Authors Law - Ley
Lawrence, Alan (1954- )
The Continuing Voyages of HMS Surprise:
The Massacre of Innocents. Mainsail Voyages Press, 2014. 464 pages
Captain Pat O'Connor, Lieutenant Duncan Macleod and Doctor Simon Ferguson return from half-pay to command the frigate HMS Surprise, returned to service after long years 'in ordinary' at Plymouth Dock. HMS Surprise escorts Lord Byron to Cephalonia and then aids the fledgling Greek navy against the crushing Ottoman fleet superiority. An extended edition was released in 2022.
Freedom or Death. Mainsail Voyages Press, 2015. 322 pages
HMS Surprise, aiding the fledgling Greek navy as a letter-of-marque, is vastly outnumbered and so runs before before brutal Turk invasions ravage the defenceless islands of Psara and Kasos. Doctor Simon Ferguson, left ashore, his fleeting study of island flora rudely shattered, flees across the mountainous interior pursued by Turk beserkers intent on his capture and death.
The Fireships of Gerontas. Mainsail Voyages Press, 2016. 321 pages
Captain Patrick O’Connor leads HMS Surprise and her battle-weary crew of tired veterans once more into the fray to support their Greek brothers-in-arms. Doctor Simon Ferguson, traumatised by an intense summer of conflict and casualties, struggles valiantly to cope with the rising and bloody burden of killed and wounded shipmates.
The Aftermath of Devastation. Mainsail Voyages Press, 2017. 322 pages
After two years of bloody fighting and heavy losses, after enduring the hurricane of 1824, HMS Surprise struggles to make Falmouth port in a dreadful state, very severely damaged and sinking, dozens of her crew wounded and injured, all her officers and men utterly exhausted. Will she be hulked or even broken up? Doctor Simon Ferguson, traumatised by so many deaths, has had enough and leaves for his home in the Isles. The First Lord ponders the frigate's future as her men are paid off. Battered and broken, HMS Surprise's very existence is in doubt.
Mathew Jelbert. self published, 2018. 320 pages
After delivering her cargo of the Tsar’s gold to a secret hideaway, unable to make way against strong headwinds and closed within a narrow strait, the frigate is surrounded by a closing Turkish fleet, her destruction or capture seemingly inevitable. A miraculous escape is made through shallow, uncharted waters. At last, temporary repairs made to substantial damages, Surprise and her tender, the schooner Eleanor, make their way home, heading for Falmouth, yet the fog of Cape St. Vincent presents a dreadful catastrophe for them.
The Tears of Despair. self published, 2019. 320 pages
The Bank of England faces insolvency after the run on private banks has cleaned out all cash reserves. With only a very few days left before national panic sets in, Captain Patrick O'Connor is called back to duty, his first mission being to rescue the country from the looming catastrophe. Afflicted by ghastly nightmares, tormented by disturbing memories of the bloodshed and horrors experienced whilst fighting the Turk oppressors, the stalwarts of the barky struggle to summon the courage and determination to return once more to the fray as the Admiralty tasks them with delivering vital supplies to succour the starving population of the besieged Greek town of Messalonghi.
Terror in the Gloaming. self published, 2022. 396 pages
HMS Surprise is ordered to aid the Greek defenders of Missolonghi, the town having endured a prolonged Turk siege but about to fall as the garrison runs out of powder and the starving citizens have nothing but seaweed to eat.
The End of Dreams. self published, 2024. 336 pages
There comes a time when every military man who has long served in action understands that he cannot endure further fighting. As losses mount, that slender strand to which HMS SURPRISE's stalwarts cling is the support of their shipmates, their close friends, their brothers-in-arms.
Lawhead, Steve
Howard had a Submarine. Lion, 1988. 1 volume
Howard's exploration of the underwater world in his uncle's submarine leads him to the discovery that God has made a world full of color and variety.
Lawrence, Iain (1955- )
High Seas Trilogy:
The Wreckers. Delacorte, 1998. 196 pages
An adventure yarn set on the Cornish coast in the 18th century when ships were lured onto the rocks. Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, fourteen-year-old John Spencer attempts to save his father and himself while also dealing with an evil secret about the coastal town where they are stranded.
The Smugglers. Delacorte, 1999. 183 pages
In eighteenth-century England, after his father buys a schooner called the DRAGON, sixteen year old John sets out to sail it from Kent to London and becomes involved in a dangerous smuggling scheme.
The Buccaneers. Delacorte, 2001. 256 pages
John Spencer, now 17 and a seasoned sailor, takes his shift steering the Dragon (purchased by his father in The Smugglers) and spots a lifeboat. On their way from England to the Indies carrying a cargo of wool, the Dragon's crew members get their first taste of impending danger after they rescue from the lifeboat a stranger whose mysterious history connects him to a crew massacred by a band of pirates led by the malicious Captain Bartholomew Grace. As fate would have it, the Dragon ends up playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Grace's vessel, the Apostle.
Lawrence, Steven C. [pseud. Lawrence A. Murphy]
A Northern Saga. Playboy, 1976. 286 pages
Story of the Liberty Ship JOHN MASON and its crew as the ship accompanies a Murmansk convoy in May 1942, and returns to Iceland during the sailing of PQ17. Convoy tale with the focus on the merchant marine.
