Fictional Warships - Novels

[Graham1973]

With thanks to Hood in sorting out the identification of one submarine.

Edwyn Gray, Tokyo Torpedo, 1976

Canada

HMCS Thorlock
Flower Class Corvette
Real ship, details as in service.

United States

USS Needlefish (SS-???)
Gato Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships, save that the deck gun is a 6 inch gun presumably identical to the weapon fitted to the USS Argonaut (SM-1), USS Narwhal (SS-167) & USS Nautilus (SS-168).
Note: Name clashes with an unbuilt Balao Class Submarine (SS-379) and an unbuilt Tench Class Submarine (SS-493). The author explicitly identifies the submarine as being a member of the Gato Class.

Germany

U-885
Type IXD2 Class U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant number is that of a Type IXD/42 Class U-Boat cancelled while under construction in 1943. The author explicitly identifies the submarine as a Type IXD2 U-Boat.

Japan

I-202
Type B1 (I-40) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships, save it is fitted with Type 22 Radar and has been modified for use as a test platform for Kaiten human torpedoes.
Note: Pennant clashes with the second of the Sen Taka (I-201) class submarines.

Plot summary: The year is 1943 and following the first wartime visit by a Japanese submarine to Germany, it is decided to reciprocate.

To ensure success, a captain noted for 'getting the job done' is pulled from the desk job he's been holding down since the loss of his last submarine, given a new sub and ordered not only to reach Japan, but to learn the secret of their 'Long Lance' torpedoes a weapon which could sweep the Atlantic of Allied shipping.

Note: This is the third novel in the four book series that starts with 'No Survivors (1974), the entire series is being re-issued in ebook form in 2018.

 

[Graham1973]

Christopher Nicole, Bloody Sunrise, 1993

United Kingdom

HMS Juno
Steam Sloop (Screw)
1600 tons
Armament: 2 x 7 inch Armstrong Muzzle Loaders (Bow chasers), 8 x 64 pdr smoothbores.
Crew: 206
Speed: 13 knots (Steam), speed under other conditions not specified
Wooden hull.
Note: At the time the ship is mentioned (1861) in the novel the name clashes with a Spartan Class Frigate (Sail), that was later renamed HMS Mariner in 1878 and then HMS Atalanta shortly thereafter.

Every other warship mentioned in the novel is real.

Plot summary: The rise of Japan in the 19th Century as seen through the eyes of an ex-Royal Navy seaman who is there from the beginning of the Meji Restoration to shortly after the Battle of Tsushima.

Note: This is actually the second series the author has written covering this time period. The other series is from the perspective of a US Army officer bought in to help create the new Japanese Army shortly after the Meji Restoration.

 

[Graham1973]

J. E. MacDonnell, U-Boat, 1962

Australia

HMAS Scimitar
J, K & N Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Name clash with S Class (WWI) Destroyer HMS Scimitar which served in WWII and was scrapped in 1947.
Note: Class assignment based on the armament details provided by the author.

United Kingdom

HMS Renown
Renown Class Battlecruiser
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Ark Royal
Ark Royal Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

Various 'Unnamed' warships

Germany

U-114
U-Boat, class unspecified
No other details provided.
Note: Pennant clashes with an unbuilt Type Type XI Class U-Boat cancelled at the start of the Second World War.

U-648
U-Boat, class unspecified
Armament: 6 x 21inch Bow Tubes, after tubes unspecified. 1 x 4 inch deck gun. 11 torpedoes carried including 6 x Pi-2 Torpedos (Fitted with a magnetic detonator that makes use of the targets own magnetic field as the trigger, no impact detonator.)
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC class U-boat commissioned in November of 1942 and lost in November of 1943.

Plot summary: The year is 1941, and a U-boat crew experience triumph and tragedy with a new, supposedly war-winning torpedo.

Note: The story is easily date-able as Operation Rheinübung (18 May - 27 May 1941) takes place during the opening chapters, which suggest that the whole thing is set within 1941. Unusually for this author the plot is centered around an 'enemy' crew rather than his usual characters, although the story does directly tie in to the novel 'Sainsbury VC' (1962) in that the last action of this novel is the same convoy battle that ends that novel.

The torpedo problems experienced by the crew of U-648 are based on actual issues the Germans had with their Type G7e torpedoes early in the war, faulty triggers and depth keeping mechanisms cost the Germans a lot of sinkings at a critical time before the matter was resolved.

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), 'Not Under Command' (1963), 'Killer Group' (1964), 'Approved to Scrap' (1968), 'The Hammer of God' (1968), 'Hunter-Killer' (1968), 'The Last Stand' (1970), '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).

 

[Graham1973]

Peter Poland, The Destroyer Captain, 2011

United Kingdom

HMS Constance
C/Cambrian Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service
Note: In real life this ship was scrapped in 1936. In the novel it is still in service as of 1938.

HMS Portsmouth
Town Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Explicitly identified as a member of the Town Class by the author.

HMS Crewe
'Cruiser' Class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Leeds
'Cruiser' Class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Vance
V & W Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Basset
B Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Hercules
H Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Completed: 1937 (Presumably this means commissioned.)
Explicitly identified as a member of the H Class by the author. The name was not used by the RN at the the time the novel is set. The last example a Colossus Class Battleship was scrapped in 1921. The next ship of the name a Majestic Class Aircraft Carrier did not start construction until 1943.

HMS Haigh
H Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Harriet
H Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Jasper
J Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Jasmine
J Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Jockey
J Class Destroyer
Comissioned: 1938
Explicitly identified as a member of the J Class by the author.

HMS Lachlan
L Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Montcalm
M Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment solely based on the name.

HMS Masai
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Explicitly identified as a member of the Tribal Class by the author.

Germany

Moltke
'Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The rise of an officer regarded by his superiors as hard driving and efficient, but as for what the man himself thinks, well that's another matter.

