Authors Wilk - Will
Wilkins, Vaughan (1890-1959)
Being Met Together. Macmillan, 1944. 510 pages
"Even Napoleon didn't believe it--but it was true! The British held Napoleon a prisoner on St. Helena... If only someone could invent a boat that would sail under the sea-- Then the Emperor could be rescued. So someone did! The most unusual escape story of all time." Reprinted under the title Napoleon's Submarine.
Willans, Geoffrey (1911-1958)
Admiral on Horseback. Michael Joseph, 1954. 256 pages
In three parts; the middle part has the hero; Stangeways Foxe-Forsyth, (Yes its that sort of book!) as a commander having his ships war damage repaired in the States in 1941. In the first section (1952) he is the admiral in command of a British carrier strike group having trouble with his own government, SHAPE and the Americans. The last part (1952-1954) finds him sharing the Mediterranean with a giant American fleet under his US admiral friend. A story of changing times.
Williams, Ben Ames (1889-1953)
All the Brothers Were Valiant. Macmillan, 1919. 204 pages
A newly appointed captain of a whaling ship sails for the Gilbert Islands in order to discover what happened to his brother, the previous captain of that vessel.
Black Pawl. E.P. Dutton, 1922. 177 pages
Love and jealousy, hate and violence aboard a South Seas tramp trading- schooner
The Strumpet Sea. Houghton Mifflin, 1938. 338 pages
Three men seek one woman aboard the whaler VENTURER in the South Seas.
Thread of Scarlet. Houghton Mifflin, 1939. 374 pages
"Lusty saga of one man against angry sea" during War of 1812.
Williams, Charles (1909-1975)
The Sailcloth Shroud. Viking, 1960 188 pages
Charter boat skipper finds himself in a fix when one of his crew dies of a heart attack off Central America and the other is murdered in a Texas port. Raymond Chandleresque mystery.
Aground. Simon and Schuster, 1960. 186 pages
A widow and a charter captain scour the ocean for a stolen yacht.
Dead Calm. Viking, 1963. 188 pages
A young couple (from the novel Aground) alone on their honeymoon yacht in mid Pacific rescue another voyager from his sinking yacht after burying his wife and another couple dead from food poisoning, leading to unexpected consequences. This thriller was filmed in 1989.
And the Deep Blue Sea. New American Library, 1971. 191 pages
A shipwrecked sailor is picked up by a mystery cruise ship up to no good.
Williams, David
Atlantic Convoy. Cassell, 1979. 304 pages
Convoy HX-114 assembles off the east coast to begin its dash to Britain. Aboard one of the Liberty ships the radio operator is a German agent who has on his person the American battle order for Operation Torch (The invasion of North Africa). Meanwhile in London at the Admiralty Tracking Station, from where the Battle of the Atlantic is controlled, the civil service trade union is working to rule because of the introduction of a WREN onto the staff. At the U-boat Operations Centre in Paris an intelligence windfall ensures that a trap will be set.
Williams, Henry
Ensign Pulver. Dell, 1964. 189 pages
Sequel to Mr. Roberts featuring Ensign Pulver. Novelization of the movie by the same name.
Williams, Jon [pseud. Walter Jon Williams] (1953- )
Privateers and Gentlemen series:
The Privateer. Dell, 1981. 448 pages
Malachi, Jehu, and Josiah Markham as American privateers in the Revolution. Original title: To Glory Arise.
The Yankee. Dell, 1981. 368 pages
Josiah's son Gideon Markham's adventures as a privateer in the ship MALACHI'S REVENGE at the begining of the War of 1812. Original title: The Tern Schooner.
The Raider. Dell, 1981. 428 pages
The exploits of Favian Markham -- Jehu Markham's son -- as a lieutenant and officer aboard Decatur's frigate UNITED STATES and commanding the brig EXPERIMENT in British home waters. Original title: Brig of War.
The Macedonian. Dell, 1984. 253 pages
Favian Markham, now a captain, USN, takes the MACEDONIAN -- the frigate he helped capture -- on a cruise against the British in 1814.
