Fabry, Joseph
B. (1909-1999)
Swing shift : Building the Liberty
ships. Strawberry Hill,
1982. 238 pages
Fictionalized dialogue reveals the
human side of a shipyard gang which built Liberty ships at Permanente Metals
Richmond [Calif. ] Shipyard, particularly the ROBERT E. PEARY, built in a
record four days in November 1942.
Falkner, John Meade (1858-1932)
Moonfleet. Little, Brown,
1951. 237 pages
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. Little, Brown,
1920. 368 pages
Martin Conisby, embittered by his
five years of slavery on the Spanish galleon Esmeralda, escapes during a sea
fight and makes his way back to England, determined to avenge himself on
Richard Brandon, who was the cause of his father's death and his own ill-
treatment. Broken in body and spirit, he arrives home just in time to save
from the hands of robbers a beautiful girl, Lady Joan Brandon, the daughter of
the man whom he has sworn to punish. In a tavern he meets a pal, Adam
Penfeather, who unfolds to him the story of Black Bartlemy, an infamous
pirate, and his treasure buried on an island--treasure of fabuous value that
has been the dream and hope of roving adventurers along the Spanish Main for
many years.
Martin Conisby's
Vengeance. Little, Brown,
1921. 331 pages
A classic pirate tale of the Spanish
Main, featuring the female pirate, Captain Jo, this continuation of "Black
Bartelmy's Treasure" picks up the plot three years
later.
Farrell, F.
L.
Surface Raider : The story of the sinking of
the Graf Spee. John Spencer,
1957. 162 pages
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 (1897-1962)
Mosquitoes. Boni and
Liveright, 1927. 349 pages
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.
Turnabout. Saturday Evening
Post, March 5, 1932.
Short story: an American aviator in
World War I who befriends a British torpedo-boat pilot and comes to see the
war from a perspective that's less remote and abstract than that of the one he
had as an aerial bomber. The story was the inspiration for Howard Hawks' 1933
film "Today We Live".
Felsen, Henry Gregor (1916-
1995)
Submarine
Sailor. E. P. Dutton, 1943.
208 pages
With a 32 page supplement of
submarine photographs.
Some Follow the
Sea. E. P. Dutton, 1944. 192
pages
WW II convoy life in the North
Atlantic and Murmansk Run. For young readers.
Fenn, George Manville
Sail Ho! or, A boy at
sea. Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, 1893. 375 pages
Young Alison Dale's captain was not
a pleasant man, and the crew mutiny, led by the half-French Jarette, and take
over the ship. Eventually the drunken mutineers accidentally set fire to the
vessel, and flee it. But the officers and passengers, previously cast adrift,
come back and manage to put the fire out. The mutineers who have not gone far
return and in the ensuing battle Jarette is killed.
The ocean cat's-paw : the story of a strange
cruise. Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1904. 510 pages
The adventures of a young boy on his
uncle's ship.
Fenner, Phyllis R. (editor)
Pirates, Pirates, Pirates: Stories of cutlasses
and corsairs, buried
treasure and buccaneers, ships and
swashbucklers. Watts, 1951. 287
pages
For young
readers.
Fernald, John
Destroyer from
America. J. Cape, 1942. 127
pages
A fictionized account of the voyages
of one destroyer taken over by the British, and a vivid picture of what the
naval heroes of England, or of any nation, actually experience.
Feuchtwanger, Lion (1884-1958)
Proud
Destiny. Viking, 1947. 625
pages
Intrigue, wit and folly involved in
getting France
to support the American rebels in 1776. Translation of Waffen für Amerika.
Finer,
Alex
Deepwater. Doubleday, 1983.
180 pages
Deep diving sub explores an undersea
volcano 6 miles
down, with the CIA aboard looking for secrets.
Finger, Charles Joseph (1869-
1941)
Cape Horn Snorter : a story of the War of 1812,
and of gallant days with Captain Porter of the U. S. frigate,
Essex. Houghton Mifflin,
1939. 263 pages
For young
readers.
Finney, Jack (1911-1995)
Assault on a
Queen. Simon and
Schuster, 1959. 244 pages
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. Doubleday,
1972. 125 pages
For
young readers. Boy goes on whaling cruise in the Atlantic during 1840s,
is sole survivor of shipwreck.
Fisher, Philip M. (1891-1973)
Vanishing
Ships. M. S, Mill, 1943.
