Fictional Warships - Novels

Craig DiLouie, Contact!, 2017

United States

USS Sandtiger (SS-???)
Gato Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

USS Flagfin (SS-???)
Submarine, class not specified
No other details provided

USS Grant (DD-??)
Benham Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as such by the author. Name clashes with the USS Albert W. Grant (DD-649), a Fletcher Class Destroyer in service between 1943 - 1946 and scrapped in 1971.

Japan

Myûru Maru
Transport
Length: 430ft (131.1 m)
Displacement: 6900 tons
Draft: 25ft (7.62m)
No other details provided

Unnamed
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: The year is 1944. After surviving the harrowing expedition to the Sea of Japan, the crew of the USS Sandtiger are given a new captain and ordered to assist in the destruction of a Japanese battery on Saipan prior to the American landings (15 June 1944), one which mounts a spare 18 inch gun from the Yamato.

Note: This is the fourth in a series of WWII action novels by this author. Prior volumes in the series covered in this thread are 'Crash Dive' (2015), 'Silent Running' (2016) and 'Battle Stations' (2016). Unlike the previous novels there is a much heavier land based component when part of the crew becomes involved in the attempt to destroy the Japanese gun.
 
Larry Laswell, The Marathon Watch "Ross", (2015)

United States

USS Abel (DD-???)
Abel Class Destroyer (Gearing Class?)
6 x 5 inch guns
Length: 390ft
Beam 40ft
Displacement: 3,500 tons

USS Farnley (DD-???)
Abel Class Destroyer (Gearing Class?)
Described as "...last of the World War II ships..."
5 inch guns (While not specifically stated, appears to have undergone FRAM I.)
Length: 390ft
Beam 40ft
Displacement: 3,500 tons
Note: This dimensional figures are almost identical to the Gearing class, this means there is a high probability the authors 'Able Class' are actually Gearings.

USS Wilhelm (DD-???)
Destroyer, class unspecified
Post WWII class.
No other details provided.

USS Kuntz (DD-???)
Destroyer, class unspecified
Post WWII class.
No other details provided.

USS Talbot (DD-???)
Destroyer, class unspecified
Post WWII class.
No other details provided
Note: Name clash with USS Talbot (FFG-4) a Brooke Class Frigate. Author explicitly states this ship is a destroyer.

USS Foster (DD-???)
Destroyer, Class unspecified
No other details provided.

USS Wainright (DD-???)
Destroyer, Class unspecified
No other details provided.

USS Raynor (DD-???)
Destroyer, class not specified
Commissioned in October 1971
No other details provided.

USS Cuyahoga (AO-??)
Fleet Oiler, class unspecified
No other details provided.

USS Puget Sound (AD-38)
Samuel Gompers Class destroyer tender
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Severn (AO-61)
Cimarron Class Oiler
Real ship, details as in service

USS Mississinewa (AO-144)
Neosho Class Oiler
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
Enterprise Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

USS America (CV-66)
Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Kennedy (CV-67)
Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Vreeland (FF-1068)
Knox Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Sampson (DDG-10)
Charles F. Adams Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Manley (DD-940)
Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: The year is 1971. The US Navy is carrying out Operation: Marathon, a secret test (Which starts in May of 1970) of just how long warships can be kept operational in circumstances of reduced supply, seven ships, six post WWII designs and one WWII era ship (Being used as a control.) are taking part. For the Admiral who designed the operation, success will mean promotion, for the crew of the USS Farnley (DD-???) it means an incompetent/insecure captain and endless frustrations with supply, how long will they be able to run their race with time.

Note: The author appears to have drawn at least in part on his own experiences aboard the USS William M. Wood (DD-715) a Gearing Class Destroyer to provide some of the background, overall this is a good story, though it does get a bit digressive in places.
 
Anon., Crash Dive, published as Battle Picture Library Nº. 821, ?

United Kingdom

HMS Snarl
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Explicitly identified as such in the text.

HMS Bayswater
Submarine Depot Ship, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Blakely
Hunt Class Destroyer (Subtype not specified)
Details as per the real ships

Germany

Werther
Deutschland Class Cruiser (Modified)
Armament: 4 x 14 inch guns (Twin turrets fore and aft), other armament appears to be identical to the originals.
Other details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Several S-boats, destroyers & U-Boats

Plot summary: The year is 1943, a British submarine is tasked with penetrating a heavily defended fjord to sink a German pocket battleship, a mission that pushes the crew to the brink of the unthinkable, but will it push them beyond...

Note: As with all war comics of this type there are no details on who came up with the storyline, a note at the start indicates that it was first published in 1962 and this may be a later reprint.
 
Maurice Medland, Point of Honor, 2018

United States

USS Carlyle (DD-949)
Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer(?)
Details as per the real ships.
Stated to be around 50 years old at the unspecified time the novel is set.
Note: Pennant clashes with that of the USS Parsons (DD-949) a Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer converted into a Decataur Class Guided Missile Destroyer in 1967 and redesignated DDG-33. The author does not provide any class specific details when describing the USS Carlyle, so class has been determined from the pennant number only.


USS Duncan (FFG-10)
Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service
Note: This ship was decommissioned in December of 1994.

Columbia

ARC Almirante Padilla
Almirante Padilla Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: A boarding party from a US Navy destroyer operating on the Pacific Coast of Columbia makes a horrific discovery aboard a freighter found abandoned at sea. Trapped aboard by a worsening storm, the party finds their lives endangered by more than the elements.

Note: The author provides no specific dating information. However the mention of the USS Duncan (FFG-10) towards the end of the story suggests that it is set prior to that ship decommissioning in 1994.
 
Some 'self-published on Amazon' horror fiction...

Stephen Ward, The Last Wolf, 2018

United Kingdom (1985)

HMS Talisman
County Class Destroyer (Batch I)
Details as per the real ships in Batch I, retains full gun armament in 1985.
Note: Name does not fit class naming scheme (English Counties.). The name was last used during WWII for a T Class Submarine sunk in 1942.

Germany (WWII)

UX-505
Type X U-boat (Modified)
Details as to propulsion are unchanged, hull has been lengthened by 25ft (7.62m)
Armament: 5 Torpedo Tubes (4 forward 1 aft), 1 Cannon (Caliber not specified)
Some of the torpedoes have been modified so that they carry a rocket armed with a biological weapon instead of a warhead.
Highly automated, the crew has been reduced to five, the aft torpedo tube is the only one that needs to be manually loaded.
Note: Pennant number clashes with U-505 a Type IXC U-Boat in service between 1941-1944.

Germany (1985)

Berlin
Hamburg Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Stated to be 'new' in 1985, however this class was built in the late 50s/early 1960s. Author explicitly identifies the ship as a member of the Hamburg Class.

United States (1985)

USS Kentucky (DDG-???)
'Destroyer', class not specified
Note: Name does not fit the naming scheme the US uses for destroyer/frigate classes and while not in use at the time the story is set, became the name of an Ohio Class Submarine in 1991

France

Aconite
'Destroyer'
No other details provided
Note: At the time the story is set the French had a frigate named Aconit (F65).

Italy

Roma
'Frigate'
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The year is 1985. Two men out fishing discover an experimental U-boat lost since the end of the war and that for some revenge is indeed a dish best served cold, for there is nothing colder than the sea...

Note: This is indeed a horror novel, but not for the reasons the author thought. Anything that ends with an authors note apologizing for not doing his research, is never going to turn out well. Many of the facts he gets wrong could have been researched with little effort, and the ending of the story is confusing to say the least.
 
Charles Whiting (Pen name: Duncan Harding), Tug of War, 1976

United Kingdom

HMS Rattlesnake
Admiralty Tugboat
Launched: 1921 (Novel states the ship is 20 years old in 1941)
Length: 156ft (47.55m)
Weight (Gross): 653 tons
Engine: 1200hp Triple Expansion Steam
Armament: 2 x 20mm Oerlikon Guns (1 on each Bridge Wing), 2 x Browning MGs (Caliber not specified) mounted behind the bridge, Parachute-and-Cable projectors and Holman Projectors, hand grenades and small arms for the crew.
Crew: 30
Fitted with a full array of towing/salvage equipment.
Described as being "A seaboat first and then a tug." and built "...a bit too late for the First (World) War." Stated to have been sold to US firm for scrapping and returned to the British as part of the Destroyers-For-Bases deal which inaugurated Lend-Lease.