Cat Island. Dell, 1984. 333 pages
Gideon and Favian Markham battle the British at New Orleans and The Gulf of Mexico at the end of the War of 1812. Due to the oversatuation and ensuing collapse of the historical fiction market, the author's planned ten volume series stops here.
Williams, Naomi J. (1964- )
Landfalls. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015. 315 pages
Reimagines the historical Lapérouse expedition, a voyage of exploration that left Brest in 1785 with two frigates, more than two hundred men, and overblown Enlightenment ideals and expectations, in a brave attempt to circumnavigate the globe for science and the glory of France. Each chapter is told from a different point of view and is set in a different part of the world, ranging from London to Tenerife, from Alaska to remote South Pacific islands to Siberia, and eventually back to France.
Williams, Paul
The Shenandoah Affair. Hodder & Stoughton, 1992. 394 pages
A maritime historical romance based on the factual visit of the successful Confederate raider SHENANDOAH (James Waddell) to the port of Melbourne, Australia for repairs during the Civil War. A bodice-ripper complete with embossed title and a purple cover that matches the prose within, featuring a Scarlet O'Hara-like character abducted from one of the Union ships Waddell sinks.
Williams, Robert
Memoirs of a Buccaneer. Mills & Boon, 1907. 307 pages
Williams, Walter Jon (1953- )
Quillifer series:
Quillifer. Saga Press 2017. 530 pages
The picaresque adventures of the eponymous protagonist in a vaguely Elizabethan fantasy universe. There are a few sections covering Quillifer's career as a privateer. First of a planned six book series.
Quillifer the Knight. Saga Press, 2019. 544 pages
After a two-year voyage to improve his fortunes, Quillifer returns to court and is plunged immediately into a maelstrom of intrigue that triggers duels, plots, amours, and rollicking adventure. The highlight is a massive reggata between Quillifer and several unsavory aristrocrats.
Lord Quillifer. Saga Press, 2022. 528 pages
Continues Quillifer's adventures, featuring a defense of a besieged city from attack by fireships and a pitched naval battle in the tidal shallows.
Williams, Wirt (1921-1986)
The Enemy. Houghton Mifflin, 1951. 314 pages
Four-piper destroyer is assigned to second ASW Hunter-Killer carrier group in the Atlantic during 1943. Told first person from point of view of one officer.
Williamson, Scott Graham
A Convoy through the Dream. Macmillan, 1948. 278 pages
The stresses (the "comradery of blind hatred") faced by the crew of a Liberty Ship in the final months of WWII
Willis, Connie (1945- )
Passage. Bantam, 2001. 594 pages
How the biologcal purpose of near death experiences (NDEs) is just like the sinking of the Titanic.
Willis, Matthew
Daedalus and the Deep. Fireship Press, 2013. 262 pages
For Midshipman Colyer of the corvette HMS Daedalus, life is a constant struggle: savage pirates in the South China Sea, an erratic Captain, and a First Lieutenant guarding a personal secret. But the voyage of the Daedalus takes a stranger turn when the ship encounters a giant sea-serpent in the South Atlantic, and is plunged into a headlong pursuit of the creature in the name of science, personal glory, and the promise of fortune. But as the quest leads further into the cold wastes of the Southern Ocean, becoming ever more dangerous, Colyer begins to wonder just who is hunting whom? The sea-serpent's purpose could turn out to be more sinister than anyone on board the Daedalus imagined.
Willock, Colin
The Coast of Loneliness. Deutsch, 1971. 236 pages
Set in 1950. An attempt to board a Second World War freighter aground off the Skeleton Coast of South West Africa to retrieve hidden valuables makes this a nautical novel, although the ship is boarded from the shore by a line attached to the ship, by dropping a grapple from an old Junkers aircraft.
Willoughby, Lee Davis (Group pseudonym)
The Whalers. Dell, 1983. 285 pages
Life among New England whalers and whaling families. Making of America no.37.
The Caribbeans. Dell, 1983. 319 pages
Confederate captain and crew of blockade-runner become fugitives at end of the Civil War, flee to the Caribbean for love and adventure. Making of America no.42.
The Raiders. Dell, 1984. 317 pages
Confederate captain aboard steam/sail sloop DELTA DANCER harasses Union shipping, gets pursued by new armored paddlewheeler. Making of America no.52.