Authors R - Ray
Raabe, H. E. (1858- )
Krakatoa, Hand of the Gods. Brewer & Warren, 1930. 352 pages
Hints of the involvement of a Lost Race in the apocalyptic volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1888
Raban, Jonathan (1942-2023)
Foreign Land. Viking, 1985. 352 pages
Modern cruise around UK.
The Oxford Book of the Sea. Oxford University Press, 1992. 524 pages
Editor. An anthology of short prose and poetry about the sea, as well as excerpts from longer works.
Raddall, Thomas Head (1903-1994)
His Majesty's Yankees. Doubleday, Doran, 1942. 409 pages
Deals with the part played during the American Revolution by the Yankees of Nova Scotia. An adventure story, rather a tame romance and a spot of history all thrown together. Told in the first person by David Strang it concerns his efforts to join Nova Scotia to the rest of America! A bit turgid by modern standards, could you trust a book that finished "... this rocky homeland on the sea's edge, where life is a struggle that demands a man's utmost and will take no less, where beauty alone is bountiful, and only death comes easy; where courage springs from the eternal rock like the clear singing rivers, like the deep rooted forest itself." Plenty of shipboard action, although the story is not essentially set on the sea, rather by it!. Much of the story involves smaller boats.
Roger Sudden. McClelland & Stewart, 1944. 358 pages
French and British seamen fight to claim Nova Scotia.
Pride's Fancy. Doubleday, 1946. 348 pages
French privateers from Nova Scotia cruise the Caribbean in 1798.
Tidefall. Little, Brown, 1953. 300 pages
Unscrupulous Nova Scotian retired rumrunner returns to his boyhood village and takes over a bankrupt shipping company. Some editions have title Give and Take.
The Rover : the story of a Canadian privateer. Macmillan, 1959. 156 pages
For young readers.
The Governor's Lady. Doubleday, 1960. 474 pages
Nautical adventures and political maneuvering in Nova Scotia. John and Frances Wentworth are the main characters.
Hangman's Beach. Doubleday, 1966. 421 pages
An historical novel set in Halifax during the Napoleonic Wars. "The reader enjoys a tale of high adventure and daring. He experiences the shock of battle at sea, the torment of conflicting loyalities, and the searing heat of love in an unforgettable picture of men and women caught in the sweep of events in a tumultuous era." [from bookjacket blurb]
Raine, Norman Reilly (1895-1971)
Tugboat Annie. Minton, Balch, 1934. 313 pages
The humorous Adventures of the tug NARCISSUS and her colorful captain in and around Puget Sound. Based on the real-life experiences of Thea Christiansen Foss (1857-1927).
Captain Kidd. World, 1945. 191 pages
A novelization of the screen play ; from an original story by Robert N. Lee ; illustrated with scenes from the Benedict Bogeaus film, released through United Artists.
Ralphson, G. Harvey (1879-1940)
Boy Scouts in a Motor Boat, or, Adventures on the Columbia River. M.A. Donohue & Co., 1912. 246 pages
Boy Scouts in the North Sea, or, "Mystery of U-13". M.A. Donohue & Co., 1915. 252 pages
Ransome, Arthur (1884-1967)
Swallows and Amazons series:
Swallows and Amazons. J. Cape, 1930. 374 pages
The Walker children get permission to sail and camp on Wild Cat Island where they are attacked by the AMAZON pirates. After some wild sailing adventures, the war is won and an alliance concluded. Together they manage to capture a retired pirate and find his stolen treasure!
Peter Duck. J. Cape, 1932. 431 pages
Written after Swallowdale but chronologically before. A story of buried treasure leads to an eventful sail down the Channel and across the Atlantic to seek for the treasure of Crab Island. They are pursued by the evil Black Jake and the VIPER. Despite the attempts of Black Jake and his crew and the worst that weather can do, they get back successfully.
Swallowdale. J. Cape, 1931. 453 pages
A near disaster to the SWALLOW causes the Walkers to camp up on the fells away from the lake. There they experience some aspects of Lakeland life, foil a surprise pirate attack from the strangely constrained AMAZONs and climb Kanchenjunga. The story ends with a classic sailing race between the SWALLOW and AMAZON.
Winter Holiday. J. Cape, 1933. 359 pages
The "Ds" on a winter holiday in the Lakes meet the SWALLOWs and AMAZONs after signalling to Mars. They all become involved in Arctic exploration during an unexpectedly prolonged holiday. The climax is a dash to the North Pole followed up by several rescue expeditions.
Coot Club. J. Cape, 1934. 351 pages
The "Ds" go to the Norfolk Broads hoping to learn to sail. They meet the Bird Preservation Society members, one of whom gets into trouble with the "Hullabaloos" and has to go into hiding. The "Ds" do learn to sail and go on a cruise through the Broads. They are nearly caught by the "Hullabaloos" but instead the "Death and Glories" have an opportunity to gain a reward.