Note: It's been a while since I dipped into the 'self-published on Amazon' WWII fiction and this one makes for an interesting character study of the fine line between heroism and cowardice let down by a thoroughly unpleasant central character and all manner of spelling and formatting glitches. The story-line runs from just after the Munich Agreement in 1938 to the Evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.

 

[Graham1973]

Kenneth Bulmer (Pen name: Bruno Krauss), Steel Shark, 1978

Australia

HMAS Ulmurra (Ex-HMS ?)
Hunt Class Minesweeper (WWI)
Details as per the real ships.
Armament has been modified
Equipped with Hydrophones and an unspecified number of depth charges. Main armament 2 x 12 pdr guns.
Note: This ship is based (Loosely) on a real RAN ship. The HMAS Doomba (ex-HMS Wexford) was a Hunt Class Minesweeper that was converted into a passenger ferry during the interwar period and was reconverted back into an escort vessel during WWII. The dimensions the author provides for this ship match the WWI Hunt class perfectly. The Doomba's armament was actually heavier than her fictional counterpart, with the RAN fitting her with a 4 inch gun and 40 depth charges.

United Kingdom

HMS Rodney
Nelson Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Ark Royal
Ark Royal Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Saltburn Head
Armed Merchant Cruiser
Built: 1924
Crew: 250
Armament: 8 x 6 inch guns (4 a side), 2 x 3 Inch AA Guns, Machine guns (Unspecified number. The only specific type mentioned are Lewis guns.)
Displacement: 16320 tons
Length: 542ft 3in (165.3m)
Engines: '...two-shaft reciprocating engines...' (15000 IHP), Single funnel
Speed: 16 knots
Note: Described as an ex-Passenger liner.

Various 'Unnamed' warships.

Germany

U-40
Type IX U-boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type IXA U-boat sunk in October of 1939. In the novel the U-boat is still in existence in December 1939.

U-42
Type IX U-boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a type IXA U-boat sunk in October of 1939. IIn the novel the U-boat is still in existence in December 1939.
Author anachronistically gives this ship an Fa-330 'Bachstelze' (Wagtail) towed autogyro, these did not enter service until 1943.

Rugen
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
Crew: 340
Displacement: 8300 tons
Armament: Unspecified number of 5.9 inch guns in concealed mounts, probably torpedoes as well.
No other details
Note: The name given to this ship does not fit the scheme Germany used for commerce raiders. As in WWI these ships were named after animals, not islands.

Plot summary: The year is 1939 and as it draws to a close the war at sea is hotting up.

Note: This is the first in an eight book series ('Sea Wolf') of novels following the career of a particular U-boat officer through the Second World War. Written by science fiction author Kenneth Bulmer under a pseudonym, this is one of several series of action novels he wrote under various pseudonym's (Adam Hardy ('Fox' A Napoleonic Naval Series & 'Strike Force Falklands' A Falklands War series.), Ken Blake ('The Professionals', TV-Tie ins.) , etc.) for the cheaper end of the paperback market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Likely intended to cash in on the success of Edwyn Gray's U-boat novels published in the mid to late 1970s, this series was probably intended to cover the entirety of World War Two, but the last published novel only carried the series to 1942.

 

[Graham1973]

Richard P. Henrick, The Phoenix Odyssey, 1986

United States

USS Phoenix (SSBN-???)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Armament: 24 Trident C-4 Missiles. Only 23 of the missiles are fitted with warheads. One carries a MILSTAR compatible communications satellite. 4 x 21 inch torpedo tubes (fwd), Mk 48 Torpedoes, Harpoon & Mk 70 Mobile Submarine Simulator (MoSS)
Note: The name not only clashes with that of USS Phoenix (SSN-702) a Los Angeles Class Submarine decommissioned in 1998, it does not fit the naming scheme used for Ohio Class Submarines (US States), even if the author explicitly identifies it as such.

The reason that one missile is fitted with a comsat is part of the submarines current operating procedure. In the event of a prolonged period of silence following an alert (Without a positive fire order being received.) the submarine is to deploy the satellite and if no communication is received within a specified time period the remaining missiles are to be fired at their targets.

USS Orca (SSN-???)
Sturgeon Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Sunk: 1971
Note: Features in a characters backstory. Author explicitly identifies this submarine as a member of the Sturgeon Class.

Delta Base
A "...fully equipped , submarine refitting station." Constructed in secret inside a hollowed out seamount in the Vava'u District of Tonga.
Nuclear powered.
No other details provided

Unnamed
2 x Spruance Class Destroyers
Details as per the real ships.

Russia

Minsk
Kiev (Pr.1143) Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

Azov
Kara (Project 1134B) Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service.

Boris Chilikin
Boris Chilikin (Pr. 1559V) Fleet Oiler
Real ship, details as in service
Note: Armament is modified. Given in novel as 2 x 100mm guns, 1 x AK-630 30mm gatling gun & 1 x SS-N-2 Launcher (Currently carrying a SS-NX-12 missile.). In real life the armament was 2 x AK-725 57mm & 2 x AK-630 30mm gatling guns.

The missile being carried by the Boris Chilikin is a prototype intercontinental cruise missile, not a prototype of the missile that was historically given the designation. Few specifics are given beyond the fact that the weapon is nuclear armed, fitted with a TERCOM guidance system based on pre-programmed way-points and has a range capable of reaching Seattle from a point in the East Siberian sea. Some clues as to dimensions can be worked out based on the fact that a launcher designed for the SS-N-2 Styx missile is being used for the test launch.

Magadan
Alfa (Pr.705) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
2 x Udaloy (Pr.1155) Class Destroyers
Details as per the real ships save that the SA-N-9 AAMs have been replaced with a fictional ABM capable missile designated SA-N-10. The actual SA-N-10 is a derivative of the Igla man portable SAM missile.

