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Nautical Fiction Index

Authors Por - Poy

Porteous, R. S. [Richard Sydney] [pseud. Standby] (1896-1963)

Little Known of these Waters. Dymock's Book Arcade, 1945. 250 pages


 

 

 

 

Sailing Orders. Dymock's Book Arcade, 1949. 205 pages

The Australian merchant ship HAICHOW carries troops and cargoes to combat areas during WW II. "Their crews risked their lives daily and took their ships without question wherever they were ordered. If they were killed, their dependents received no pension. If they survived they received no credit when they returned.... For were they not civilians? Men of peaceful occupations who wore no uniform and had taken no part in the fighting."


 

Close to the Wind and other stories. Angus and Robertson, 1955. 240 pages

Mostly set along the Queensland coast.


 

 

 

Tambai Island. Angus and Robertson, 1955. 178 pages

Children's book.


 

 

 

The Tambai Treasure. Angus and Robertson, 1958. 169 pages

Chidren's book.


 

 

 

Salvage and Other Stories. Harrap, 1963. 189 pages

Salvage; A deal with father; Finito; Shaggy Dodgson's Hour of Glory; Ebb tide; Fear; The Bad Bargain; Conscience; The Contest; Settled Out of Court; The Hard Way; Last Voyage.


 

 

 

The Silent Isles. Angus and Robertson, 1963. 160 pages

Children's book.

 

 

 

 

 

Porter, David Dixon (1813-1891)

The Adventures of Harry Marline, or, Notes from an American Midshipman's Lucky Bag. D. Appleton, 1885. 378 pages

 

Porter, Katherine Anne (1890-1980)

Ship of Fools. Little, Brown, 1962. 497 pages

On board the North German Lloyd S. A. VERA between Veracruz, Mexico and Bremenhaven, Germany August 22 to September 17, 1933. The 48 first-class passengers and the 900 Spaniards in steerage on a passenger-freighter crossing from Mexico to Germany in 1931 are traveling on a voyage of life.

 

 

 

 

Porter, William Ogilvie, MD (1774-1850)

Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck and Consequent Discovery of Certain Island in the Caribbean Seas with a detail of many extraordinary and highly interesting events in his life, from the year 1733 to 1749, as written in his own diary. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1831. 3 volumes

Newly-wed Edward Seaward and his bride are shipwrecked on a desert island in the eastern Caribbean. Animated by devoutly Christian and anti-slavery ideals they found a flourishing colony, engage in high politics in London, participate in the conquest of Portobello, and repel Spanish attacks.

 

Posse, Abel (1934-2003)

The Dogs of Paradise. Atheneum, 1989. 301 pages

Cosmic novel with a surreal vision about the end of the 15th century, Columbus, Ferdinand & Isabella, Aztecs, Incas, and discovery of the Americas. Argentine author, translated from the Spanish Los perros del paraíso.

 

 

 

 

Post, Melville Davisson (1869-1930)

The Revolt of the Birds. D. Appleton, 1927. 143 pages

Set in the China Sea. An exceedingly atmospheric tale that climaxes in an island overrun by mutant insects who breed after a farmer attempts to exterminate the bird population. Two human lovers are rescued from certain death by the surviving birds, whose opened wings create sails for their sampan

 

 

 

 

Post, Waldron Kintzing (1868-1955)

Smith Brunt: A Story of the old Navy. G.P. Putnam's, 1899. 459 pages

About Capt. James Lawrence, his fight with the Shannon, and his dying command of "Don't give up the ship!"

 

 

 

 

 

Pournelle, Jerry (1933-2017)

Paul Crane series

Originally published under the pseudonym "Wade Curtis"


  1. Red Heroin. Berkley, 1969. 160 pages

    Set in the Seattle area - specifically in the college atmosphere. The protagonist is Paul Crane, a young consulting engineer drawn into CIA domestic operations by the twin lures of patriotism and a long-stemmed blond. Small boat sailing through the Straits of Juan de Fuca, north to Victoria and south to California along the Pacific Coast constitutes an important part of the plot.

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  3. Red Dragon. Berkley, 1971. 176 pages

    Though still a very reluctant spy, Paul Crane agrees to pose as a traitor who has the plans for some new laser technology that he's willing to sell to the Chinese. As in the first Wade Curtis novel, there's quite a bit about about sailing.

 

 

 

 

King David's Spaceship. Simon and Schuster, 1980. 283 pages

Revised edition of A Spaceship for the King (1971). Middle section features a long stern chase between a sailing ship and a pirate galley.