Germany

Hamburg
Submarine Depot Ship
No other details.

U-66
U-Boat, type not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: Pennant is that of a Type IXC U-boat in service 1941 - 1944. As the submarine featured in the novel is sunk in December 1941, it cannot be the real submarine.

U-87
U-Boat, type not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIB U-Boat in service 1941 - 1943. As the submarine featured in the novel is sunk in December 1941, it cannot be the real submarine.

U-122
U-boat, type not specified
No other details provided
Note: Pennant is that of a Type IXB U-Boat in service during 1940 when it went missing. As the submarine in the novel is sunk in December 1941, it cannot be the real submarine.

E-102
S-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant number is as given. During the war and for a long time thereafter the British referred to these ships as E-Boats. The Pennant S-102 was used on an S-boat transferred to the Black Sea in 1942.

Plot summary: The year is 1941 (The story takes place between December the 22nd and 29th of that year.) and another convoy is making it's way from England to Russia, for one ship the journey is especially harsh.

Note: This is a 'Boy's Own Adventure' style tale written for the cheaper end of the paperback books market, which has recently become available again as an E-book. The authors most egregious mistake is in using the identifier of an actual England-Russia convoy (PQ8, which took place in January 1942) for his fictitious one.
 
Alexander Fullerton, Special Deliverance, 1986

United Kingdom

HMS Shropshire
County Class Destroyer (Batch 2)
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Boreas
Type 22 Class Frigate (Batch 1)
Details as per the real ships.

RFA Tidebreak
Tide Class Replenishment Oiler
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: The year is 1982. The British government has found where the Argentinian government has all the Exocet missiles they have purchased since the start of the Falklands War. After the sinking of HMS Sheffield (D80) it is realized that they have to be destroyed before they can be used. However the simplest method would have unacceptable political repercussions, so another more risky way has been chosen to deal with the problem.

Notes: The Falklands War (April - June 1982) was seen by many as the first sign that the West was willing to stand up against dictators et al after the end of the Vietnam War. I've covered other novels using this war as a background previously, these being, 'Sea Skimmer' (2011), 'The White Vixen' (2012) & 'Beneath Sunless Waters' (2016). This novel however is one of the earliest featuring the conflict, preceded in the English language only (To my knowledge.) by a series of novels written by science fiction writer Kenneth Bulmer under the pen name Adam Hardy. With a series title of 'Strike Force Falklands', they treated the conflict in much the same manner as early 1950s 'Boys Own Adventure' fiction treated WWII. Interestingly the first novel in the series 'Operation Exocet' (1984) uses the same basic plot idea as 'Special Deliverance', but with a much simpler treatment of the subject.
 
From the Falklands, to the Second World War...

Paul & Shiela Mandel, The Black Ship, 1968

Germany

Horst Wessel (Z-14)
Type 1936 Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Crew is made up entirely of members of the SS who have been given naval training.
Fitted with radar of unspecified type.
Note: Enough information is given to confirm the ship is a Type 1936 destroyer, but not enough to identify the sub-type. The Pennant number is that of the Friedrich Ihn (Z-14) a Type 1934A Class Destroyer that survived WWII. None of the Type 1936 destroyers were actually named.

United States

PT-863
PT boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: With thanks to Hood, I've been able to confirm that this is a fictional pennant number.

Unnamed
3 x PT Boats
Details as per the real ships.

United Kingdom

Unnamed
Various destroyers and MTBs

Plot summary: It is the middle of the Second World War, the United States Navy stung by British remarks about 'Iron Bottom Sound' (1st Savo Island.) decides to send some PT boats to the United Kingdom to show the Brits 'How it's done..." the crews of the PT boats sent find themselves fighting both a supply system that thinks the United Kingdom is in the Pacific and the first major surface warship crewed entirely by the Waffen SS.

Note: The split authorship came about because the primary author died partway through the novel and his wife completed it for publication. I'd rank it as a competent but not exceptional attempt to write an Alistair MacLean style thriller. This writeup is based on the Readers Digest version of the novel, should I find a copy of the full novel I will revisit this post.
 
David Monnery, Marine C SBS: The Florida Run, 1995

United Kingdom

HMS Argyll
Type 23 Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service

Unnamed
Vickers Pisces Minisub
No specifics given, assumed to be identical to the Vickers Pisces III derived minisubs appearing in 'Marine A SBS: Terrorism on the North Sea' (1995)

Non State

Unnamed
2 Mini-subs, class not specified.
Length: 20ft (6.1 m)
Crew 2
Submerged speed: 20 knots (Surfaced speed is not given.)
Range: 200 miles (321.9 km)
Description:
"...cylindrical. Two bulbous growths had been added: one where the conning-tower on a larger submarine might have been, the other at what was presumably the bow end. This was divided into two large convex windows... There were also large windows in the flanks...
Click to expand...

Marine C SBS: The Florida Run (1995)

Note: These are former Soviet mini-subs from a naval research facility in Murmansk, they are now being used by the Arcilla Organization (A smuggling group) to bring various illegal items into the United States. For deceptive purposes both submarines have been painted with identical markings.

Plot summary: The year is 1994. The murder of an expert in minisubs from the former Soviet Union and the kidnapping of a former member of the British Special Boat Service (SBS) lead to the US Government to take an extraordinary decision, as the major suspect is a Cuban migrant (and now British citizen.) who has become a major business figure in the West Indies, they give the British permission to send in a four man SBS team to figure out just what is going on.

Notes: This is the third in the series of 'Marine' books first released in the mid 90s and re-issued as ebooks by Osprey Publishing in the 2010s (The books have subsequently been withdrawn from Amazon in 2018 for some reason.). Unlike the first novel in the series, this one is much more firmly grounded in the real world, with the novels fictional events taking place in the lead up to the American intervention in Hati that occurred in September of 1994. Similarly the author focuses on creating a more 'realistic' picture of the SBS and it's activities than the author of the first book, though he does allow himself an 'action ending'. More interestingly the author, who also wrote several novels in the companion 'Soldier' series (Which focused on the SAS.), makes several references to novels in that series suggesting he viewed them as all forming part of the same 'Universe'.
 
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Roger E. Herst, Ghost Sub, 2013

United States

USS Edmond Roald Admundsen (SSN-??? or SSGN-???) (ex-USS Scorpion (SSN-589))
Skipjack Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Commissioned: 1959
Armament has been modified to replace the normal torpedo load with 18 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, launched via the torpedo tubes. An automatic loading system for the Tomahawks has been fitted.
Note: Stated to be the sixth nuclear submarine built after the USS Nautilus (SSN-571). Crew uses Blue/Gold rotation system like Ballistic Missile submarines. Specifically stated it was chosen because it was from a class that retained six bow tubes. Stated to be the former USS Scorpion (SSN-589) which went missing off the Azores in 1968. In novel the ship was simply renamed and used for covert operations, this being the latest of them.

USS Yellowtail (SSN-???)
Sturgeon Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author explicitly identifies the submarine as a member of the Sturgeon Class.

USS Mako (SSN-???)
Nuclear Submarine, class not specified (Skate/Sturgeon/Permit Class?)
No other details provided

USS Millard Fillmore (SSN-??? or SSBN-???)
Nuclear Submarine of unspecified class
No other details provided
Note: Another submarine of unspecified class with this name appears in the science fiction novel 'Death of a Cosmonaut (1969)
Russia

Arktika
Arktika Class Icebreaker
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: This ship was replaced by an icebreaker of the same name in 2016
In the novel this ship is carrying a helicopter configured for ASW operations, most likely a KA-27 'Helix'.

Dskari
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

Svetlivyiare
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

Unnamed
Two 'Patrol Icebreakers'

Unnamed
Two Poti Class Corvettes

Unnamed
Golf Class Submarine

Plot summary: An American submarine has been sent into waters close off the Russian Arctic coast on a top-secret deployment. As a series of accidents and strange events occur the crew starts wondering if they will complete the patrol alive.