Plot summary: It is the 'Day after Tomorrow', the Soviet Union prepares to launch Operation: Lenin, a massive naval exercise designed to show once and for all that the Soviet's rule the waves. One key component of this is the launching of a prototype cruise missile, when the missile goes astray it causes a major crisis and in the confusion contact with one US submarine is lost. Now the race is on to contact her before she launches.

Notes (Spoilers): Richard P. Henrick (b. 1949) is an author of submarine based fiction for cheap mass market paperbacks active in the 1980s and 1990s who shot to prominence with the making of the film 'Crimson Tide' (1995) for which the author contributed a novelization of his own script. Interestingly the plotline of 'The Phoenix Odyssey' feels like the 'prototype' for the film with the key conflict being between the Phoenix's captain and a US Navy Geologist the submarine is transporting that certain events are the result of natural causes and not the outbreak of WWIII. This may have resulted from the author taking inspiration from an incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis in which the crew of a Russian submarine clashed over whether or not to fire a nuclear torpedo at an American warship.

As to dating when this one is set, the author gives no specifics, most likely it's supposed to be set a few years downstream of the publication date. However in one scene he has the USS Phoenix receive a message using an Extremely Low Frequency radio system, this was something the US Navy set up in the early/mid 1980s. But, the version the author mentions 'Austere ELF', was not what was constructed in the 1980s, but a more capable system proposed in the late 1970s, which raises some interesting questions about just when the story was written.

As with a lot of technothriller type novels written in this time period (Late 70s to mid 90s) the novel has a 'future of the past' quality about it. 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) and 'End Game', 2011 (Matthew Glass), 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.).

 

[Graham1973]

Edwyn Gray, The Last Command, 1977

Germany

UB-59
U-boat, class not specified.
No other details provided.
Sunk: 1942 (Collision with surface vessel.)
Note: Salvaged in February 1944 and returned to service as UB-702 Described as an '...old prewar boat...', but no class specific details are provided. The UB pennant was not used after WW1.

U-2555
Type VIIC\41 Class U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type XXI U-boat that started construction in December 1944 and was scrapped incomplete post-war. The U-boats type is explicitly stated by the author.

United Kingdom

HMS Dublin
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Name had been used for a Town Class Cruiser during WWI which was scrapped in 1926. Not used subsequently because Ireland had become independent in 1921.

HMS Galston
Minesweeper, class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: It is the last years of WWII, the 'Thousand Year Reich' is crumbling, for one officer, events lead him to a crucial choice.

Note (Spoilers): This is the last in a series of four novels ('No Surrender' (1974), 'Action Atlantic' (1975), 'Tokyo Torpedo' (1976), 'The Last Command' (1977)), which covered the story of a specific U-boat commander throughout the war. It was followed by another series of novels starting with 'Fighting Submarine' (1978) which followed a British submarine commander through the war.

 

[Graham1973]

Antony Melville-Ross, Command, 1985

United Kingdom

HMS Intractable
Aircraft Carrier, class not specified (Illustrious Class?)
No other details provided, beyond the fact it is not an escort carrier.

HMS Saurian
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Trigger
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tarquin
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tiara
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name matches of that of a T Class Submarine HMS Tiara (P351), that was launched in 1944, but never commissioned and eventually scrapped in 1947. The fictional submarine is existence in 1942/43.

HMS Tarn
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name matches that of a T-Class Submarine HMS Tarn (P326) that was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy while under construction and became HNLMS Tijgerhaai (P336). The fictional submarine is existence in 1942/43, whereas the real submarine started construction in 1943.

HMS Tarantula
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name clash with an Insect Class Gunship. The same name is used for a submarine depot ship in the short novel, ' The Cauldron' (2011) by Roy Peters.

HMS Tusker
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tiger-shark
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tornado
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Germany

J-47 (ex-die Köngin)
Armed Trawler
1 x 75mm gun (fwd)
Depth Charges
Fitted with sonar
No other details.

Unnamed
Type 1936 Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

Italy

Unnamed
Various Destroyers and escort vessels.

Plot summary: Following a grueling patrol in the Arctic a British submarine is sent to the Mediterranean to take part in operations leading up to the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Note: This is the first in a series of four novels set in the same 'universe'. The author uses digressions from the main plot in what I'd class as an intelligent way (eg They contribute to the sense of a wider war going on around the main characters.) without slowing things down too much.

 

[Graham1973]

Some 'self-published on Amazon' sci-fi/horror...

D. E. Morris, The Glomar Encounter, 2016

Russia

Red Hammer/Krasnyy Molot
Golf II (Pr. 629A) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: The year is 1974, the United States is preparing for a major intelligence coup by raising a sunken Russian submarine. When they find out why it sank, they will wish they'd left it on the bottom...

Note: The novel is based on Operation Jennifer (Project Azorian) an attempt to raise a sunken Russian submarine in the early 1970s that inspired at least two other novels, 'Neptune' (1976) by Noel B. Gerson and 'Fireplay' (1977) by William Wingate, both of which I've covered earlier in the thread. Also mixed into the plotline is a version of the Walker Spy Ring (1968-1985), which has featured in two other novels I've covered 'The Passage' (1995) by David Poyer & 'Night Trap' (1999) by Gordon Kent.

 

[Graham1973]

Another 'self-published on Amazon' technothriller...

Stephen Makk, HMS Holy Ghost, 2017

United Kingdom

HMS Holy Ghost
Trafalgar Class Submarine (modified)
Armament includes Spearfish Torpedoes and Harpoon Missiles.
Modifications are not specified in the story
Note: The name is that of one of Henry V's four 'Great Ships' and has not been used for a Royal Navy vessel since the 1400s.

Iran

Nahang (ex-Vyborg)
Kilo (Pr. 877) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Siyah Bambak (ex-Volgada)
Kilo (Pr. 877) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Note: Both named submarines are real Kilo Class subs that are still in service in the Russian Navy as of the date of this post.

Sahand
Alvand Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service
Note: This ship is specifically identified as the Alvand Class Sahand, this ship was sunk by the United States Navy in 1988 during Operation Praying Mantis.