 

 

 

 

 

Powers, Tim (1952- )

On Stranger Tides. Ace, 1987. 325 pages

Magic, voodoo, Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth in this early 18th century pirate adventure by the author of the SF award winning The Anubis Gate. In 1718, John Chandagnac, a bookkeeper and puppeteer, unwittingly sails into the company of Blackbeard the pirate, encounters zombie-crewed wrecks, and is caught up in a search for the Fountain of Youth. Basis of the fourth "Pirates of the Caribbian" movie

 

 

 

Poyer, David C. (1949- )

"Tiller" Galloway series:

  1. Hatteras Blue. St. Martin's, 1989. 227 pages

    Tiller Galloway, ex-navy diver and ex- drug smuggler, takes on a job from a mysterious stranger to dive on the wreck of a WW II German sub. The original reason given was for the stranger to write about the adventure, the real reason was for the cargo... millions in gold headed to Argentina for the new Fatherland.

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  3. Bahamas Blue. St. Martin's, 1991. 289 pages

    A job is offered to Tiller by the drug lord he used to smuggle for before he went to prison. The job was supposed to be to retreive cocaine from one of their boats sunk in 300 feet of water. When Tiller refuses, the cartel destroys his business, making him an offer he can't refuse.

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  5. Louisianna Blue. St. Martin's, 1994. 309 pages

    Tiller, broke, heads to the Gulf with his partner to try to earn enough money to get his business going again, after its destruction by the drug lord in Bahamas Blue. He lands a job with an oil company, where everything is not as it seems.

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  7. Down to a Sunless Sea. St. Martin's, 1996. 306 pages

    In Florida, diver Tiller Galloway probes the death of a friend, killed in an underwater cave dive. He discovers an operation by drug smugglers and gains a small fortune after a shootout.

 

 

 

 

Dan Lenson series:

  1. The Med. St. Martin's, 1988. 419 pages

    Dan Lenson, officer in USN faces personal crises as an incompetent admiral bungles rescue of American hostages held in Lebanon. The hostages include Lenson's wife and child.

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  3. The Gulf. St. Martin's, 1990. 442 pages

    Dan Lenson, is the executive officer on a frigate in the Persian Gulf, assigned to convoy a succession of oil tankers through perilous waters. Lenson's shipmates include hard-living helicopter pilots, minor crooks, and idealistic young officers. Not far away, a group of divers, naval reservists, must battle the hostility of "real" sailors as they undertake a dangerous mission of their own. Lenson's physical and mental courage are sorely tried in the climactic scenes, where he battles enemies and the ocean itself.

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  5. The Circle. St. Martin's, 1992. 432 pages

    For four years at Annapolis he prepared for this, pledging his youth, his ambition, and even his life. But when junior officer Dan Lenson finally gets his commission, it's the Ryan, an aging World War II destroyer. Now, with a mix of pride and fear, he heads into the world's most dangerous seas. As the Ryan plunges into the dark waters of the Arctic Circle at the height of storm season, Lenson and the crew pursue a mysterious and menacing enemy. But he soon discovers a foe even more dangerous within the Ryan, advancing a shocking agenda that drives the ship closer and closer to disaster. Preceeds events in The Med and The Gulf.

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  7. The Passage. St. Martin's, 1994. 516 pages

    Dan Lenson, as a lieutenant, in action against a Soviet submarine, during the Cold War. Reporting to a destroyer based in Guantanamo Bay, Navy lieutenant Dan Lenson is caught up in a spy's plans and finds his destiny joined with those of a gay Commander, a right-wing patriot, and a pregnant Cuban.

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  9. Tomahawk. St. Martin's, 1998. 384 pages

    In the wake of a collapsed marriage and three stressful tours at sea, Lieutenant-Commander Lenson is ordered to shore duty in Washington, D.C. There he finds he's been handpicked for a high-priority, top-secret assignment: design, test, and deploy Tomahawk missiles armed with nuclear warheads. But as Dan moves into the thick of top-level Pentagon politics, he realizes that the trouble-prone new missile has powerful enemies, determined to destroy it and him. Troubling leaks from the program seem to suggest a spy is at work, and Dan comes under suspicion.