Note: The author does not provide any specific dating information beyond the fact that it takes place after the introduction of the Tomahawk missile in 1983. From the overall 'feel' of things the story is taking place some time mid-80s, certainly no later than the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. I wanted to like this one, but there were all sorts of niggling little problems, starting with the claim that US submarines use 25 inch TT, that ultimately prevented me from doing so.
 
William Katz, North Star Crusade, 1976

United States

USS John Hay (SSBN-???)
Ethan Allen Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as this class by the author.

Russia

Unnamed (K-343)
Delta Class Submarine
Launched: 1971
Details as per the real ships.

Dostoyny
Krivak (Pr.1135) Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: Referred to as a 'Destroyer' in the novel. Name in novel is close to that of a real member of the Krivak Class named Dostoynyy.

Svirepy
Krivak (Pr.1135) Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: Referred to as a 'Destroyer' in the novel. Name in novel is close to that of a real member of the Krivak Class named Svirepyy.

Plot summary: A US submarine is hijacked by a group that believes starting World War III will save the world from the Soviet Union.

Note: While the novel includes a large number of real ships, there are three Los Angeles Class Submarines that appear in the novel, USS Indianapolis (SSN-697) (Launched: 1977, Commissioned: 1980), USS Boston (SSN-703) (Launched: 1980, Commissioned: 1982) & USS Houston (SSN-713) (Launched: 1981, Commissioned: 1982) that are the keys to pinning down just when this one is set.

Given that the story cannot take place before the USS Boston & USS Houston were commissioned, the story is set no earlier than October 1982. The author guessed wrong when he missed out on predicting the fall of the Shah of Iran but got it right when he guessed that Yuri Andropov would become the leader of the Soviet Union. And that is what makes novels from this period interesting, seeing just how close authors predictions came to reality. Other novels exhibiting this 'future of the past' quality are 'Thirty-Four East' (1974) & 'The Hastings Conspiracy' (1980) (Both by Alfred Coppel) , along with what is probably the most well known 'alternative history' sequence, 'Raise the Titanic' (1976), 'Vixen 03' (1978), 'Night Probe' (1981) & 'Deep Six' (1984) (All by Clive Cussler) which are set in an alternative 1980s (The novels are set between 1987 ('Raise the Titanic') & 1989 ('Deep Six').) with many differences from what actually happened, most notably Canada being absorbed by the United States, or the scrapping of the Iowa Class Battleships, which is also referenced as a planned US action in 'North Star Crusade'.

I have covered in this thread a number of novels covering this kind of plot (Government loses control of a nuclear missile submarine.), 'Two Hours to Darkness' (1963), 'The Triton Ultimatum' (1977), 'Poseidon's Shadow' (1979), 'Sons of God' (2008), 'Warhead' (2011) & 'Merlin's War' (2016). The cover is by sci-fi artist Chris Foss.
 

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A break in our regular service, with a very unexpected find...

Diane Cary, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ghost Ship, 1988

Russia

Sergei G. Gorshkov
Lenin Class Aircraft Carrier (Fictional)
Weight: 90,000 tons
Nuclear powered
Airgroup includes MiG-33b fighters (Note: Possibly a navalised version of the MiG-29 "Fulcrum" (In service 1982), although the designation 'MiG-33' was used for an F-16 like 'light strike fighter' project in the 1980s before being re-used in the 1990s for the MiG-29M.)
Armament includes a directional EMP cannon used as an anti-missile defense and 'Teardrop' missiles.

Vladivostok
Warship, type unspecified
No other details provided.
Note: Support group for the Gorshkov includes 4 cruisers and 10 destroyers, this is probably a cruiser, based on the name.

United States

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
Nimitz Class Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: Why are the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701D) being subjected to visions of a key moment in Earths history, the 1995 destruction of the first Russian nuclear aircraft carrier in circumstances that have never been fully explained.
 
J. E. MacDonnell, The Last Stand, 1970

Australia

HMAS Jackal
Battle Class Destroyer (1943)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name may commemorate sunken J Class Destroyer HMS Jackal. See the entries in this thread for the novels 'Approved to Scrap' (1968), 'Operation Jackal' (1969), 'A Council of Captains' (1974), 'The Shadow' (1977) & 'Breaking Point' (1979) for further notes & comments on this fictional ship.

United States

USS Huntley (DD-???)
Somers Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Part of the US 7th Fleet.
Note: Author explicitly identifies the ship as being of this class.

Japan

Unnamed
8 Cruisers of unspecified class (Possibly Myōkō Class)

Unnamed
8 Destroyers of unspecified class.

Plot summary; Two destroyers are sent to scout out the waters around the island of Sulawesi late in WWII.

Note: Dating this one is fairly easy. One of the characters witnessed the Kamikaze attack on the USS Franklin (CV-13) (19 March 1945) and the subsequent fires and comments on how he was impressed with the way the Americans dealt with it, thus these events are taking place some time between that event and the end of WWII in the Pacific.

J. E. MacDonnell was a prolific Australian writer of action fiction for newsstand paperbacks. Some of the World War II novels by him covered in this thread include, 'Gimme the boats!' (1953), 'The Frogman' (1958), 'The Surgeon' (1959), 'The Secret Weapon' (1959), 'Subsmash' (1960), 'The Coxswain' (1960), 'Killer Group' (1964), 'The Hammer of God' (1968), 'Hunter-Killer' (1968), 'The Kill,' (1974), 'Breaking Point' (1979) & 'The Glory Hunter' (c. 1980s) . He also wrote a series of 'James Bond' style superspy thrillers featuring an agent named Mark Hood, novels in this series that have appeared in the thread are 'Come Die With Me' (1965) and 'Operation Octopus' (1968).
 

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Douglas Reeman, Badge of Glory, 1982

United Kingdom

HMS Audacious
Three Decked Ship of the Line
Details as per the real ships of this type in British service. (eg 120 guns)
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the previous example had been scrapped in 1815. The name would be revived for a ironclad battleship in 1869.

HMS Tenacious
Steam Battleship (Screw)
Three Decked Ship of the Line (131 guns)
Armament: 16 muzzleloading 8 inch guns, the rest are 32pdr muzzleloading smoothbores
Engines produce 350hp.
Described as "...the newest of her kind..." (e.g. She was probably launched in early 1853.)
Note: The author probably based this ship on the HMS Duke of Wellington, a three decked steam battleship launched in 1852. At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the name would not be used until World War I.

HMS Swiftsure
Two Decked Ship of the Line
Details as per the real ships of this type in British service. (eg 74 guns)
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the previous example having transferred out of Royal Navy service in 1845 after a long period as a receiving ship (eg out of combat service.). It is possible that the author intended this ship to be that vessel returned to active service, but he gives no indication of this being the case.

HMS Valiant
Two Decked Ship of the Line
Details as per the real ships of this type in British service. (eg 74 guns)
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the previous example having being scrapped in 1823. The replacement vessel ordered in 1825 was cancelled unbuilt in 1831.

HMS Argyll
Two Decked Ship of the Line
Details as per the real ships of this type in British service. (eg 74 guns)
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the previous example having being scrapped in 1748. The name would not be reused until the 1900s.

HMS Peregrine
Frigate (Sailing)
Details as per a typical member of this type of ship in British service during the 1850s
Note: This name has never been used for a Royal Navy ship, it was however for a period the name of the facility now known as Ford Open Prison.

HMS Amelia
Store Ship
No other details.
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the previous example having being broken up in 1816. The name would not be reused until 1856.

HMS Satyr
Steam Frigate (Sidewheel)
Details for this ship appear to be identical to those of HMS Birkenhead (1845), however unlike that ship she was completed as a frigate rather than a troopship.
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy, the name would not be used until World War I.

HMS Sarpedon
Steam Frigate (Sidewheel)
No specifics offered, but implied to be built to the same design as HMS Satyr and HMS Birkenhead (1845).
Note: This name has never been used for a Royal Navy ship.

HMS Norseman
Steam Gunboat (Sidewheel)
Armament: 1 x 6pdr, 2 x mortars of unspecified caliber
No other details provided
Note: This name has never been used for a Royal Navy ship.

HMS Rupert
Steam Gunboat (Sidewheel)
No other details provided
Note: At the time the novel was set (1850 - 1854) there was no ship of this name in the Royal Navy. The name was subsequently used for an ironclad battleship in the 1890s.