Lawson, L. M. (Lori M.)
Green Flash. Paradise Cay Pub., 2000. 256 pages
In Zihuatanejo, Mexico, a couple discovers a woman's body floating in the ocean. Ordered to turn in a video camera found on the body to authorities as evidence, they become involved with several of the members of the seafaring community.
Lawson, Robert (1892-1957)
I discover Columbus : a true chronicle of the great admiral & his finding of the new world, narrated by the venerable parrot Aurelio, who shared in the glorious venture. Set down by Robert Lawson. Little, Brown, 1941. 110 pages
For young readers.
Captain Kidd's Cat; being the true and dolorous chronicle of Wm. Kidd, gent. & merchant of New York, late captain of the Adventure Galley; of the vicissitudes attending his unfortunate cruise in eastern waters, of his incarceration in Newgate Prison, of his unjust trial and execution, as narrated by his faithful cat, McDermot, who ought to know. Set down and illuminated by Robert Lawson. Little, Brown, 1956. 151 pages
For young readers.
Lawson, Robert Neale (1873-1945)
Beloved Shipmates. G. Richards, 1924. 336 pages
Happy Anchorage : [a sequel to Beloved Shipmates]. G. Richards, 1925. 325 pages
Two romances about founding of an island egalitarian eutopia
Lear, Edward (1812-1888)
The Owl and the Pussy Cat. first published in "Nonsense songs, stories, botany, and alphabets". Robert John Bush, 1871.
Fatuous poem from the Nonsense man.
Leasor, James (1923-2007)
Mandarin Gold. Heinemann, 1973. 251 pages
English trader finds fun and fortune running opium into China during the 1830s. James Leasor, who writes stranger-than-fiction history, tries his hand at historical fiction.
Lederer, William J. (1912-2009)
Ensign O'Toole and Me. Norton, 1957. 247 pages
Basically a series of didactic tall-tales, the book purports to be about a brilliant, spunky, eccentric yet strangely normal friend of Lederer's from the Naval Academy who serves on the China Station before WW II, in Washington after the war and fighting commies later. Starts out light, but unfortunately the later chapters degenerate into a thinly disguised and strident anti-communist diatribe. Basically, the same message as in The Ugly American: ordinary Americans are oblivious to the desperate struggle of the unsung heroes who battle communism. Includes a semi-autobiographical account of the author's own time serving as XO of a gunboat in China.
Lee, Jonathan
The Fate of the Grosvenor: A True Account of the Wreck of the East Indiaman, and of the Fate of Its Survivors. Covici Friede, 1938. 348 pages
U.K. title: The Wreck of the Grosvenor
Le Gallienne, Richard (1866-1947)
Pieces of Eight : Being the Authentic Narrative of a Treasure Discovered in the Bahama Islands, in the year 1903 -- now first given to the public. Doubleday, Page, 1918. 333 pages
There Was a Ship : a Romance. Doubleday, Doran, 1930. 325 pages
The favorite of Charles II joins a voyage to the West Indies in search of sunken Spanish treasure. U.K. title: The Magic Seas
Leggett, William (1801-1839)
Tales and Sketches by a Country Schoolmaster. J & J Harper, 1829. 238 pages
Sea stories: A Burial at Sea -- A Watch in the Main-top -- White hands; or, Not quite in character
Naval Stories. G & C Carville, 1834. 179 pages
The Encounter -- A Night at Gibraltar -- Merry Terry -- The Mess-chest -- The Main-truck, or, A Leap for Life -- Fire and Water -- Brought to the Gangway
Le Guin, Ursula K. (1929- )
Sur : A summary report of the Yelcho expedition to the Antarctic, 1909-1910. The New Yorker, February 1, 1982
Fantasy account of an all South American female expedition to Antarctica, the first ever to reach the South Pole.
Lehman, Ernest (1915-2005)
The French Atlantic Affair. Atheneum, 1977. 468 pages
Two rocket scientists, unemployed after the Apollo downsizing, decide to recoup their fortunes. They plan and carry out a hijacking of a luxury liner in the Atlantic.
Lehnhoff, Joachim [pseud. Hans Joachim Swieca] (1926-2013)
The Homeward Run : A story of German sailors, their battles and their loves under the shadow of defeat. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957. 224 pages
Translation of Die Heimfahrt der U 720.