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  11. China Sea. St. Martin's, 2000. 368 pages

    The navy, ready to discard the U.S.S. GADDIS, asked Dan Lenson to ready the ship for a final voyage. Accompanied by a crew of misfits and brigrats, Lenson endures a journey filled with bungling allies, hurricanes, a chronic supply problem, and piracy. The crew is ready to mutiny - the vagueness of his orders and a disgruntled executive officer have undermined Lenson's authority. And to top it all off, Lenson soon realizes that one of his crew is committing murders in every port

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  13. Black Storm. St. Martin's, 2002. 384 pages

    It is the eve of America's invasion of Iraq, and Saddam Hussein has threatened to attack Tel Aviv if a single tank enters his country. Though the United States has no intelligence on the type of location of the weapon, Naval Lieutenant-Commander Dan Lenson and a recon team of Marines and military professionals are ordered to eliminate the threat. After a crippling trek into the Iraqi desert, the team successfully locates the weapon in the underground tunnels of Baghdad, only to find that destroying it would unleash a horror more terrifying than anyone could have imagined.

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  15. The Command. St. Martin's, 2004. 400 pages

    Stung by the recent Tailhook scandal, the Navy is accelerating its integration of women into all aspects of service, and the Horn will be the first warship laboratory to test this experiment. Entrenched opposition spans all ranks, although there are also plenty of sailors, like Lenson, who see this integration as the logical next step.

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  17. The Threat. St. Martin's, 2006. 320 pages

    Medal of Honor winner Commander Dan Lenson wonders who proposed that he be assigned to the White House military staff. It's a dubious honor---serving a president the Joint Chiefs hate more than any other in modern history. Lenson reports to the West Wing to direct a multiservice team working to interdict the flow of drugs from Latin America. Never one to just warm a chair, he sets out to help destroy the Cartel - and uncovers a troubling thread of clues that link cunning and ruthless drug lord Don Juan Nuez to an assault on a nuclear power plant in Mexico, an obscure Islamic relief agency in Los Angeles, and an air cargo company's imminent flight plan across the United States.

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  19. Korea Strait. St. Martin's, 2007. 336 pages

    After refusing a request that he take a medical retirement (after his political hot-potato adventures saving the president from assassination), Dan is less than pleased when he's put on the shelf and ordered to oversee a small crew of U.S. civilians and retired military personnel who will participate in an international training exercise off the Korean peninsula. But even before he comes aboard the South Korean frigate on which he and his team will be stationed, the discovery of a disabled North Korean submarine off the coast - and the lethal response of the survivors, trapped within - is the first clue he has that North Korea may have decided to plunge the world into nuclear war.

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  21. The Weapon. St. Martin's, 2008. 368 pages

    When a new Russian rocket torpedo-a nuclear warhead that is fast and unstoppable-is tested at a Russian international arms conference, Dan and his team try to buy the weapon's engineering plans, but narrowly escape with their lives as their mission is betrayed. After Iran acquires the weapon for its dangerous military build up, the team is sent to steal it from the submarine that hides it.

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  23. The Crisis. St. Martin's, 2009. 416 pages

    Dan and his team are assigned to 'transform' a patrol craft squadron in the Red Sea into a leaner, meaner Navy. Mean - while, in northern Africa, drought and famine have brought a nation to the brink of civil war. When the United States decides on intervention to stabilize the region, Dan and his team become the point people for the humanitarian mission. When a charismatic young jihadist coordinates a ferocious insur gency against the U.S. presence, Dan and his team must kill him in order to save thousands of lives.

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  25. The Towers. St. Martin's, 2011. 320 pages

    After surviving the attacks on September 11, 2001, Dan Lenson finds himself quickly drawn into a covert SEAL team in search of the terrorists responsible. Their mission: kill Osama Bin Laden.

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  27. The Cruiser. St. Martin's, 2014. 320 pages

    As a climate of war builds between Israel and Iraq, with threats of nuclear and chemical weapons, Dan has to rally Savo Island's demoralized crew, confront a mysterious death on board ship, while learning to operate a complex missile system that has not been battle tested.

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  29. Tipping Point. St. Martin's, 2015. 320 pages

    Shaken by the near-end of his career, Lenson returns to command uncertain of his own future, but determined to do his best by a damaged ship and an increasingly divided crew. Ordered to the Indian Ocean, Savo cruises off East Africa, protecting shipping lanes from pirates. But this seemingly-routine patrol turns ominous when an unknown assailant begins assaulting female crew members. But then, an explosive showdown begins between India and Pakistan...with Savo Island, and her unique but not yet fully battle-ready ability to intercept ballistic missiles, standing alone between two nations on the brink of the first theater nuclear war.

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  31. Onslaught. St. Martin's, 2016. 318 pages

    The War with China - the Opening Battle. As the United States’ computer, satellite, and financial networks are ravaged by coordinated cyberwar attacks, China and its Associated Powers begin to roll up and intimidate American allies, launching invasions of India, Taiwan, South Korea, and Okinawa. USS Savo Island, captained by Lenson, is one of the few forces left to stop them.