HMS Kingsmill
Schooner (Armed)
No other details provided

Russia (Empire)

Rostislav
Three Decked Ship of the Line (eg. 120 guns)
Details as per the typical ships of this type in Imperial Russian service.
Note: This name was not used by the Imperial Russian Navy until the 1890s.

Unnamed
Two Sailing Frigates.
No other details

Plot summary: Follows the career of a Royal Marine, from the earliest phases of the 'Scramble for Africa' as the Royal Navy struggles to supress the slave trade to the Crimean War.

Note: This is the first of a series of novels the author wrote covering the evolution of the Royal Marines between 1850 - 1982. The novel covers an interesting period as the Royal Navy transitions from Sail to Steam and ideas dating back to the Napoleonic Wars clash with those of the emerging Victorian Age. The cover is from a later issue of the first two novels in the series as a single book and depicts HMS Norseman heading up a river in Africa to face a well armed band of slavers, the artist is unnamed but is probably (From the style.) Chris Mayger, who was the artist who did many of the covers for Douglas Reeman's novels in the 1970s & 1980s.
 

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Christopher Murphy, Scream at the Sea, 1982

United Kingdom

HMS UNS1
Unmanned Nuclear Submarine
"...more defense systems than the rest of the Navy put together..."
Armament includes Polaris missiles
Nuclear powered, 3 reactor power plant.
Length: 350ft (106.7m)
Speed: 55knots (Surfaced)/Unspecified (Submerged)
Endurance: 3 years between port visits
Cost: £ 900,000,000
Note: This fully automated submarine is laid out differently internally from a standard ballistic missile submarine. The conning tower which is described as being narrower and smaller than a normal submarine conning tower is located roughly half-way between the bow and stern rather than close to the bow.

Plot summary: A contract security expert on leave after completing work on a top secret Royal Navy project finds himself at the center of a crisis when the top secret automated submarine he was protecting malfunctions but refuses to respond to all hails.

Note: The author does not offer specific dates, but various references suggest that the novel is set in the 1970s rather than contemporaneously with the novels release in 1982. A character references the SPECAT Jaguar attack aircraft in a way that implies that the plane has just entered service (It entered British service in 1974). Similarly there is a brief reference to the Cod Wars, a series of clashes between Britain and Iceland, the second of which took place between 1972 - 1973 (The third took place 1975 - 76), finally the unnamed aircraft carrier in the novel has an airgroup that includes F-4 Phantoms, these were only introduced to the Royal Navy in the late 60's with the first operational squadron embarking HMS Ark Royal (Audacious Class) in 1970. All of this suggests the story is set either in 1974 or 1975. The novel itself has a fairly lighthearted feel that makes me think of 'Boys Own Adventure' type stories and was written by an author who seems to have specified in Aviation related fiction.
 
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Last post for July...

Marcus Blake (Pseud.), Atlantis: Revelation, 2013

Germany (WWII)

U-1309
Type VIIC\41 U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Modified so that it could dive to depths three times greater than standard members of the class (e.g. 2250ft (686m)).

United Kingdom (WWII)

HMS Wildflower
'Cruiser' (Note: More likely to a Flower Class Corvette based on the name.)
Only specific armament mentioned is Mk.VII depth charges fired from K guns (Depth charge mortars).
No other details provided.
Note: At various points in the book the author refers to 'cruisers' as if they were the primary type of vessels the Allies used for ASW operations in WWII, something that can be shown to be wrong with very little research.

United States (2012)

USS Ingram (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke (Flight IIA) Class Destroyer(?)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author provides no details other than the ship carries a helicopter, only Flight IIA and after members of the Arleigh Burke Class carried helicopters. Class determined by name only.

USS Dewey (DDG-105)
Arleigh Burke (Flight IIA) Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service

USS Seawolf (SSN-21)
Seawolf Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

Fictional weapon

Mk.54 Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo (Note: This term is also used for the Mk.54 (MAKO) Lightweight torpedo on some websites.)
Described as a "...heavily modified..." version of the Mk.54 (MAKO) Lightweight Torpedo
Presumably diameter and other dimensions are unchanged, though this is not explicitly stated.
Impact fuse has been replaced with a digital camera and associated data transmission system
Retains warhead and a proximity fuse.
Speed is given as "...close on a hundred knots..." suggesting that it may make use of supercavitating technology.
Stated to be air droppable.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: For many the lost city of Atlantis is a myth, but for two young adults, one struggling with memory loss, it's existence has become a matter of life and death.

Note: The authors name is described as the pseudonym for "...a bestselling author who lives in the UK with his wife.". Atlantis first appeared in a work by Plato in a tale whose basic storyline is identical to that of the 1977 film 'Star Wars', in that tale Atlantis was the Evil Empire. By the mid-to-late 19th Century it had morphed into a lost super-civilization from which all others had sprung and since that time has been a magnet for all kinds of fringe ideas. This novel like the self-published on Amazon novel 'The Wolves of Atlantis' (2017) by Telford Lee, is based on Atlantis lore originating in the 1930s via alleged psychic Edgar Cayce. While clearly the first book in a series of at least three novels, to date (2018), only this novel has been published, though the overall plot-line for the trilogy is fairly easy to figure out.

As to what I think of this story, I've seen dozens of variations of this kind of story following in the wake of Clive Cussler's successes in the 1970s & 80s in reworking fringe material into the basis of action packed adventures. I'm not impressed with this one, aside from the authors belief about WWII cruisers I've mentioned above, in one scene set in the Smithsonian Institution (In Washington DC.) he has a character refer to the fact he had not expected "...every law enforcement officer on the Pacific Coast was going to be here..." which points to carelessness in editing or sloppy research on someone's part since the capitol of the United States is practically located on the Atlantic Coast and as I've said earlier the overall trajectory of the series is fairly easy to figure out.
 
Some gung-ho fiction 'self-published on Amazon'...

Roger C. Dunham, Rogue Captain: How Far Would a Father Go to Save His Daughter's Life, 2018

United States

USS Monterey (SSN-749)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Modifed by the fitting of silencing tiles of the same type used on the hull of Virginia Class Submarines.
Note: Pennant is in an unallocated bloc of pennant numbers (SSN-744 to SSN-749). The name clashes with that of a Ticonderoga Class Cruiser USS Monterey (CG-61).

USS Stout (DDG-55)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service
Note: Author refers to this ship either as an "...Arleigh Burke class guided missile cruiser..." or as a 'cruiser' throughout the book.

USS Gravely (DDG-107)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service
Note: Author refers to this ship as a 'destroyer' throughout the book.

Plot summary: A US submarine captain and select members of his crew steals his to-be-retired submarine to go after the Abu Sayyaf backed pirates who kidnapped his daughter.

Note: The authors claims that the US Navy tried to stop publication and of his prior service on a nuclear submarine (Identified in the end notes as USS Halibut (SSN-587).) notwithstanding, this is nothing special. This kind of 'US Servicemen steal a warship to go off hunting the countries enemies' plotline is a relatively popular one, see for example the novel 'Warhead' (2011) or even 'North Star Crusade' (1976) on this list for variations on this basic plotline.
 
Raymond Harold Sawkins (Pen name: Colin Forbes), By Stealth, 1992

China (People's Republic)

Mao III
Armed Stealth Ship
Weight: 20,000 tons
VLS system containing 12 missiles of an unspecified type mounted forward of the bridge
Laser weapon of unspecified power fitted.
Speed: 30 knots
No other details provided

Yenan
Stealth transport ship.
Speed: 30 knots
Smaller than the Mao III
No other details

Notes: These stealth ships are based, not on the American Sea Shadow (IX-529), but rather on the stealth techniques as applied to the B-2 'Spirit' bomber. The superstructure is low and well rounded, engine exhausts are cooled before reaching the atmosphere and the propellors are designed to be low noise emitting at all speeds. The author describes them as looking variously like, "...a huge submarine travelling on the surface..." (Albiet one without a conning tower.) and "A huge grey shape like that of a half-submerged great whale..."