Plot summary: The British government has learned the Russians plan to sell two Kilo class submarines to the Iranian government. It is decided to use the Royal Navies newest and best submarine to stop the transfer at any cost.

Note: The author provides no dating information in this novel, however there is no mention of the internet so it is probably set pre-1995.

 

[Graham1973]

Joe Poyer, Operation Malacca, 1968

Australia

HMAS Vigilant
'Cruiser', class not specified
Speed: 'nearly' 45 knots (Not specified if this is the ships maximum speed.), diesel engines, possibly paired with Gas Turbines.
Gun cruiser converted to a missile cruiser, the missile launchers replace the A,B,C & D turrets. AA Gun armament has been retained. Type of missiles fitted are unspecified (Presumably a mix of Surface-to-Air (SAM) & Surface-to-Surface (SSM) missiles.). The SAMs are capable of shooting down a ballistic missile during the launch phase.
Built in the UK in the 1950s.

United Kingdom

HMS Bradley
'Destroyer', class not specified
Speed: 35 knots (Not specified if this is the ships maximum speed.)
Stated to have been built in the "...latter part of the war..." (Presumably WWII.)
No other details provided.

MTB 203
Torpedo Boat, class not specified
Twin RR Gas Turbine engines, speed not mentioned.
2 x Quad .50 inch mg mounts (Browning?) (Bow & Stern Mounts?)
Torpedoes, type/number not specified

MTB 403
Torpedo Boat, class not specified
Same details as MTB 203.

Vietnam

Vietnamese Navy (In this novel.)
6 x 'Destroyers' (2 ex-Soviet), class not specified
3 x 'Minesweepers', class not specified
Unspecified number of ex-US/French MTBs
Unspecified number of ex-South Vietnamese (Thus ex-US) Riverine & Coastal warships
1 ex-US Submarine, class not specified, converted to carry Soviet IRBMs (type unspecified, submarine is mentioned as carrying at least four such weapons in addition to whatever else was fitted.)

1 x 5 mt nuke (Weapon is described as bearing Vietnamese markings (ex-Soviet?))

Plot Summary: It is the mid to late 1970s. The Vietnam War is over, but the struggle against Global Communism continues.

Note: (Spoilers) Joe Poyer (Not related to David Poyer.), was a writer of thrillers, some with science-fictional leanings operating between the mid 1960s and the early 1980s when he retired from writing. Two of his novels, 'North Cape' and this one started their lives as short stories published in Analog Magazine. Dating when the story is set is tricky despite the author correctly guessing the outcome of the Vietnam War as he does not specify the year South Vietnam fell, however a reference to F-14s suggest that the story is probably set in somewhere between 1974 (The year the F-14 entered service.) and end of the 1970s.

The cover for what appears to have been the last printing of the story is by Brian Sweet.

 

[Graham1973]

A surprise find in a 'self-published on Amazon' Sci-Fi thriller.

Travis Hill, Transfer, 2018

United States

USN Andromeda (SSBN-???)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

USN Clinton (SSBN-???)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

USN Nighthawk (SSBN-???)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

USN Portland (SSBN-???)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Note: The author specifically identifies all of the above as being Ohio Class Submarines.

Plot summary: The year is 2027, evidence has surfaced that two individuals who have provided support for terrorist acts have planned something much more dangerous, can they be stopped...

Note: This is only the second time I've seen 'USN' used instead of 'USS' for fictional US Navy warships, the other time was in the novel 'Hunter-Killer' (1966) by Geoffrey Jenkins.

 

[Graham1973]

C.S. Forester, The Man in the Yellow Raft, 1942?

United States

USS Boon (DD-???)
Porter Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author does not explicitly state this, but the limited details he does provide fit this class best. Fitted with Radar in 1942.

USS Cornucopia (AS-??)
Fulton Class Submarine Tender
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author does not explicitly state this, but compares the ship to other members of the Fulton Class, making this identification highly probable.

Japan

Various 'Unnamed' warships

Plot summary: A collection of 'morale raising' stories focusing on the US Navy rather than the Royal Navy.

Note: C.S Forester (1899-1966), as the creator of Horatio Hornblower needs no other introduction. Most of the stories seem to be set between 1942 - 1944 however the only specific events mentioned run up to the Battle of Midway (June 1942) suggesting that the tales were written shortly after that event.

 

[Graham1973]

Anthony Trew, The Antonov Project, 1979

United Kingdom

HMS Aries
Leander Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: This is the same ship that appeared in 'The Zhukov Briefing' (1974)

HMS Cyclades
Frigate, class not specified (But most probably a Leander Class Frigate.)
No other details provided.

HMS Jupiter
Frigate, class not specified (But most probably a Leander Class Frigate.)
No other details provided.

HMS Kittiwake
Bird Class Patrol Boat
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Plover
Bird Class Patrol Boat
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Huntress
Survey Ship
No other details provided

United States

USS Narwhal (SSN-671)
Narwhal Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service 1969 - 1999.

Unnamed
Two Belknap Class Cruisers

Russia

Antonov
Simeonov Class Bulk Carrier
See below for class details

Sokolov
Simeonov Class Bulk Carrier
See below for class details

Simeonov Class Bulk Carrier
Tonnage: 20,000 tons (Gross), 32,000 tons (Deadweight)
Holds: 7 (Numbered from the bow 1-7). Holds 2-6 are general cargo holds (Ore, Coal, Grain, etc.). Hold 1 is for refrigerated cargo.
Engines: Diesel. Twin Screw. Speed: 17 knots (Max). Range: 15,000mi (24140.16 km)
Machinery and Engines Aft
Electronics fit: All of which are real Soviet military electronic systems in use at the time the novel was written. 'Vee Cone', long range communications. 'Don 2', navigation radar. 'High Pole', Identification Friend or Foe. 'Side Globe', Electronic Countermeasures. It is not specified in the novel if the ships carry any standard civilian gear, also mentioned is a sophisticated navigation system making use of both an Inertial Navigating System and Electronic positioning systems.
Crew: 89 (5 radio operators)
Armament (Spoilers): As ostensible civilian freighters (with a possible wartime naval auxiliary role.) the ships have no overt armament fitted. However Hold 1 has been fitted out to carry 24 nuclear mines (And all the equipment needed to lay the mines.). The mines are launched from four concealed ports in the bow area of the ship. The mines themselves are described as being of a new type (e.g. Not anything the Soviets had in use at the time.) and have the capability of burying themselves in the seafloor. No information is given as to designation or yield of the warhead. Dimensions are, Length: 3m, Width: 1m, Depth: 1.5m.