250 pages
Originally serialized in Holland’s
Magazine as "The Radio Wreckers" (November 1925 - April 1926). This rewritten
version changes the baddies to Nazis and the Japanese Empire. Pulp about ships
captured using a radio wave that disrupts normal marine wireless
transmissions.
Fisher, William (1780-1852)
The Petrel: A Tale of the
Sea. H. Colburn, 1850. 3
volumes
The Petrel is dispatched to search
the Mozambique Channel, and the archipelgo to the north of it, for pirates.
Originally published as "by a Naval Officer".
Fitchett, William Henry (1841-
1928)
The Commander of the Hirondelle: A Tale of the
Great Blockade. Smith, Elder,
1904. 390 pages
Lieutenant Harry Gaunt is given the
task of capuring the Hirondelle. Having succeeded he is given command and the
ship is variously employed, including being present at the Battle of Cape St
Vincent.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896-
1940)
The Rough
Crossing. The Saturday
Evening Post, June 8, 1929
Short story.
Fitzgerald, Penelope (1916-
2000)
Offshore. H. Holt, 1979. 141
pages
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. Winner of
the 1979 Booker Prize.
Flanagan,
Thomas
The Year of the
French. Holt, Rinehart,
and Winston, 1978. 516 pages
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.
Flannery, Sean [pseud. David
Hagberg] (1942- )
Winner Take
All. Forge, 1994. 378
pages
To mark the end of the Cold War,
Russia and the U. S. plan a massive war game while hidden conspirators connive
to sabotage the operation. When a sabotaged U. S. spy sub is supposedly sunk by
the Russians, only National Security Agency spy Bill Lane can defuse the
crisis.
Kilo
Option. Forge, 1996. 383
pages
National Security Agency spy Bill
Lane races to avert a nuclear war in the Middle East. He has uncovered a plot
to annihilate Tel Aviv by terrorists using a stolen Iranian submarine, armed
with nuclear missiles.
Fleming, Thomas
J.
Time and
tide. Simon and Schuster, 1987. 754
pages
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),
(1879-1969)
Lusty Wind for
Carolina. Bobbs-Merrill,
1944. 509 pages
Captain Woodes Rogers fights pirates
in
the early 18th century Carolina colonies.
Bennett's
Welcome. Bobbs-Merrill,
1950. 451 pages
Effect of a period of great change
in England on the Colonists in Virginia and North Carolina in
1651.
Men of
Albemarle. Bobbs-Merrill,
1942. 566 pages
Raleigh's
Eden. Bobbs-Merrill, 1940. 662
pages
Roanoke
Hundred. Bobbs-Merrill,
1948. 492 pages
Toil of the
Brave. Bobbs-Merrill,
1946. 547 pages
Cormorant's
Brood. Lippincott, 1959.
345 pages
Romance, adventure and intrigue in
early 18th
century North Carolina.
Rogue's
Harbor. Bobbs-Merrill,
1964. 242 pages
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.
Follansbee,
Joe
Bet: Stowaway
Daughter. Fyddeye Media,
2011. 227 pages
Lisbet "Bet" Lindstrom is the 13-
year-old daughter of a sea captain convicted of theft and sent to prison. Bet
is convinced her father is innocent, but she has no way to prove it. Desperate
to free her father, she visits his old fishing boat, and spots a horribly
scarred sailor who might know the truth about the crime. Ignoring the warnings
of her friends, she secretly jumps aboard the ship and sails to Alaska. She
braves huge storms, performs daring rescues, and faces the man who threatens
everything she loves.
Follet, James (1939- )
The Wotan
Warhead. Stein and Day,
1979. 201 pages
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. Also published as U700.
Churchill's
Gold. Houghton Mifflin, 1980. 218
pages
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.
Those in
Peril. Heinemann, 1994.
344 pages
The Royal Navy has dealt a massive
blow to Hitler's campaign. But for Ernst Kessler, commander of U-395, their
success creates a near impossible situation as he attempts to bring his crew
home.
Forbes,
Colin
Target
Five. Signet, 1973. 256
pages
American Arctic expert obtains a
secret list of Soviet submarine stations and attempts to escape with it
without being captured.
Forbes, George (1849-1936)
Adventures In Southern Seas : A Tale of the
Sixteenth Century. Dodd, Mead, 1920.