Leighton, Robert (1858-1934)
The Pilots of Pomona: a story of the Orkney Islands. Blackie & Son, 1892. 352 pages
In the grip of the Algerine. A historical tale of the Mediterranean. Being the personal narrative of Sir Lester Willoughby Knight. Blackie & Son, 1894. 288 pages
Later editions titled In the Grip of the Corsair : a Story of the Sixteenth Century
Wreck of the Golden Fleece. The story of a North Sea fisher-boy. Blackie & Son, 1894. 352 pages
Under the Foeman's Flag: a story of the Spanish Armada.Blackie & Son, 1896. 304 pages
The Golden Galleon: being a narrative of the adventures of Master Gilbert Oglander, and of how, in the year 1591 he fought under the gallant Sir Richard Grenville in the great sea-fight off Flores, on board Her Majesty's ship The Revenge. Blackie & Son, 1896. 352 pages
Cap'n Nat's Treasure: a tale of Old Liverpool. S.W. Partridge, 1902. 408 pages
The haunted ship: a tale of the Devon smugglers. Andrew Melrose, 1903. 310 pages
The Kidnapping of Peter Cray : a story of the South Seas. Grant Richards, 1903. 324 pages
Hurrah! for the Spanish Main: a tale of Drake's third voyage to Darien. Andrew Melrose, 1904. 312 pages
With Nelson in Command: a story of adventure in the battle of the Baltic. Andrew Melrose, 1905. 340 pages
The Green-Painted Ship. Andrew Melrose, 1905. 368 pages
Le May, Alan (1899-1964)
Pelican Coast. Doubleday, Doran, 1929. 329 pages
Jean Lafitte in New Orleans
Lennep, David van
Ironclad. Poseidon, 1994. 131 pages
This novel in an attempt to bring to life the raison d'etre for the ironclad HMS WARRIOR. The time is 1862, a year after she was first commissioned, and British relations with the French have deteriorated to such an extent that a French squadron is steaming towards the Thames to emulate Admiral de Ruyter's feat of two centuries previously. The Royal Navy is alerted, gives chase and the French are brought to action amongst the shoals and shifting sands of the Thames estuary. The technical aspects of WARRIOR's innovativeness are woven in as the drama unfolds.
Lenski, Lois (1893-1974)
Ocean-Born Mary. Frederick A. Stokes, 1939. 388 pages
A girl born on a pirate ship has adventures both ashore and off-shore of New Hampshire
Lenz, Siegfried (1926-2014)
The Lightship. Hill and Wang, 1962. 125 pages
The captain of a lightship on its last shift before it is taken out of service, must confront three killers who board the ship when their boat breaks down. Originally published in German as Das Feureschiffe in 1960.
Leonard, Constance (1923-2019)
The Marina Mystery. Dodd, Mead, 1981. 159 pages
After Tracy James boards the yacht "Ballyhoo," a body is discovered, floating near Tracy's boat, and she becomes caught in a web of danger and intrigue, somehow involving her sometime lover, Pete.
Leroux, Gaston (1868-1927)
The Floating Prison. T.W. Laurie, 1923. 254 pages
Translation of Première Aventures de Chéri-Bibi. U.S. edition titled Wolves of the Sea. Entered for the sake of completeness. A nautical novel only because it is set aboard a French Naval Transport taking convicts to Devils Island. Falsely accused convict Chéri-Bibi takes over the ship. The sequels are not nautical related.
Leslie, Peter
Silent Squadron. Pinnacle, 1972. 188 pages
The Nazis are operating a secret submarine base in Ireland, so British commandos set forth on a mission to secretly destroy it.
Lesterman, John
The Adventures of a Trafalgar Lad : a Tale of the Sea. Jonathan Cape, 1926. 320 pages
A Sailor of Napoleon; a tale of the sea. Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1927. 314 pages
This is the story of a young man who carries out several important missions for Napoleon. In the process he goes from Midshipman to Captain. There are several interesting battle scenes. This is what might be called a boy's book. Not much attempt is made to capture the language of the period. The author was probably influenced by G. A. Henty [q.v.] who is far superior. The illustrations are very nice.
A Pair of Rovers : A Tale of the Sea. Jonathan Cape, 1928. 318 pages
The Second Mate of the Myradale. Jonathan Cape, 1929. 320 pages
Leverage, Henry [Carl Henry] (1885-1931)
The Shepherd of the Sea. Doubleday, Page, 1920. 303 pages
Levin, Burt L.
Greyfox Underway 1944 : a good Atlantic submarine sea story. Premier Books on Demand, 1992. 323 pages
Levy, Mimi Cooper ( -1965)
Whaleboat Warriors. Viking, 1963. 189 pages
Lewis, Alfred Henry (1857-1914)
The Story of Paul Jones : an Historical Romance. G.W. Dillingham, 1906. 308 pages
Lewis, C. S. (1898-1963)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader : a story for children. Geoffrey Bles, 1952. 223 pages
In the third book of Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian sails through magical waters to the End of the World. Fantasy for young readers.
Lewis, David D.
The Mahogany Battleship. R.B. Luce, 1966. 312 pages
The Defense Secretary decides that the Department of Defense should be reorganized so that there would be only one service, one uniform and one chief of staff. This is a road to disaster in the eyes of Jeff McCarthy Chief of Naval Operations; decorated hero of two wars. McCarthy uses his knowledge of Washington and its politics (learned from behind his desk, nicknamed the Mahogany Battleship) to fight this change.
Leyland, Eric (1911-2001)
Jolly Roger - Buccaneer. Hutchinson, 1954. 132 pages
Jolly Roger Sails Again. Hutchinson, 1955. 131 pages
Crash Dive : the Story of a Submarine. E. Ward, 1961. 128 pages
For young readers.