At the time the novel is set, only six of the twenty four planned members of the class have been completed. Only the two ships above are named in the novel.

Dostoynyy (Spelled 'Dostoivy' in the novel.)
Krivak (Pr. 1135) Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.

Retivyy (Spelled 'Retivy' in the novel.)
Krivak (Pr. 1135) Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: Western Intelligence Services have come to suspect that the newest bulk carrier in the Soviet merchant fleet has an alternative purpose, the visual evidence suggests some kind of wartime auxiliary role, perhaps as a supply ship (Similar to what the British did in the 1982 Falklands War.), but reports from agents inside Russia suggest something more sinister, and so a desperate plan is put into motion to find out the classes secrets before it is too late.

Note: A remark right at the start of the novel reveals that it takes place in the same 'universe' as the authors earlier Cold War suspense novel 'The Zhukov Briefing' (1974), as far as I know this was the only time the author did so in his career. The cover of the 1981 paperback release is by Chris Mayger, a cover artist specializing in nautical subjects (Or at least that's where I've most often encountered his work.), interestingly he depicts a 'stock' bulk carrier in stormy seas without any of the electronic equipment mentioned as being fitted to the class. I'd rate the Simeonov's as being a perfect candidate for an artists impression. As to when the story is set, the author provides one clue, there is a reference to the Cuban intervention in Angola (1975 - 1991) with Jimmy Carter (President 1977-1981) as the US President responding to the events. This provides a clear time limit on just when the story can be set, most likely somewhere between 1979 - 1981.

 

[Graham1973]

Some 'self-published on Amazon' Falkland's War fiction

Ray J. Cowling, The Captain's Story, 2012

United Kingdom

HMS Devonport
Type 42 Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Bronington (M1115)
Ton Class Minesweeper
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: The author misspells the name as 'Bronnington' however the details he provides about the ships history match those of the real ship.

RFA Caroline
Oiler, class not specified
Tonnage: 40,000 tons (Gross or DWT not specified by author.)
No other details provided.

RFA Dorothy
Oiler, class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The year is 1982. As relations between Great Britain and Argentina deteriorate towards war, one ships captain reflects on the events that led him to the position he now occupies.

Note: The 1982 Falkland's War was for people born in the 1970s the first war involving a 'Western' power in their experience, rather surprisingly though it resulted in little fiction in the years that followed it, notable exceptions being 'Strike Force Falklands'' a 'boys own adventure' style series of novels written by Kenneth Bulmer under the pen name Adam Hardy and Alexander Fullerton's 'Special Deliverance' (1986). However as the events of the war become more distant authors (Larry Jerram-Croft, Stephen Makk & David Tindel, are some I have covered previously.) have started making use of the conflict for their own purposes.

 

[Graham1973]

Keith Douglass (Pseud.) , Carrier: Typhoon Season, 2000

United States

USS Thomas Jefferson (CVN-74)
Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Nimitz Class Aircraft Carriers of the same name have appeared in the novels 'Nimitz Class' (1997) by Patrick Robinson and 'Night Trap' (1999), 'Top Hook' (2002), 'Hostile Contact' (2003), 'Force Protection' (2004) and 'Damage Control' (2006) by Gordon Kent (Pseud.). The Pennant number clashes with that of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74).

China (Peoples Republic)

Juhai
Type 051G Class Destroyer, subtype unspecified
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author referrs to the ship as a 'Luda III Class Destroyer' and provides no other details to more precisely identify the class. There is a Type 051G2 Destroyer named Zhuhai, this ship could be that one with an alternate transliteration of the Chinese name.

Unnamed (Codename: 'Ducks')
Various Sampans, Junks, Fishing Vessels
Length: None more than 40ft long
Armament: FIM-92 'Stinger' SAMs & AT-4 Anti-Tank Missiles
A flotilla of small ostensibly civilian craft armed with hand held missiles.

And for the aircraft mavens:

Type 1
UAV (Stealth)
Manufacturer: McIntyre Engineering International
Nation: United States
Armament: Internal warhead
Engine: Single turbofan engine, similar to that used in the BGM-109 Tomahawk missile. The engine intake is on the upper surface of the aircraft. Engine is thermally diffused
Speed: Not specified, subsonic.
Sensors: Only specifically mentioned sensors are cameras, radar probably fitted as well.
Shape: Double arrowhead.
Size: Not specified, smaller than the Type 2
Note: Painted in a low visibility colour scheme

Type 2
UAV Stealth Fighter
Manufacturer: McIntyre Engineering International
Nation: United States
Armament: Unspecified number of missiles, carried internally. The missiles are about the same size as an AIM-7 Sparrow, it is not specified thought if they are AIM-7s though.
Engine: Two turbofan engines, similar to that used in the BGM-109 Tomahawk missile. The engines intake is on the upper surface of the aircraft. Engines are thermally diffused.
Speed: Not specified, subsonic.
Sensors: Only mentioned sensor is radar and possibly the cameras as the Type 1.
Description: "In shape it was a kind of boomerang, thickened in the middle, and with no tail surfaces at all. Each wing ended in an upright, inward-canted winglet."
Radar signature: "...the kind of return a seagull might create."
Wingspan: 25ft (7.62m)
Greatest depth of hull: 2ft (0.61m)
No other details provided.
Note: All Type 2s in the novel have been painted with fake PLAAF markings on top of a low visibility colour scheme.