United Kingdom

HMS Minotaur
Frigate (FFG), class not specified
Fitted with an experimental anti-Stealth system that makes use of multiple detection modes including LIDAR to defeat passive stealth measures.
No other details provided

Plot summary: A series of mysterious disappearances at sea and other strange events point to a threat to Europe, but from whom.

Note (Spoilers): Colin Forbes was the pen name used by author Raymond Harold Sawkins who started off in the late 1960s with a series of Alistair MacLean style thrillers, one of which 'Avalanche Express' (1977) was filmed in 1979. However by the time this novel came out the author was well into his 'formula' period, which had begun in the mid 1980s. These can easily be identified by the blurbs which take on a very standardized appearance to laying out the plot points. The basic formula was a mutated version of the English Country House mystery, often beginning with a mysterious death (or deaths.) that provides the impetus to the plot with a group of law enforcement (or quasi-law enforcement) agents trying to save Europe from, the United States, Communists (Russian backed or otherwise), Criminal conspiracies or Rogue Companies and which ends with a cast of characters bought together to reveal who did what to whom.

In this case the villains are the Chinese Communists, however the plot is pure 'Yellow Peril (China)' and much more akin to the kinds of stories in this vein written in the 1920s and earlier, with the Chinese planning to overrun Europe with sleeper agents, traitors and a horde of fake refugees. Other novels in this vein I have covered in the thread include include 'Sunstrike' (1979), 'Sky Masters' (1991), 'Flood Tide' (1997), 'Icefire' (1998), 'China Sea' (2000), 'Two Peasants and a President' (2012), 'White Plague' (2015) and 'Rising Sea' (2018). A novel from his 'Alistair MacLean' period I've covered in this thread is 'Target 5' (1972)
 
Raymond Harold Sawkins (Pen name: Colin Forbes), Shockwave, 1990

United States

USS Spruance (DDG-997)
Kidd Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name clashes with the lead ship of the Spruance Class Destroyers, USS Spruance (DD-963). The pennant number clashes with the last member of the Spruance Class built, USS Hayler (DD-997). Author explicitly identifies the ship as a member of the Kidd Class.

Russia

Sverdlov
Cruiser (CG), class not specified.
Stated to be one of the Russian navies "...most modern and heavyweight ships." (Kirov Class?)
No other details provided.

Plot summary: As a key component in the Wests new defense system is shipped to the UK, the man in charge of it's security finds himself on the run when he is falsely charged with murder. Fleeing both the law and assassins hired by unknown assailant he and his team find themselves scrambling to find the means to strike back.

Note: This novel comes from the authors 'formula' period (See my previous post.), but it's a pretty thrilling example of the type and certainly one of the better books he wrote. Other novels by this author in the thread include 'Target 5' (1972) and 'By Stealth' (1992).
 
Another 'self-published on Amazon' novel...

D. Clayton Meadows, Of Ice and Steel, 2013

Germany (WWII)

U-761
Type IXC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Commissioned: Not specified but stated to have been "...built... in 1943..."
Lost: August 1944
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC U-Boat comissioned in 1942 and sunk in February 1944.
Torpedos carried include one prototype T11 torpedo (G7es (TXI) "Zaunkönig II"), a real weapon that never entered active service.

Germany ('Present Day')

U-212
Submarine of unspecified class
Stated to be the "...newest German U-Boat..." and described as looking more streamlined than the Vepr (K-157).
No other details provided.

United States

USS Miami (SSN-755)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

USS West Virginia (SSBN-736)
Ohio Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

United Kingdom

HMS Swift (P242)
Peacock Class Corvette
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: The author does not explicitly state this but the details he provides fits this class, although he does refer to the ship as a 'destroyer' at one point. The Peacock Class Patrol Ships were built for service in Hong Kong, after the colony was handed back to China in 1996, the ships were sold off to the Phillipines & Ireland. Whenever this novel is set it would appear that the British retained them in service.

Iran

MV Kangan
Armed Merchant Ship (Converted Water Tanker)
Length: 300ft (91.4 m)
Armament: 9 T-72 Tanks have been chained to what the author describes as the lower deck. The main guns can be fired through ports cut into the hull concealed behind false hull plates.
No other details.

Russia

Vepr (K-157)
Akula II (Pr.971U) Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

Admiral Kuznetsov
Kuznetsov Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great)
Kirov (Pr.1144) Class Battlecruiser
Real ship, details as in service

Strogiy
Kashin (Pr.61) Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service
Note: In real world decomissioned in 1993, sunk while on tow to be scrapped in 1995.

Simferopol
Udaloy (Pr.1155) Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

Barsuk
Patrol Ship, class not specified
No other details provided.

Grozyyashchiy
Frigate, class not specified.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The world is on the brink of WWIII as Russia is rocked by a coup backed by the Russian Mafiya and a counter-coup backed by the Russian Navy. The tense situation is worsened when someone starts attacking ships in the North Atlantic Ocean, two submarines, one American, the other Russian race to find the cause before the situation spirals completely out of control.

Note (Spoilers): The author provides no specific dating information beyond a news story referring to the "...war on terror..." implying it's set after the events of the 11th of September 2001. Interestingly the story leverages the same science about Tardigrades hibernation abilities Jim Czaijkowski used in 'Ice Hunt' (2003), but attributes it's use to Nazi Germany rather than Soviet Russia. Stories featuring 'Weird Science' attributed to Nazi Germany in this thread include 'Operation Octopus' (1968) and 'Ice Fortress' (2017)
 
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Raymond Harold Sawkins (Pen name: Colin Forbes), Avalanche Express, 1977

Russia

Maxim Gorky
'Freighter' (eg Spy Ship)
Weight: 17,000 tons
Equipped with a full range of ELINT equipment
Armament: Dis-mountable Machine guns, types not specified.
Twin Funnels, superstructure aft
Is carrying a full cargo of weapons and ammunition bound for Africa.
No other details provided.

Holland

Unnamed
Torpedo Boat, class not specified.
Armament: 1 x Machine gun, type not specified (fwd), 2 x Torpedoes (Acoustic homing), type not specified, any other armament is not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: When the head of the KGB decides to defect to the West, the Soviet Union pulls out the stops to prevent him from reaching safety.

Note (Spoilers): For basic details on the author see the entry for 'By Stealth' (1992). This is a reasonably well written chase thriller that contains in prototype form the basic structure for many of his later 'formula' period novels, namely a, in this case, quasi-official team of agents running across Europe against an opponent of seemingly overwhelming strength. It also contains interesting 'period notions', for example, the novels fictional version of the Red Army Fraction aka the Baader-Meinhof Gang. (The 'Geiger Gang'.) is outright stated to be under the direct control (Via it's leaders, the rank and file know nothing of this.) of the GRU (Soviet Military Intelligence Service).

This was the only one of his novels to be filmed. The resulting 1979 film failed at the box office and no other novels of his were filmed, although there is evidence that the novels preceding this one were optioned at one point (A pity, I would have liked to have seen a film, even a bad one of 'Tramp in Armour' (1969)). There is definite evidence that script of the film deviates from the novel, as a clip of the avalanche sequence from the film available on YouTube shows a completely different sequence of events to that in the novel.

Other novels by the author covered in this thread are 'Target 5' (1972), 'Shockwave' (1990) and 'By Stealth' (1992).
 
W.D. Sullivan, Dauntless: A Novel of the Gulf War, 2018

United States

USS Dauntless (DDG-25)
Charles F. Adams Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships, that received the partial NTU upgrade in the 1980s.
Note: The historic Charles F. Adams class comprised 29 ships, split between the United States, Australia & Germany (Federal Republic) with the hull/pennant numbers as follows (DDG-2 to 24 (United States, Charles F. Adams Class), DDG-25 to 27 (Australia, Perth Class), DDG-28 to 30 (Germany (Federal Republic), Lütjens Class)). In the novel the split up, as the author has one of the characters state is as follows (DDG-2 to 25 (United States, Charles F. Adams Class), DDG-26 to 28 (Australia, Perth Class), DDG-29 & 30 (Germany (Federal Republic), Lütjens Class)). The pennant DDG-1 was applied to the USS Gyatt (DD-712/DDG-1) a Gearing Class Destroyer experimentally fitted with Terrier Missiles in the 1950s that was decomissioned in 1969 before being expended as a target in 1970.

