the wife of a clipper captain, then becomes acting captain when her husband falls ill. Between bedroom scenes, the story has lots of seagoing action examining the impact of the introduction of the clipper and the steamship in commercial shipping.) Vaughan, Carter A. 1914-1988 (Noel B. Gerson) The Yankee Brig, 1960 (Seven Years War adventure. Boston skipper takes a brig to sea as a privateer fighting the French while facing the opposition of the Royal Navy commodore in command in Boston.) Dragon Cove, 1979 (Probably written earlier. A band of Providence, RI, rebels led by Captain Jonathan Sherwood, strike at the British from their secret base in Dragon Cove. Among other adventures, they blow up a British 74 in port, steal a merchantman, use that as springboard to steal a British sloop-of-war, then take to the seas around Providence to give the British grief.) Vercel, Roger 1894-1957 Tides of Mont St. Michel, 1938 Verne, Jules 1828-1905 +Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 1869 (A new translation (1993, Naval Institute Press) corrects the many errors, mistranslations, and bogus additions of the English version previously available and restores nearly a quarter of Verne's original text that was cut from that version of the adventures of Captain Nemo and his marvelous submarine NAUTILUS. The Signet Classic and Bantam paperbacks are also said to be good translations.) The Mysterious Island, 1870 (Desert island story.) Captain Grant's Children (Lord Glenarvan, Scots aristocrat, liberal and owner of the big steam/sail yacht DUNCAN, finds in the sea a bottle with a document telling about a shipwreck that mentions the name of the ship's captain - Grant. Unfortunately, part of information related to the location of shipwreck was destroyed by the sea water and Glenarvan only could get the latitude: 37 degrees and some minutes. He also knew that it was the Southern Hemisphere. He gets familiar with the two children of the captain and decides to search their father, having many adventures on the way, including meeting a character who later plays a part in Verne's MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.) The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras The Blockade Runners Verril, Alpheus Hyatt 1871-? The Deep Sea Hunters, 1922 (The old derelict sailing ship HECTOR is repaired and fitted out for a voyage to South Shetlands to obtain sea-elephant oil for the WW I war effort.) Villiers, Alan 1903-1982 (Born in Melbourne, wrote much nautical non-fiction based on his many adventures in sailing ships, and several childrens sea stories) Whalers of the Midnight Sun, 1934 (Children's sea story) A Seaman's Collection of Great Sea Stories, 1953 (Editor. Stories by de Hartog, Slocum, Shackleton, McFee, Roberts, Bisset and more. Fiction and non-fiction.) Vignoles, Keith Young persons adventure stories set nearly two hundred years ago but with plenty of local interest particularly for those who know the Hampshire-Sussex borders of Southern England adjacent to the French coast: Dick Burgess of Bosham, 1976 (Young Dick works for his father who mixes a bit of smuggling in with his fishing. They are ambushed by Custom officers but Dick manages to evade capture. French agents assisted by some locals are preparing for Napoleon's imminent invasion and Dick, at great risk, is able to help in unmasking traitors amongst the local community in 1803.) A Prisoner of Portchester, 1977 (Two French POWs escape from Portchester Castle (situated at the north end of Portsmouth Harbour) in 1808 and hope to use the long established escape route to return to France. Two young lads become involved when they discover a wounded man near their home.) Portsmouth Point, 1984 (A naval adventure set in 1814 with plenty of local interest thrown in - a young lad has no future ashore in Portsmouth and finds himself aboard a Royal Navy schooner, Dick Burgess (from the first novel) is a leading hand, and they are involved in an action against an American schooner off Ireland.) Vollmann, William T. The Rifles (Fictionalized recreation of the disastrous last voyage of Sir John Franklin with the bomb ketches EREBUS and TERROR in 1845 searching for the Northwest Passage.) Wallace, Willard Mosher 1911- East to Bagaduce, 1963 (Based on a true event. US Navy lays siege to Maine town during the Revolutionary War, but effort ends in humiliating disaster. Not for sunshine patriots.) Jonathan Dearborn; a novel of the War of 1812, 1967 (American privateers.) The Raiders: a novel of the Civil War at sea, 1970 (Cruise of the Confederate raider ALABAMA, as seen by Lieutenant Scott Pettigrew from Maine.) Wallop, Douglass 1920- (Best known for writing THE YEAR THE YANKEES LOST THE PENNANT, later turned into the musical DAMN YANKEES.) Regatta, 1981 (A crack international yachtsman steps down in class to race his fifty-eight foot yacht against ordinary weekend sailors in a thirty mile, 150-boat sailing race on Chesapeake bay. His chief adversary, in a much smaller sloop, gives him all he can handle.) Walmsley, Leo Three Fevers, 1932 (The struggles of the "Lunns" and the "Fosdyks", rival inshore fisherman in North Yorkshire coastal village of "Bramblewick". The book is actually semi-autobiographical, and is based around real families who lived in the early part of this century at Robin Hood's Bay. Leo Walmsley wrote several such books, mainly based around his experiences in Robin Hood's Bay, and also the time he spent living in Fowey, Cornwall, where he eventually died. The book was adapted into the first film made by Arthur Rank, and was released as TURN OF THE TIDE.) Walsh, Joseph Patrick King's Arrow, 1951 (English medical sudent, in hiding after a duel, gets pressed into the Royal Navy. Escaping with a Nantucket sailor and a Native American, he becomes involved in smuggling goods to the Colonies in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Meanwhile, his ladylove emigrates to the Colonies after the death of her father. The collapse of his shipping business impoverishes her. She marries a Yankee loyalist, who is a businessman and a former ship owner. Sparks fly when the patriot smuggler and the Loyalist women encounter each other once again in Providence, Rhode Island. Despite anachronisms, a rollicking good tale.) Wambaugh, Joseph Floaters, 1996 (Set in San Diego's Mission Bay during America's Cup '95, water cops Mickey Fortney and his partner Leeds are on the trail of Cup saboteurs. This one is worth reading just for the commentary on the Cup scene. Fast paced & funny.)
Copyright © John Kohnen 1999
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