The UAVs in the novel are never referred to by specific 'class names' simply simply as UAVs. So I am calling them 'Type 1' and 'Type 2' for convenience. Control in both cases is implied to be remote control mixed with a very limited form of AI.

Plot summary: The year is 2003 (The story runs between Friday, 1 August and Friday, 8 August and 2003 is the first year after publication this takes place.). US fighters operating in the South China Sea prevent a Chinese navy helicopter from massacring the crew and passengers from a private yacht, then someone lays a mine in Hong Kong Harbor damaging a Chinese destroyer and ratcheting up the tension even further. The Chinese are quick to blame the United States and visa versa, but are they looking in the right direction...

Note: This is the 14th book in a series of 'gung ho' action tales centered around the USS Thomas Jefferson (CVN-74) and her crew published in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some of them, but not the earliest stories have been made available on Kindle. Research into the pseudonym reveals that it was used by authors J. Andrew Keith, William H. Keith and Chet Cunningham and possibly others. J. Andrew Keith originated the pseudonym and probably wrote all the novels until his death in 1999. However it's not possible to determine who wrote what book via the copyright page.

 

[Graham1973]

Mack Maloney, SuperHawks: Strike Force Alpha, 2004

United States

MV Ocean Voyager
Armed Merchant Ship (Classified as a Air/Land Assault Ship)
Length: 800ft
Beam: 105ft
Built: 1981 (Not clear if author means launched or commissioned)
Engines: 4x GE F110-400 Gas Turbines. Speed: 40 knots (+)
Armament: 8 x Phalanx CIWS concealed in fake shipping containers (Marked with a Red Stripe.) All other containers on deck, aside from the six covering the aircraft lift to the hangar below deck are marked as follows Orange Stripe (Aircraft Support), Blue Stripe (Ammunition), Green Stripe (Electronics Spares), Yellow Stripe (General supplies). All containers on deck bear the markings of real shipping companies as a cover.
Aircraft Carried: 2 x UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters, 2 x AV8 Harrier (All aircraft have been modified for enhanced stealth characteristics.)
Crew: 43 (Of whom 18 are Delta Force Personnel for ground assault.)
Note: The conversion was done in secret and the chain-of-command has been deliberately obfuscated above the level of the ships captain, there is nothing connecting this ship directly to the United States.

USS Bradley (CG-??)
Ticonderoga Class Cruiser?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author simply identifies the ship as an 'Aegis Cruiser' in the same way he refers the actual Ticonderoga Class Cruisers, USS Phillipine Sea (CG-58) & USS Normandy (CG-60). The name was last used for a Garcia Class Frigate sold to Brazil in 1989.

USS Ballston Spa
Underway Replenishment Ship, class not specified
Armament .50 inch mg mounts fore and aft (exact number of weapons per mount not specified.)
No other details provided.

Plot summary: A top secret team has been assembled to hit those behind the financing of 9/11 hard.

Note (Spoilers): This was somewhat more realistic than the authors earlier efforts (Perhaps occasioned by the move to Tom Clancy's publisher...), but it's a really unsavory read, full of high grade paranoia about the 'power' of al-Qaeda, at one point literally stating that if you ring the police in Middle Eastern countries you'd be put through to Bin Laden or his minions and behavior on the part of the 'heroes' is that is plain unjustifiable although the author does at least allow the characters to realize this, just before the action finale. But it's an end that leaves a lot of questions in the air, and I don't plan on hunting down the sequels to find out the answers.

 

[PMN1]

Anthony Trew, The Antonov Project, 1979

United Kingdom

HMS Aries
Leander Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: This is the same ship that appeared in 'The Zhukov Briefing' (1974)

HMS Cyclades
Frigate, class not specified (But most probably a Leander Class Frigate.)
No other details provided.

HMS Jupiter
Frigate, class not specified (But most probably a Leander Class Frigate.)
No other details provided.

HMS Kittiwake
Bird Class Patrol Boat
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Plover
Bird Class Patrol Boat
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Huntress
Survey Ship
No other details provided

United States

USS Narwhal (SSN-???)
Submarine, class not specified
No other details.

Unnamed
Two Belknap Class Cruisers

Russia

Antonov
Simeonov Class Bulk Carrier
See below for class details

Sokolov
Simeonov Class Bulk Carrier
See below for class details

Simeonov Class Bulk Carrier
Tonnage: 20,000 tons (Gross), 32,000 tons (Deadweight)
Holds: 7 (Numbered from the bow 1-7). Holds 2-6 are general cargo holds (Ore, Coal, Grain, etc.). Hold 1 is for refrigerated cargo.
Engines: Diesel. Twin Screw. Speed: 17 knots (Max). Range: 15,000mi (24140.16 km)
Machinery and Engines Aft
Electronics fit: All of which are real Soviet military electronic systems in use at the time the novel was written. 'Vee Cone', long range communications. 'Don 2', navigation radar. 'High Pole', Identification Friend or Foe. 'Side Globe', Electronic Countermeasures. It is not specified in the novel if the ships carry any standard civilian gear, also mentioned is a sophisticated navigation system making use of both an Inertial Navigating System and Electronic positioning systems.
Crew: 89 (5 radio operators)
Armament (Spoilers): As ostensible civilian freighters (with a possible wartime naval auxiliary role.) the ships have no overt armament fitted. However Hold 1 has been fitted out to carry 24 nuclear mines (And all the equipment needed to lay the mines.). The mines are launched from four concealed ports in the bow area of the ship. The mines themselves are described as being of a new type (e.g. Not anything the Soviets had in use at the time.) and have the capability of burying themselves in the seafloor. No information is given as to designation or yield of the warhead. Dimensions are, Length: 3m, Width: 1m, Depth: 1.5m.