The name given to this ship does not follow the naming convention the United States uses for destroyers. See the entry on this thread for 'Empty Nets & Promises' (2016) for an explanation of this.

USS Wade (DD-999)
Spruance Class Destroyer(?)
Details as per the real ships
Note: This ship appears in a characters backstory. The author never states just which class this ship is, class has been determined from the pennant number only.

Iraq

MV Basra (aka MV Najaf & MV Aphrodite)
' Trawler' (eg Spy ship)
Converted fishing vessel
Length: 60ft
Twin diesel engines
'Requisitioned' by Iraqi Intelligence
Outfitted with basic ELINT equipment and military grade communications equipment, this is kept in the hold normally used to store fish after it is caught.
Note: This is essentially an Iraqi registered fishing boat that has been taken into military service. The ELINT equipment is high end radio equipment capable of listening to ship-to-ship communications, the crew have been provided with pages removed from copies of Janes Fighting Ships to allow them to identify US warships.

Plot summary: In the opening days of Bush the Elder's War (Persian Gulf, 1990 - 1991), an ageing destroyer facing decomissioning is given a new captain, one who sees the assigment as punishment for an earlier incident and sent into the firing line.

Note: Most action novels related to the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, have tended to focus on the land conflict, for the simple reason that Iraq didn't have that much of a navy before the conflict started, leaving little for writers of naval fiction to work with.

The author of this book has to be credited with coming up with a good plotline and a plausible Iraqi threat based on what they were actually capable of doing at the time, rather than indulging in outright fantasy. However his ability to keep the reader guessing is lacking in this novel, I'd figured out more-or-less what was going to happen well before the events actually took place.

Another novel I have covered in this thread which makes use of the conflict as a background (Albiet indirectly.) is 'China Sea' (2000) by David Poyer.
 
Robert Ludlum & Gayle Lynds, Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code, 2003

United States

USS James Crowe (FFG-???)
Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class determination has been done by a process of elimination as the author simply refers to the ship as a 'guided missile frigate'. By the time the novel is set, the Oliver Hazzard Perry Class, while nearing the end of it's lifetime was the only class of frigate in US service, the Knox Class having been retired by the mid 1990s.

China (People's Republic)

Zhou Enlai
Submarine (SSN), class not specified.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The year is 2006 (In an alternate universe.), a freighter has left China carrying a cargo bound for Iraq that the US has circumstantial evidence contains chemical weapon precursors. US agents searching for definitive proof of this find themselves caught up in a byzantine struggle between factions in the Chinese government and a multi-national corporation whose owner regards two million dollars as 'beer money' and who has a contacts list reaching into the highest echelons of various governments.

Notes: Dating when the story is set was fairly easy, it runs from Friday, 1st September to Monday, 18th September and 2006 is the first year after the book came out when this occurred. The novel itself is fourth in a series, built around a Presidents-eyes-only covert ops team, where author Robert Ludlum (1927-2001), or at least his papers, provided the plot idea and another author, in this case thriller author Gayle Lynds in her final outing in the series to date, fleshed out into a complete novel.
 
Marc Cameron, Tom Clancy's Power and Empire, 2017

United States

USS Rogue (PC-??)
Cyclone Class Patrol Boat
Details as per the real ships.

RV Meriwether
Oceanographic 'research' ship (eg Spy Ship)
Converted trawler
Length: 89ft (27.1m)
Diesel powered.
Fitted with a towed sonar array.
Fitted out for ELINT.
Note: Cover is that of a fisheries research vessel for the University of Hawaii, actually controlled by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

China (People's Republic)

Kunming (DDG-172)
Type 052D Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Republic of China (Taiwan)

Coast Guard

Taitung (CG-133)
1,000-ton Class Cutter
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: A series of terrorist attacks around the world leave trails pointing at the leader of China, but is he really responsible?

Note: Like the previous novel, this is a publishers attempt to keep a well known name alive after the author has died with a series built around a Presidents-eyes-only covert ops team. The major difference is that this series is based around the characters Clancy created in his novels rather than entirely new characters as in the Ludlum series. The writer handles Clancy's characters well and created an effective plotline. However there is no specific dating information provided so the 'Day after Tomorrow' rule applies.
 
James H. Cobb, Robert Ludlum's The Arctic Event, 2007

United States (Navy)

USS MacIntyre (DDG-??)
Destroyer, class not specified. Most likely a member of the Arleigh Burke Class.
No other details provided

United States (Coast Guard)

USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39) (Ex-USS Edenton (ATS-1))
Edenton Class Cutter
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: The novel consistently refers to the ship as the USS Alex Haley.

Russia

Unnamed
Oscar Class (Pr.949) Submarine
Details as per the real ships

And for the aircraft mavens...

Tupolev Tu-4 (NATO Reporting name "Bull")
Callsign: 'Misha 124'
Details as per the A variant of this B-29 copy.
Note: The 'A' variant of the Tu-4 was modified as an atomic weapons carrier and it was capable of reaching the United States on a one way trip due to the fact that all defensive armament except the tail guns had been removed and extra fuel tanks mounted in the wings and rear bomb bay. This aircraft is a fictional(?) modification of that variant designed to carry two tons of weaponized anthrax instead of a nuclear bomb.

The anthrax is stored in a 'lozenge shaped' steel container designed to fit into the bomb rack in the forward bomb bay (This probably means that it's shaped not to dissimilarly to the first Soviet air droppable nuclear bombs.). It is dispensed via vents under the wings using air pressure generated by ram air intakes in the engine cowlings.

Plot summary: Researchers on a small island in the Arctic find a crashed plane soon identified as one the Soviet Union lost on a training mission the same day that Stalin died. Unknown to the world at large the plane was carrying two tons of weaponized anthrax, something Russia reveals to the United States in secret afraid that it will fall into the wrong hands. A joint mission is sent to investigate and work out how to remove the payload safely, not realizing that why the plane crashed where it did is linked to a deeper secret for which some will kill to prevent the truth from coming out.

Notes: The story, which is set in the 'present day' (eg the 'Day after Tomorrow' rule applies.) is seventh in the series 'Covert One' (The fourth novel 'Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code' (2003) has been covered earlier in the thread.) which seems to have been created to keep the authors name in the public eye after his death in 2001. The author in this case is James H. Cobb, more well known for the 'Amanda Garret' naval action novels. The author in his only outing in the series handles the existing characters effectively and introduced one of his own, who sadly never reappeared in any later novels, though that seems to have clearly been the intent. The storyline itself is well handled and builds to an exciting climax high over the Arctic sea.
 
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Matthew Glass, End Game, 2011

United States

USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)(?)
Kitty Hawk Class aircraft carrier
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: The USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) decommissioned in 2007, some four years before the novel came out. The Gerald R. Ford Class replacement was announced in May of 2011 and is scheduled to commission in 2024. The author does not specify which class of carrier he is referring to, however he does have a character describe the ship as 'combat tested' which could allude to the earlier ship.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)
Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service

USS William J. Clinton (CVN-??)
Gerald R. Ford Class Carrier
Details as per the real ships
Note: The author does not actually state this (He only gives the name.), but it is the only candidate class of carriers being built after 2009 when the final Nimitz Clas Aircraft Carrier (CVN-77) commissioned, so it seems safe to assume that is what she is.

China (People's Republic)

Mao Zedong
Aircraft carrier, class unspecified
No other details provided.

Chou Enlai
Aircraft carrier, class unspecified
No other details provided.

Note: Stated to be two of four aircraft carriers "...commissioned two years ago." (e.g. 2016)

Changchun (DDG-150)
Type 052C destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Kunming (DDG-172)
Type 052D Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

For the aircraft mavens

B3 Stealth Bombers.
No specifics are mentioned. The same designation is used for the bomber in the film 'Broken Arrow' (1996)

Plot summary: The year is 2018. It starts with three decisions, the Lords Resistance Army in Uganda decides to attack a US staffed relief hospital. The US President (A moderate Republican) looking for something to add luster to an otherwise quiet period of good economic stewardship and possibly a little revenge, secures a UN resolution allowing US troops into a region the Peoples Republic of China has been courting for years. And finally a hedge fund in the US decides to start short selling a bank their analysts have heard is looking to raise cash. Three grains of sand that build into an avalanche that sweeps the world to the brink of war. Can anyone stop the progress?