287 pages
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.
Forbes, Stephen
K.
Neptune's
Lance. Signet, 1992. 430
pages
Brothers Drew and Coy Murdock must
find a missing American nuclear submarine, hidden somewhere in the Persian
Gulf, and discover who is behind the theft.
Forester, Cecil Scott (1899-
1966)
Brown on
Resolution. John Lane, 1929.
272 pages
U. S. title: Single-Handed.
Marooned British sailor takes on WW I German raider single-handed,
filmed as "Sailor of the King".
The African
Queen. P. F. Collier,
1935. 275 pages
In the early days of World War I, a
steam launch on African river attempts to sink a German
cruiser.
To the
Indies. Little, Brown,
1940. 298 pages
U. K. title: The
Earthly Paradise. Historical fiction about the tragic story of
Christopher Columbus's last expedition to the new
world.
The Captain From
Connecticut. Little, Brown,
1941. 344 pages
In the second year of the War of
1812, Captain Peabody's mission is to break the British blockade. A blizzard
has cut visibility to yards. Who would expect a Yankee frigate to be in the
Long Island Sound at night and under such conditions?
The
Ship. Little, Brown, 1943. 281
pages
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. Little, Brown,
1955. 310 pages
US destroyer escorts North Atlantic
convoys during WW II. Although an experienced officer, with many years of
seniority, this is Commodore Krause's first wartime mission. The captains of
the other escort vessels are junior to him, and much younger, but they have
been at war for over two years. His relative inexperience troubles
him.
The Man in the Yellow
Raft. Little, Brown, 1969. 190
pages
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 : Ten
Stories. Little, Brown,
1970. 263 pages
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:
- Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. Little, Brown, 1950. 310 pages
June 1794 - April
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. Little, Brown, 1952. 306 pages
May 1800 - April
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. Little, Brown,
1962. 344 pages
April 1803 - July
1805. Commander Hornblower marries
Maria and blockades the French in the sloop
HOTSPUR.
- Hornblower During the Crisis. Little, Brown, 1966. 162 pages
1805. Unfinished at
Forester's death. Includes two short stories bookending Horatio's career
"Honeblower's Temptation" and "The Last
Encounter"
- Hornblower and the
Atropos. Little, Brown,
1953. 325 pages
December 1805 - January
1808. Our hero takes part in Lord
Nelson's funeral and goes treasure hunting in the Levant, among other
adventures.
- Beat to Quarters. New York : Grosset & Dunlap, 1937. 324 pages
June 1808 - October
1808. U. K. title: 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. Little, Brown, 1939. 323 pages
May 1810 - October
1810. 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. Little,
Brown, 1939. 292 pages
November 1810 - June
1811. 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. Little, Brown, 1945. 313 pages
May 1812 - October
1812. Hornblower leads a squadron in the
Baltic trying to protect trade and stop Napoleon's
advance.
- Lord Hornblower. Little, Brown, 1946. 318 pages
October 1813 - May
1814. Hornblower must rescue a known tyrant
from the mutiny of his crew.
- Admiral Hornblower in the West
Indies. Little, Brown,
1958. 329 pages
May 1821 - October
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
The Cadet
Hornblowers:
A four-volume abridgement of eight
Hornblower
novels tailored for young audiences.
- Hornblower Goes To Sea. Queen's House, 1948. 191 pages
Excerpts from Mr.
Midshipman Hornblower
and Lieutenant
Hornblower.
Hornblower Takes Command. Little, Brown, 1953. 223 pages
Excerpts from Hornblower and the Atropos and Beat to
Quarters.
Hornblower in Captivity. Little, Brown, 1939. 224 pages
Excerpts from Ship
of the Line and
Flying Colours.
Hornblower's Triumph. Little, Brown, 1946. 223 pages
Excerpts from Commodore Hornblower and Lord
Hornblower.
Forrest, Anthony [pseud. Norman
MacKenzie (1915-2004) and Anthony Brown (1946- )]
John Justice series:
- Captain Justice. Hill & Wang, 1981. 307 pages
John Justice is sent on a secret
mission to
France to determine the fate of a British spy.
- The Pandora Secret. Hill & Wang, 1982. 296 pages
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. Hill & Wang, 1983. 231 pages
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. Harrap, 1969. 223
pages
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 Devil's
Alternative. Viking, 1979. 432
pages
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.
