Authors B - Bal
Baccino Ponce de León, Napoleón (1947- )
Five Black Ships : a novel of the Discoverers. Harcourt Brace, 1994. 347 pages
Translated by Nick Caistor. The sea voyage around the world by Magellan, the Portuguese navigator, in 1519, recreated by a Uruguayan writer. The epic is narrated by the fool of the fleet, Juanillo, a Jewish jester converted to Christianity during the Spanish inquisition. The novel won the Novela Casa de las Americas award.
Bachmann, Lawrence Paul (1911-2004)
The Bitter Lake. HarperCollins, 1969. 318 pages
Tensions aboard a ship trapped in the Suez Canal during the Six-Day War
Bacigalupi, Paolo (1972- )
Ship Breaker. Little, Brown, 2010. 326 pages
In a futuristic world, teenaged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl. The sequels - The Drowned Cities & Tool of War - are only tangentially maritime related
Bagley, Desmond (1923-1983)
The Golden Keel. Doubleday, 1963. 281 pages
Mussolini's missing treasure lies hidden in Italy. A group of adventurers set sail to track down the treasure and smuggle it out.
Wyatt's Hurricane. Doubleday, 1966. 301 pages
Meteorologist Wyatt knows the hurricane will hit his Caribbean island. The storm comes just as a rebel leader is massing his forces. As wind and war near each other only Wyatt can save the island.
The Freedom Trap. Doubleday, 1971. 254 pages
A brilliantly organized gang springs a Russian double agent from jail. The trail leads to the Mediterranean & Malta.
Night of Error. St. Martin's Press, 1984. 314 pages
On an expedition to a remote Pacific atoll, one brother dies under suspicious circumstances. The other brother is forced to investigate. A violent and hazardous expedition follows.
Bailey, H. C. [Henry Christopher] (1878-1961)
The Sea Captain. Methuen, 1913. 341 pages
The Gentleman Adventurer. Methuen, 1914. 345 pages
Piracy in the 17th century West Indies
Bailey, Ralph E. [Edgar] (1893- )
Sea Hawks of Empire : Eastward to the Indies for Trade and Treasure, 1500-1700. Dutton, 1948. 256 pages
Fictionized biography of John Davis, 16th century scientist, navigator, and adventurer, who helped establish the English and Dutch trade routes, sought the northwest passage, helped destroy the Spanish Armada, sailed for Sumatra, went on the first expedition of the East India Company, and died at the hands of Japanese pirates
Bailey, Temple (1869-1953)
I've Been to London. Penn, 1937. 330 pages
Two sisters from an impovished Baltimore family. The younger marries in haste, while the older has a shipboard romance
Baker, F. Robert
Warhead. Putnam, 1981. 291 pages
The families of the officers and crew of the USS Montana are kidnapped. The crew warns the Russian Federation that unless their families are released unharmed, they will launch a Trident missile. In Moscow, the order goes out: sink the Montana. At the White House, the President orders the Montana to defend itself. And near the Horn of Africa, a large American force, with orders to attack if necessary, approaches the Russian base where the families of the Montana are held hostage. An American assault on a Russian base could start a nuclear war.
Baker, Peter
Cruise. Putnam, 1967. 314 pages
The story of the emotional tensions and involvements aboard the ship Queen Dee when her First Officer suffers a breakdown.
Baker, W. Howard
Strike North. Mayflower Books, 1965. 125 pages
Escorting convoys to Murmansk with a spy aboard during WW II.
Balfour, Andrew (1873-1931)
By Stroke of Sword: A Romance Taken from the Chronicles of Sir Jeremy Clephane, King's Justice and Knight of the Shire of Fife, Overlooked by Master Judas Fraser, Dominie of the Parish of Kirktoun, and Rendered into a More Modern English. Methuen, 1897. 326 pages
Ball, Zachary [Pseud. Kelly Ray Masters Sr.] (1897-1987)
Pull Down to New Orleans. Crown, 1946. 292 pages
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in 1802
Joe Panther. Holiday House, 1950. 241 pages
In an endeavor to earn money for school, an industrious young Seminole becomes a deck hand on a tourist boat fishing the Gulf Stream and accidently is involved in a smuggling ring.
Swamp Chief. Holiday House, 1952. 212 pages
An adventure story about deep sea fishing and the adjustment of the Seminole Indians to the modern world.