Notes (Spoilers): This is one of those novels that evinces a 'future of the past' feel. The book completely ignores the internet, social media and other factors that have rendered the chances of any kind of moderate (Democrat or Republican) sitting in the White House virtually impossible for the foreseeable future. Instead the books crisis is built from the events prior to 2011, with financial shenanigans being the ultimate trigger for disaster, exacerbated by instability in China in the novels 2014 that leaves that countries President with only loose control over the military.

Other novels exhibiting this 'future of the past' quality are 'Thirty-Four East' (1974), 'The Hastings Conspiracy' (1980) (Both by Alfred Coppel) & 'North Star Crusade' (1976) (William Katz), along with what is probably the most well known 'alternative history' sequence, 'Raise the Titanic' (1976), 'Vixen 03' (1978), 'Night Probe' (1981) & 'Deep Six' (1984) (All by Clive Cussler) which are set in an alternative 1980s (The novels are set between 1987 ('Raise the Titanic') & 1989 ('Deep Six').) with many differences from what actually happened, most notably Canada being absorbed by the United States (Something Cussler quietly dropped in later novels.).

What really stands out about this novel though is the way in which the author avoids grand conspiracies, everything that happens occurs due to ordinary human weaknesses, but when the key event occurs few are willing to believe that it was not a deliberate attempt to manipulate US politics by messing with their economy and from that mismatch between perception and reality everything flows.
 
Another in the long line of 'Self-published on Amazon' technothrillers...

Liam Robert Mullen, Atlanic Deeps, 2017

United States

USS Obama (SSN-???)
Virginia Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Unlikely name.

France

Richelieu
Barracuda Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Wikipedia states that these ships are also referred to as the Suffren class. The class is supposed to be commissioned in 2019.

Morocco

Unnamed
U-boat, class not specified

Plot summary: Someone has sabotaged NASAs replacement for the space shuttle.

Note: Dating this one is really not possible, while most things point to events being set the 'Day after Tomorrow' the author has the Concorde still flying which suggests an earlier date. In addition the author makes the mistake of quoting a Wikipedia page rather too closely for comfort in the opening of one chapter.
 
Latest in series of 'self-published on Amazon' technothriller short stories.

Liam Robert Mullen, Mediterranean Deeps, 2018

United States

USS Obama (SSN-???)
Virginia Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Unlikely name.

United Kingdom

HMS Spearfish
SSBN, class not specified, possibly Dreadnought Class
Armament: Trident (Only armament mentioned.)
Note: Possibly based on Astute Class (SSN) Submarines. The Dreadnought Class (SSBN) Submarines are not supposed to be commissioned until the late 2020s. Name does not fit the Vanguard Class nor is it likely to be one picked for the Dreadnought Class.

Russia

Snow Leopard
Yasen Class
Details as per the real ships

Plot summary: Someone is planning to destroy the European Union.

Note: Appears to be set shortly after the events of 'Atlantic Deeps' (2017), see that novels post for details on dating when this is set. Not impressed with the authors writing, the plot is confusing and not helped by some poor editing which makes it hard to work out on just which submarine some of the scenes are set.
 
A .E. Langsford, HMS Flexible, 1991

United Kingdom

HMS Inflexible
Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships

HMS Invincible
Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships

HMS Irresisible
Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships

HMS Imperious
Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships

Note: The author does not specify the class for any of the carriers in the novel but the limited details he does provide suggest they are all Illustrious Class Carriers.

HMS Marathon
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Persephone
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Agamemnon
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Bellerophon
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

United States

USS Lexington (CV-16)
Essex Class Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

Japan

Hikyu
Cruiser, class not specified
Armament: 8 inch guns (Four turrets) and "...quite a variety of smaller weapons..."
Speed: 30 knots (max)
Described as "...similar in size and dimensions to our County class..."

Plot summary: It is the last months of WWII (The plot of the novel is set between May 1945 and August 15 1945.), the War in Europe is over, but for the captain and crew of one British aircraft carrier the war continues.

Note: This novel is the third in a series following the career of a particular officer through the war and frequent mentions are made of the events from earlier novels in the series. The British Pacific Fleet (TF57/37) is also mentioned in the novel 'The Secret Weapon' (1959) by J. E. MacDonnell. However while the author has his characters encounter a typhoon at sea it is not Typhoon Cobra, which appears in 'The 'Caine' Mutiny' (1951), but Typhoon Connie which hit the US Third Fleet in June of 1945.
 
Christopher Wood, A Dove Against Death, 1983

United Kingdom

HMS Challenger
Challenger Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service

Germany

SMS Herzogin Elisabeth
Gunboat, class not specified
Armament: 3 pdr gun (forward), mines (number not specified) no other armament mentioned
No other details mentioned.

Plot summary: The year is 1914, World War I has just started and in West Africa three Englishmen have found something the Germans will do anything from stopping them from revealing to the world.

Note: This was found in a copy of Readers Digest, if a copy of the full book is ever found I will revisit this post.
 
Lorhainne Eckhart, Vanished, 2013

United States

USS Vincent (CVN-??)
Nimitz Class Carrier(?)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author simply mentions the "...Vincent Carrier..." without providing any specifics. However the cover uses a picture of CVN-77, so I am assuming that the author intended the ship to be a Nimitz.

USS Larsen (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer (Flight IIA)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Also appears in the novel 'Saved' (2013), see the post for that novel for more details on this ship.

Plot summary: The year is 2006. For an American naval officer and the woman he rescued from the Arabian sea, things appear to be going along well. But then what seemed to be a mild case of post-natal depression following the birth of their son spirals into paranoia, has the father of their daughter returned to claim that which he believes he 'owns'.

Note (Spoilers): In this second novel in sequence that begins with 'Saved' (2013), while the author chooses a rather harrowing scenario for her characters, she again avoids resolving the plot thread that started the series off. I'm still not sure that was the right decision on her part, as the final ending of the series, aside from revealing a high degree of paranoia about Muslim extremists recruiting via Facebook does not feel right, since that issue is left unresolved.
 
Neill James, Atlantic Rendezvous, 2013

United Kingdom (WWII)

MGB-728
Fairmile D Motor Gun Boat
Note: Pennant clashes with a Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat.

MGB-733
Fairmile D Motor Gun Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat.

MGB-780
Fairmile D Motor Gun Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat.

MGB-781
Fairmile D Motor Gun Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat.

Note: All of the above are explicitly identified as being the Motor Gun Boat version of the Fairmile D by the author.

United Kingdom (Post-WWII)

MTB-528
Vosper '73ft' Class
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: This ship was commissioned in 1946 and is recorded as being sold in 1948. In the novel the hero is the one who purchases the ship upon sale and renames it Corsair.

Unnamed
Halcyon Class Minesweeper
Details as per the real ships

France (Post-WWII)

Unnamed
Corvette, class not specified.

Plot summary: The year is 1948, a retired RN officers plans to set up a charter boat business 'go south' leading him to take desperate steps to come up with revenue.

Note: The author states in his introduction that he was inspired by a boat he spotted from a passing train when he was a child. The overall plot-line can be compared with 'The Ship That Died Of Shame' (1952) by Nicholas Monsarrat and an early Douglas Reeman novel 'High Water' (1959).
 
C.S. Forrester, Gold From Crete, 1941

United Kingdom

HMS Apache
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Cheyenne
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Navaho
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Potawatomi
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Seminole
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Shoshone
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

Note: All ships are part of the RN 20th Destroyer Flotilla. The author does not identify the class, however as all the names used are those of Native American tribes, assignment to the Tribal Class is most likely.

United States

USS Coulterville (CL-??)
Cruiser, class not specified
8000 tons
Stated to be newly built.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: A collection of 'morale raising' stories not all of which deal with naval actions.

Note: C.S Forester (1899-1966), as the creator of Horatio Hornblower needs no other introduction. There are no specifics to date the stories, however one of the non-naval stories is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Beda Fomm (6/7 February 1941), which puts an earliest date for just when the collection was written. Given there is no mention of the Japanese entry into the war (7 December 1941) it would appear that the stories are set between 1940 and 1941.