At the time the novel is set, only six of the twenty four planned members of the class have been completed. Only the two ships above are named in the novel.

Dostoynyy (Spelled 'Dostoivy' in the novel.)
Krivak (Pr. 1135) Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.

Retivyy (Spelled 'Retivy' in the novel.)
Krivak (Pr. 1135) Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: Western Intelligence Services have come to suspect that the newest bulk carrier in the Soviet merchant fleet has an alternative purpose, the visual evidence suggests some kind of wartime auxiliary role, perhaps as a supply ship (Similar to what the British did in the 1982 Falklands War.), but reports from agents inside Russia suggest something more sinister, and so a desperate plan is put into motion to find out the classes secrets before it is too late.

Note: A remark right at the start of the novel reveals that it takes place in the same 'universe' as the authors earlier Cold War suspense novel 'The Zhukov Briefing' (1974), as far as I know this was the only time the author did so in his career. The cover of the 1981 paperback release is by Chris Mayger, a cover artist specializing in nautical subjects (Or at least that's where I've most often encountered his work.), interestingly he depicts a 'stock' bulk carrier in stormy seas without any of the electronic equipment mentioned as being fitted to the class. I'd rate the Simeonov's as being a perfect candidate for an artists impression. As to when the story is set, the author provides one clue, there is a reference to the Cuban intervention in Angola (1975 - 1991) with Jimmy Carter (President 1977-1981) as the US President responding to the events. This provides a clear time limit on just when the story can be set, most likely somewhere between 1979 - 1981.

Sounds very similar to a book I read a long time ago though don't remember there being so many ships involved.

Been looking for it again on off for a while, now I have a potential name.

 

[Graham1973]

Anthony Trew, The Antonov Project, 1979

Sounds very similar to a book I read a long time ago though don't remember there being so many ships involved.

Been looking for it again on off for a while, now I have a potential name.

Glad that I was able to help. I hope you find a copy.

 

[Graham1973]

Back to the pulp fiction....

Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo, Golden Buddha, 2003

United States

USS Santa Fe (SSN-763)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.
Armament includes UGM-109 Tomahawk missiles fitted with prototype non-nuclear EMP warheads code-named 'Fritzy'.

China

Gale Force
Hydrofoil, class not specified
Speed: 50knots (+)
Armament: Unspecified machine guns

Unnamed
'Frigate', class not specified

Unnamed
'Corvette', class not specified

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)

Plot summary: The year is 2005 (The novel states it is set in the 'Present Day', but at two points gives dates in 2005.). An artifact thought lost when the Chinese conquered Tibet has resurfaced, the US Government, fearing it will disappear into private ownership rather than being returned to the Dalai Lama, contract the crew of the Oregon to ensure this does not happen.

Note (Spoiler): This is the first outing after 'Flood Tide' (1997) for the Oregon & her crew, it's quite a fun romp with the central 'Mission Impossible like' robbery being put together in fine style.

 

[Graham1973]

Kevin J. Anderson, The X-Files: Ground Zero, 1995

United States (1950s)

USS Yorktown (DD-??)
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Name does not fit the US naming scheme for destroyers (See my post on the novel 'Empty Nets & Promises' (2016) for details.). At the time the name would have clashed with that of the Essex Class Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10).

United States (1990s)

USS Dallas (DD-???)
Spruance Class Destroyer
Details as per real ships
Built: 1971 (Author does not make it clear if he meant launched or commissioned, if launched then this is about 2 years before the first class member was launched, if commissioned then this is about 4 years before the first class member was commissioned. )
Note: Name clashes with a Los Angeles Class Submarine USS Dallas (SSN-700) launched in 1981. Prior to 1981 the name had not been used since 1946.

Plot summary: A series of mysterious deaths have occurred, some connected to a top secret project code-named Bright Anvil, others seemingly unrelated, but linked by the fact that the victims were incinerated by an intense heat similar to that produced during the detonation of a nuclear bomb.

Note (Spoilers): The TV Series 'The X-Files' was the cultural phenomenon of the 1990s and spawned a short lived spin off novel series with novels being written by Kevin J. Anderson (A writer more noted for his science fiction works.) and Charles L. Grant (A veteran horror writer.). This novel seems to have at least in part being inspired by an earlier novel 'Psychlone' (1979) by Greg Bear who is amongst the people thanked at the start of the book. Another work that may have inspired this tale is 'SIGMET Active' (1978) by Thomas Page (Covered in this thread.) as both works have plot similarities to this one.

As for what I think of this story, I actually prefer the authors next 'X-Files' novel 'Ruins' (1996), to this one. The author makes too many mistakes in this one, for example he has a character discussing the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) sinking in WWII describe the ship as a 'destroyer' and later on as a 'battleship', similar mistakes regarding a ships class are made regarding the USS Dallas (DD-???), at one point a character refers to that ship as a 'Cruiser'. Aside from that it's similarities to the earlier works mentioned above makes this a less enjoyable read than it's pulpy successor.

No dating information is provided, save that the 'contemporary' portions of the story are taking place after the US signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1992. Most likely this portion of the story is set either the year the book came out (1995) or a year or two later. As to the 1950s portion, those events center around a fictitious nuclear test Codenamed 'Sawtooth' and again no specific dating information is provided.

 

[PMN1]

Sounds very similar to a book I read a long time ago though don't remember there being so many ships involved.

Been looking for it again on off for a while, now I have a potential name.
[/quote]

OK, got a copy of the book and while the plot is similar, Soviet 'Merchant ships' with interesting additions the story sounds different.

 

[Graham1973]

OK, got a copy of the book and while the plot is similar, Soviet 'Merchant ships' with interesting additions the story sounds different.

I'm glad you were able to find a copy of 'The Antonov Project' (1981), sorry that it was not exactly what you were looking for. If you ever do find that book let me know what it is.