Pigeon Post. J. Cape, 1936. 383 pages
The SWALLOWs, AMAZONs and "Ds" seek gold on High Topps and have dangerous adventures in the disused mines while trying to foil the claim jumper Squashy Hat. Gold is found but it isn't what it seems. The pigeons save the day by getting a message for help through at a dangerous moment.
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea. J. Cape, 1937. 351 pages
A short cruise in the estuary turns into a frightening adventure when Jim Brading disappears. The SWALLOWs manage to do the right thing even though they have to break a promise and prove they are deep water sailors.
Secret Water. J. Cape, 1939. 380 pages
A mapping expedition leads to war with the EELs and a near fatal encounter with the tides. Bridget becomes a human sacrifice but the map looks incomplete. However, last minute voyages mean that the expedition is crowned with success.
The Big Six. J. Cape, 1940. 399 pages
There is more trouble on the Broads and the "Death and Glories" are accused due to their unexplained wealth and presence at the scene of the crimes. Together with Tom Dudgeon and the "Ds" they manage to track down the real villain by using the methods of the "Big Five" of Scotland Yard. In a dramatic climax the wrong doers are caught in a flash.
Missee Lee. J. Cape, 1941. 336 pages
Captured by Chinese pirates, the SWALLOWs and AMAZONs manage to win over the Cambridge-educated pirate leader in an unusual but unwelcome way. They seem doomed to stay prisoners for ever. However, the rest of the pirates think beheading is a better solution and so they have to dance their way to freedom.
The Picts and the Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All. J. Cape, 1943. 340 pages
The "Ds" come to stay with the AMAZONs but have to leave and set up house on their own when an unwelcome visitor arrives to take charge. The AMAZON pirates have to become well behaved martyrs while the "Ds" are well hidden "Picts". Despite the problems the "Ds" learn to guddle fish, sail, burgle and even skin a rabbit while the "Martyrs" manage to escape from their imprisonment occasionally. The "Martyrs" sacrifice is worth it in the end.
Great Northern? J. Cape, 1947. 351 pages
Are they or aren't they? Unfortunately the one man who can confirm Dick's sighting of the Great Northern Divers wants them dead. The SWALLOWs, AMAZONs and "Ds" on a cruise in the Hebrides make a unique discovery and have to foil the owner of the PTERODACTYL while proving Dick's discovery is genuine. The savage Gaels complicate matters but help out in the end. Myles North, an admirer of Ransome, provided much of the basic plot of the book.
Coots in the North. Cape, 1988. 144 pages
Unfinished fragments edited by Hugh Brogan. The "Death and Glories" stow away on a boat transport to the Lakes. There they meet the AMAZONs in an unpropitious manner. The rest of the book is only an unfinished outline of their adventures together.
Rappaport, A. S. (Angelo Solomon) (1871-1950)
Superstitions of sailors. Stanley Paul, 1928. 287 pages
Later published as The Sea: Myths and Legends. Folk tales, superstitions, myths and legends.
Rascovich, Mark (1917-1976)
The Bedford Incident. Atheneum, 1963. 337 pages
US destroyer plays nuclear chicken with a Soviet sub in the Denmark Strait.
Ratigan, William (1910-1984)
Soo Canal! W.B. Eerdmans, 1955. 186 pages
Fictionalized account of the building of the canal linking Superior with the rest of the Great Lakes in the 1850s.
The Adventures of Captain McCargo. Random House, 1956. 245 pages
Picturesque saga of Captain "Thunder Bay" McCargo of the schooner MINONG -- Great Lakes skipper, lover, and adventurer par excellence.
Rawlings, Charles
Jarge Makes In. Saturday Evening Post, October 3, 1936.
Short story. Doryman adrift off Newfoundland but survives. Collected in The Saturday Evening Post Reader of Sea Stories
Cargo of Gold. Saturday Evening Post, April 8, 1961.
Short story. Gold laden sloop found adrift off Florida.
Rayford, Julian Lee (1908-1980)
Child of the Snapping Turtle, Mike Fink. Abelard, 1951. 335 pages
Boating adventures along frontier rivers
Rayner, Denys Arthur (1908-1967)
The Enemy Below. Collins, 1956. 191 pages
A solitary British destroyer fights a German U-boat in the remote expanses of the South Atlantic in WW II.
The Long Fight. Holt, 1958. 181 ppages
Fictionalised account of an actual three-day Indian Ocean frigate battle in 1808 in which HMS SAN FIORENZO defeated and captured the French PIEMONTAISE. Well written in spare, spartan terms.
The Long Haul. McGraw-Hill, 1960. 194 pages
British Destroyer captain towing a disabled tanker tangles with a U-boat in a deadly game of cat and mouse to the death. U.K. title The Crippled Tanker