Bar Pilot. Holiday House, 1955. 218 pages
Young Jim Yordy wants to be a bar pilot at the mouth of the Mississippi River, where his hard-bitten grandfather runs a pilot station in the mid 19th century.
Skin Diver. Holiday House, 1956. 251 pages
Two young skin divers are hired to help a researching biochemist working off the coast of Florida.
Young Mike Fink. Holiday House, 1958. 196 pages
A fictional account of the youth and manhood of Mike Fink, whose feats as a keelboatman, hunter, fighter, and boaster inspired legends for a nation growing up in the early nineteenth century.
Salvage Diver. Holiday House, 1961. 220 pages
Two Seminole youths and their boat are hired for the summer by two men who want to search for sunken ships off the Florida Keys.
Ballantyne, R. M. [Robert Michael] (1825-1894)
The Coral Island, A Tale of the Pacific Ocean. James Nisbet & Co., 1857. 336 pages
Three English boys, shipwrecked on a deserted island, create an idyllic society despite typhoons, wild hogs, and hostile visitors. Then evil pirates kidnap one of the youths whose adventures continue among the South Sea Islands.
The life of a ship from the launch to the wreck. T. Nelson, 1857. 37 pages
A story for pre-teens, in which a small boy, Davy, is taken to a shipyard to watch the building of a new sailing-vessel, the Fair Nancy. Eventually Davy is allowed to sail on board of her as a boy-seaman. He is sea-sick at first, but soon recovers and learns how to climb the rigging to help with the sails. They encounter a hurricane, which knocks the ship over, and they lose the ship's boats.
The World of Ice or the Whaling Cruise of "The Dolphin" and the Adventures of her Crew in the Polar Regions. James Nisbet & Co., 1860. 232 pages
Fictional account of whaling voyage to Baffin Bay. Many adventures.
The Red Eric or, The Whaler's Last Cruise. James Nisbet & Co., 1861. 420 pages
"Red Eric" is the name of a seashore cottage that belongs to Captain Dunning and his descendants. The story is about family adventures and survival through storm, shipwreck, and mutiny plague an ill-fated whaling ship.
Fighting the Whales, or Doings and Dangers on a Fishing Cruise. James Nisbet & Co., 1863. 124 pages
A fatherless boy joins the crew of a whaling ship in order to earn a living for himself and his mother.
Fast in the ice, or, Adventures in the polar regions. James Nisbet & Co., 1863. 124 pages
This little book describes a visit up to the Arctic regions, that was supposed to have taken place long before the book was written, in other words in the early part of the nineteenth century. The purpose of the journey was to get near to the North Pole, which was considered to be surrounded by a large area of ice-free water. The vessel in which they sailed became beset by ice, and could not be moved. They met with Esquimaux, and saw how they survived, how they killed walrus, how they caught birds, and how they lived in their ice-houses, or igloos.
The lifeboat : a tale of our coast heroes. James Nisbet & Co., 1864. 392 pages
The work of a lifeboat of the Kentish Coast.
Gascoyne, The Sandal-Wood Trader, A Tale of the Pacific. James Nisbet & Co., 1864. 356 pages
In the early 1800's the South Seas are the hunting ground of the pirate schooner AVENGER. A mission settlement looks to Captain Montague of HM Frigate TALISMAN for protection. Suspicion falls on the sandal-wood trader Gascoyne, the mysterious but apparently honest skipper of the schooner FOAM. Gascoyne turns out to be not what he seems, in more ways than one.
The Pirate City : an Algerine tale. James Nisbet & Co., 1874. 400 pages
A merchant and his two sons leave Sicily on a voyage, but they are soon interrupted by a pirate from Algiers. When he takes them captive, they must fight not only for their own survival but also to forget the atrocities that they witness
The Madman and the Pirate. James Nisbet & Co., 1883. 256 pages
Two men marooned on a Polynesian island must work together to get back their freedom
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands: A tale. James Nisbet & Co., 1870. 403 pages
The condition, value, and vicissitudes of the light-vessels, or floating lighthouses, which guard the shores of this kingdom, and mark the dangerous shoals lying off some of our harbours and roadsteads.
Sunk at sea; or, The adventures of Wandering Will in the Pacific. James Nisbet & Co., 1872. 126 pages
Saved by the lifeboat : a tale of wreck and rescue on the coast. James Nisbet & Co., 1873. 124 pages
Black Ivory. A tale of adventure among the slavers of East Africa. James Nisbet & Co., 1873. 416 pages
A shipwreck leaves the son of the charterer of the sinking ship, and a seaman friend of his, alone on the east coast of Africa, where Arab and Portuguese slave traders were still carrying out their evil trade, despite the great efforts of patrolling British warships to limit it and free the unfortunates whom they found being carried away in the Arab dhows.