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  33. Hunter Killer. St. Martin's, 2017. 320 pages

    The War with China - the Battle for the Central Pacific. Commanding a combined US–South Korea force, Lenson wonders if his embattled group can possibly keep sea lanes open in the Central Pacific, to turn the tide and buy time for the Allies to regroup. But when his own flagship comes under ferocious attack, he must leave it to assume command elsewhere—without knowing when he’ll be able to return.

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  35. Deep War. St. Martin's, 2018. 304 pages

    The War with China and North Korea - The Nuclear Precipice. As the campaign begins, the entire Allied military and defense network is compromised―even controlled―by Jade Emperor, a powerful Chinese artificial intelligence system that seems to anticipate and counter every move. While Dan strives to salvage the battle plan, his wife Blair helps coordinate strategy in Washington, DC, Marine sergeant Hector Ramos fights in an invasion of Taiwan, and Navy SEAL master chief Teddy Oberg begins a desperate journey into central China on a mission that may be the only way to save the United States from destruction and defeat.

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  37. Overthrow. St. Martin's, 2019. 384 pages

    The War with China and North Korea - Fall of an Empire. Admiral Lenson leads Operation Rupture, the invasion of South China, in a bid to finally end the war and restore peace. Meanwhile, Captain Cheryl Staurulakis fights to take a radical new “super ship” to sea, though its power and capability may introduce more risk than reward.

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  39. Violent Peace. St. Martin's, 2020. 384 pages

    The War with China - Aftermath of Armageddon. While Admiral Dan Lenson motorcycles across a post-Armageddon US in search of his missing daughter, his wife Blair Titus lands in a spookily deserted, riot-torn Beijing to negotiate the reunification of Taiwan with the rest of China, and try to create a democratic government. Meanwhile, Captain Cheryl Staurulakis and USS Savo Island are recalled to sea, to forestall a Russian fleet intent on grabbing a resource-rich Manchuria.

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  41. Arctic Sea. St. Martin's, 2021. 352 pages

    In the aftermath of a world war with China, Admiral Dan Lenson is assigned to set up a US Navy base on the rugged North Slope of Alaska, in response to Russian seabed claims that reach nearly to the US coast. Yet the current administration seems oddly reluctant to confront Russian aggression. At the same time, the International Criminal Court is accusing Dan of a war crime.

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  43. The Academy. St. Martin's, 2023. 312 pages

    In his final tour of duty, Dan Lenson is appointed Superintendent of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. He begins at a difficult time: Congress is cutting military budgets in the wake of the devastating world war with China, calls for radical reform are upending traditions, and Dan himself faces legal jeopardy for his actions during the war.

 

 

 

Civil War at Sea series:

  1. Fire on the Waters. Simon & Schuster, 2001. 445 pages

    The naval beginnings of the Civil War, with the focus on the efforts of the U.S.S. Owanee to provide support and relief as the Union crumbles.

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  3. A Country of Our Own. Simon & Schuster, 2003. 448 pages

    After fighting on the shores of the Potomac alongside the hastily mustered Army of Virginia, Lt. Ker Custis Claiborne, formerly of the United States Navy, runs the blockade out of New Orleans aboard a converted sidewheeler-turned-Confederate raider. He and his saturnine mentor, Captain Parker Trezevant, burn, sink, and destroy across the Caribbean, to undermine the Union's financial might and force a truce favorable to the Confederacy.

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  5. That Anvil of our Souls : a novel of the Monitor and the Merrimack. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 414 pages

    Union naval engineer Theodorus Hubbard works on the Monitor and fire-eater Lomax Minter searched for spies working on the rival Merrimack, with the climactic March 1862 battle of the two ironclads (off Hampton Roads, Va.) looming.

 

 

 

 

Poyer, Joe (1939-2018)

Operation Malacca. Doubleday, 1968. 208 pages

Charlie, a pet dolphin who communicates with humans via a transphonemator, is instrumental in preventing World War III

 

 

 

 

North Cape. Doubleday, 1969. 231 pages

A spy plane - speculative at the time of the novel's publication - fights both storms and Soviets

 

 

 

 

The Balkan Assignment. Doubleday, 1971. 230 pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poynter, H. May [Henrietta] (1834-1927)

Scarlet Town : a Conceit. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1893. 127 pages

A young English naval officer escapes from one of Napoleon's prisions


 

 

 

 

 

 


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