The cover for the 1973 printing of the collection was by Chris Mayger and is based off the first story in the collection.

Full Cover

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f3szqa5f0dv1k4l/Gold_From_Crete_1971_Full_Cover.jpg?dl=0
 
Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen, Silent Thunder, 2008

Russia

Kulyenchikov
Oscar II (Pr. 949a) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The submarine has been purchased by an American museum located in the state of Maine and has been disarmed while the preparations to display it are being completed.

United States

USS Bainbridge (DDG-96)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: An American museum has obtained an example of Russia's most recent combat submarine, one that 'got lost' in the chaos surrounding the collapse of the Soviet Union. While preparations are being made to put the submarine on display unknown individuals try to break into the submarine, but what are they looking for.

Note: This novel is more of a Romantic mystery novel than an action novel.
 
Clive Cussler & Boyd Morrison, Shadow Tyrants, 2018

Non-State

'Cabrillo Corporation'

Oregon (II)
Armed Merchant Ship (Converted 1960s cargo liner)
Length: 560ft (171m)
Beam: 75ft (23m)
11,585 tons
Propulsion: MHD Engines
Speed: 50 knots(+)
Armament: 1 x 120mm Cannon (Bow mount) 3 x 20mm Gatling cannon 4 x Exocet Missiles (Concealed in forward hold) 2 x Land Attack Missiles (Russian, type not specified.) 2 x 21 inch Torpedo Tubes (Bow), Machine Guns. Note: All weapons are concealed.
2 x Minisubs
1 x Helicopter
Note: Conversion was done at a Russian shipyard, but paid for by US Govt 'Black Budget' money. The below-water hull has been heavily modified to allow safe transit at high speeds. Mercenary ship, owned by the 'Cabrillo Corporation'. Registered in Iran (Carries flags for every maritime nation.) Performs intelligence gathering on behalf of the United States Government and other related work on behalf of friendly nations. This is the replacement for the ship of the same name that appeared in 'Flood Tide' (1997)

Orbital Ocean Corporation

Kalinga (ex-?)
Nilgiri Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships

Maurya (ex-?)
Nilgiri Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships

Note: Both ships are ex-Indian Navy, the authors do not specify which former Indian Navy Niligri Class Frigates they were. All armament has been retained.

Plot summary: A mission to recover stolen Russian nerve gas leads to the discovery of an ancient conspiracy.

Note (Spoilers): For the latest in the 'Oregon Files' series the authors mix together one of the possible solutions to the MH370 disappearance with ideas taken from the film 'Airport'77' and a tale from the fringe about a secret order founded by the legendary Indian Emperor Ashoka to guard the worlds knowledge lest it be misused.

Rather ironically the tale actually originated with a 1920s pulp writer named Talbot Mundy, who's 1923 novel 'The Nine Unknown' deals with an attempt by a multi-racial band of adventurers to steal from a mysterious organization that controls the worlds economy in secret. (The novel can be read at the Australian Project Gutenberg website. (Link)) Their re-appearance in this 21st Century pulpy story can be seen as a kind of 'coming home'.
 
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J. P. W. Mallalieu, Very Ordinary Seaman, 1944

United Kingdom

HMS Marsden (I11)
M Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Meltham
M Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

Germany

Various 'Unnamed' warships.

Plot summary: A 'Typical' sailors experience of the Arctic Convoys.

Note: This was actually the authors third book, the first two written under various pseudonyms attacked war profiteers and the like. The navy apparently prevailed on him to present a unjaundiced view of the war in this book, which proved so successful he was able to use the money made from the sales to run for parliament in the post war General Election.
 
Edwyn Gray, Action Atlantic, 1975

United Kingdom

HMS Weazel
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name is that of a V & W Class Destroyer cancelled while under construction in November 1918.

HMS Pelican
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided
Note: Name clash with an Egret Class Sloop.

HMS Percival
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Arrogant
Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author uses the same name for a battleship of unspecified class in the 1978 novel 'Fighting Submarine' which is set in the same universe. This ship is explicitly identified as an Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier.

Germany

UB-44
Type VIIB Class U-Boat
Details as per the the real ships.
Completed in 1938
Note: UB pennant not used after WW1. Original 88mm deck gun replaced with a 105mm deck gun in 1940

UB-48
U Boat, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: UB pennant not used after WW1

UB-203
U Boat, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: UB pennant not used after WW1

M-16
M1935 Class Minesweeper
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: The continuing career of a U-boat commander who is becoming increasingly disillusioned about the country he is serving, this novel carries his story on until May of 1941.

Note: The novel is the second in a series of novels following this character. Another novel using the same setting, but not formally part of the series by this author is 'Fighting Submarine' (1978), which I have covered earlier in this thread. The novel has been re-issued as an E-book in 2018 via Amazon. The publisher in this case is a US ebook publisher specializing in Westerns and other 'man adventure' type books, there are a number of textural glitches and misspellings in the ebook that should have been caught by an editor prior to publication.
 
Something a little bit different...

G. C. Edmondson, The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream, 1965

United States

USS Alice
Yawl (Wooden hull)
Length: 89ft (27.13m)
Sails & diesel engine
Speed: 10 knots (Max)
Crew: 7 + 2 Scientists
Armament: Rifles and pistols for the crew (Not for the scientists). (What types are not specified but probably the types used by the US navy in 1965.)
Note: Ship is being used to test ASW detection equipment.

Plot summary: The year is 1965 and a test of a new ASW detection system takes an unexpected turn when the test vessel is struck by lightning.

Note: The title gives the game away, but in some respects this story can be seen as the distant ancestor of another story I've covered in this thread 'Whisper' (2010).
 
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An interesting addition that I found on Project Gutenberg. One of the The Dreadnought Boys series of children's adventure books by Captain Wilbur Lawton.

The Dreadnought Boys on a Submarine, by Captain Wilbur Lawton, 1911

United States
Lockyer: submarine, 2x torpedo tubes (12x torpedoes), 26kt (surf), 13kt (sub), 3,000hp compressed air propulsion, three propellers
USS Brooklyn: gunboat; name clash with the armoured cruiser ACR-3
USS Louisville: gunboat

Plot Summary: The inventor Lockyer has built a novel submarine but a rival yard who wants to buy the patents and sell the submarines to an unnamed 'Asian power' plots to cripple his submarine during an official Navy trial. Much daring do ensues as they test out the capabilities of the submarine and hunt down the conspirators at land and sea.

The most interesting aspect of the book is the submarine's propulsion system which is quite prescent for some of the developments that have occurred. The boat is powered by a compressed air system that Lawton probably modelled on the Sterling engine. The submarine's engine is started with an explosive gas mixture and then runs off of the compressed air tanks with sufficient capacity to run at cruising speed (about 6kts) for 5 hours. Then the tanks can be refilled from normal atmospheric air via a retractable 20ft tall 'air pipe' and a compressor. I wonder if this is the earliest description of a snorkel-type device?
 
Alfred Draper, Grey Seal, 1981

United Kingdom

HMT Grey Seal
Armed Trawler
1 x 12pdr (fwd)
2x 20mm Oerlikons (Mounted port and starboard side midship.)
Lewis guns (3 x twin mounts, 1 on each bridge wing and 1 on top of the galley flat)
Depth charges
Small arms for crew: 6 x .303 Lee-Enfields & 4 x .455 Webley Revolvers plus one Lee-Enfield rifle modified as a line thrower.
Length: 180ft (55m)
Beam: 28ft (8.5m)
600 tons
10 knots (+)
No other details provided.

HMT Beaver
Armed trawler
Weapon details identical to Grey Seal
No other details provided

HMT Otter
Armed trawler
Weapon details identical to Grey Seal
No other details provided

HMT Vole
Armed trawler
Weapon details identical to Grey Seal
No other details provided

HMS Zeus
'Cruiser' class not specified
Explicitly identified as a cruiser by the author.
No other details provided.

Germany

Various 'Unnamed' warships.

Plot summary: The year is 1939, and one young naval officer learns the most important lesson, it is not what ship you command that matters, but the spirit of her crew.

Note: This is the first in a series of novels following the trawler and her crew through WWII, a later novel in the series set in 1941 entitled 'The Raging Of The Deep' (1985) has been covered in this thread.
 

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