Man on the ocean : a book about boats and ships. T. Nelson, 1874. 386 pages
Battles with the sea or Heroes of the lifeboat and rocket : being descriptive of our coast-life-saving apparatus with some account of the glorious war and of our grand victories. James Nisbet & Co., 1883. 175 pages
The young trawler : a story of life and death and rescue on the North Sea. James Nisbet & Co., 1884. 429 pages
The main subject matter of this book are the North Sea fishing fleets, and the strenuous and hard work they do to maintain a supply of fish on the tables of the British people, in particular, in the case of this story, tables in London.
The lively poll : a tale of the North Sea. James Nisbet & Co., 1886. 164 pages
Manx Bradley, admiral of 200 fishing vessels in the North Sea, is concerned about the spiritual needs of his men.
The Crew of the Water Wagtail. A story of Newfoundland. James Nisbet & Co., 1889. 243 pages
The Coxswain's Bride, or, the Rising Tide, a tale of the sea [and other tales]. James Nisbet & Co., 1891. 234 pages
Ballard, Robert & Chiu, Tony
Bright Shark. Delacorte Press, 1992. 483 pages
Undersea techno-thriller. In 1968 the Israeli sub Dakar sunk with its top secret cargo, code named Bright Shark. Twenty years later, it is rediscovered, and to keep the secret an undersea weapon will be deployed to bury the secret at the cost of global disaster.
Ballenger, Dean W.
Terror at Sea. New American Library, 1981. 218 pages
Fictionalized retelling of the aftermath of the loss of the cruiser INDIANAPOLIS in the Pacific during WW II, and shark attacks on the survivors. Author was Navy correspondent, participated in the rescue and interviewed the survivors. Grisly.
The Sea Guerillas. New American Library, 1982. 188 pages
Wildly improbable tale of a USN PT boat operating off the Azores in 1942-43 disguised as Portugese fishing boat. This allows them to stalk and sink the U-boats operating in these waters, which have chased off every other warship -- but not apparently Allied merchant shipping. The Nazis had been taking advantage of this situation to torpedo hospital ships, murder survivors, and rape captured nurses.
Ballou, Maturin Murray (1820-1895) [pseuds. Lt. Murray, Frank Forester, Albert W. Sumner]
Fanny Campbell, The Female Pirate Captain : А Tale of the Revolution.. Samuel French, 1844. 84 pages
Albert Simmons; Or, The Midshipman's Revenge. F. Gleason, 1845. 47 pages
The Naval Officer; Or, The Pirate's Cave. А Tale of the Last War. Samuel French, 1845. 84 pages
Red Rupert; The American Bucanier [sic]: А Tale of the Spanish Indies. F. Gleason, 1845. 54 pages
The Child of the Sea; Or, The Smuggler of Colonial Times, and the Love Test. U. S. Publishing , 1846. 100 pages
The Gipsey; Or, The Robbers of Naples. А Story of Love and Pride. F. Gleason, 1847. 100 pages
Roderick the Rover; Or, The Spirit of the Wave. Gleason's PuЬlishing Hall, 1847. 100 pages
The Spanish Musketeer. А Tale of Military Life. Gleason's Publishing Hall, 1847. 100 pages
The Adventurer; Or, The Wreck of the Indian Ocean. Boston: F. Gleason, 1848. 100 pages
The CaЬin Воу; or, Life on the Wing: А Story of Fortune's Freaks and Fancies. F. Gleason, 1848. 100 pages
The Magician of Naples; Or, Love and Necromancy. А Story of Italy and the East. Samuel French, 1850? 100 pages
The Circassian Slave; Or, The Sultan's Favorite. А Story of Constantinople and the Caucasus. F. Gleason, 1851. 100 pages
The Sea Witch; Or, The African Quadroon. А Story of the Slave Coast. Samuel French, 1855? 77 pages
The Sea Lark; Or, The Quadroon of Louisiana. А Story of Land and Sea. Office of The Flag of our Union, 1859. 64 pages
The Pirate Smugglers; Or, The Last Cruise of The Viper. Elliott, Thomes and Talbot, 1861? 47 pages