 

[Graham1973]

A return to WWII...

J. E. MacDonnell, The Snake Boats, 1967

Australia

HMAS Jackal
Destroyer, class not specified
4 x 4.7 inch guns (A,B,X & Y)
1 x QF 2-pounder Mark V (8 barreled version)
2 x Quadruple 21 inch TT
Fitted with Radar & Sonar.
No other details provided.
Scrapped after November 6, 1944 due to battle damage.

Note: Armament details (With the exception of the 8 Barrelled AA gun.) fit the pre-Tribal classes of destroyers (Eg Interwar A - I classes), final class assignment will have to wait until I can find a novel with more details. In this novel the author does not provide any class specifics. However it is clearly not the Battle Class Destroyer of the same name that appears in some of the authors other novels as the main battery consists of 4.7 inch guns rather than the 4.5 inch guns fitted to the Battle Class. There was a real HMS Jackal of the J class which was sunk in May of 1942.

MV Mother Snake
See Below.

MV Sea Snake
See Below.

MV Tiger Snake
See Below.

MV Black Snake
See Below.

MV Brown Snake
See Below.

Note: While the author does not provide specifics as to dimensions, all five ships are clearly based on the MV Krait (ex-Kofuku Maru) a former Japanese fishing boat used for covert operations during WWII and probably share the dimensions/details of that ship. Armament is various small arms. The crews rely on stealth and deception (They pretend to be 'native' (eg Indonesian) crewed fishing boats.) to carry out their missions, which include covert resupply ops, intelligence gathering and sabotage.

Japan

Unnamed
'Patrol Boat', class not specified
Armament: 1 x 6pdr (fwd)
Speed: 20 knots
No other details provided.

United States

Unnamed
'Supply Ship', class not specified.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: Reassigned to an 'independent command' based out of Darwin, the Hero finds himself caught up in the covert war being fought in the Indonesian archipelago against the invading Japanese.

Note: 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), 'Sainsbury VC' (1962), 'U-Boat' (1962) 'Not Under Command' (1963), 'Killer Group' (1964), 'Approved to Scrap' (1968), 'The Hammer of God' (1968), 'Hunter-Killer' (1968), 'The Last Stand' (1970), '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).

It is not entirely clear when the story is set (As is the case with many of the authors novels.), but it's clearly after the first Bombing of Darwin (February 19th, 1942). In the authors introduction, he states that he knew about the existence of Australian covert-ops (Z Force) against the Japanese in WWII, but that this was not widely known and that was all he was allowed to know when he tried asking for more details.

Against that, the first account ('The Heroes' (1961) by Ronald McKie) of the Z Force Operation Jaywick (September 26th, 1943), in which the MV Krait was the key vessel, had been published in 1961, but without having read the book I cannot say what information was or was not included in it. The novel also features a fictional version of the February 1942 - February 1943 Timor Campaign relocated to the Tanimbar Islands.

 

[Graham1973]

J. E. MacDonnell, Wings Off The Sea, 1953

United Kingdom

HMS Hawk
Majestic Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Airgroup includes Fairey Firefly's & Hawker Seafury's + 1 US Helicopter of unspecified type.
Note: Another HMS Hawk (In this case an HMS Eagle type battleship conversion.) appears in the 'Battle Picture Library' comic book entitled 'Fire and Fury'.

Australia

HMAS Adelaide
Majestic Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: At the time the story is set, there was no HMAS Adelaide in the Royal Australian Navy, the previous holder of the name a Town Class (WWI) Cruiser had been scrapped in 1949. The next holder of the name was the lead ship of the Adelaide (Oliver Hazzard Perry) Class of Frigates which commissioned in 1980.

Note: The author provides little details about either of the ships above, but these are the most likely class identified based on what was historically sent to the Korean War by the United Kingdom & Australia.

HMAS Dart
Battle Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as a Battle Class Destroyer by the author.

HMAS Searcher
Warship, class not specified, most likely a destroyer.
No other details provided.
Note: Appears in a characters backstory.

Plot summary: The year is 1953, the Korean War drags on, for one man, the reserve of courage he's been spending since the start of World War II is starting to run out.

Note: For the authors details see the previous post. This book is interesting for a number of reasons, not only is it only the second novel by this author I've seen in hardback (The other is 'Breaking Point' (1979).), it's only the second I've seen by a publisher other than Horwitz (The other is 'Subsmash' (1960).). Like 'Subsmash' this novel is set after WWII, where the majority of his naval action fiction seems to be set (The only other 'Contemporary' series from the author I've seen is the 'Mark Hood' series of 'James Bond' knock-offs he wrote in the 1960s.) and comes from early enough in his career to have a review on the back that compares 'Gimme the boats!' (1953) to 'The Cruel Sea' (1951).

 

[Graham1973]

J. E. MacDonnell, Petty Officer Brady, 1968

Australia

HMAS Vixen
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Built: Clydebank (John Brown & Co.)
Note: Name does not fit the class. Author indicates that like HMAS Adamant in 'Jim Brady, Able Seaman' (1985) certain of this ships crew were based on members of the crew of HMAS Canberra, the County Class Cruiser lost at the 1st Battle of Savo Island.

HMAS Wind Rode
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author explicitly identifies this ship as a member of the V & W Class. However this is clearly not the 'J, K & N Class' ('Fleet Destroyer') Destroyer of the same name, that appears in many of his other novels set in the Pacific, but presumably it's predecessor.

United Kingdom

Unnamed
County/Kent Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Italy

Unnamed
Artigliere Class Destroyer (Fictional?)
Armament: 5 x 4.7 inch guns, 6 x 21 inch Torpedos
Speed: 39 knots

Plot summary: The year is 1941, as the war at sea in the Mediterranean heats up, a crew-member on an Australian cruiser finds himself in increasing conflict with another member of the crew, but why?

Note: For the authors details see the post covering 'The Snake Boats' (1967). This novel is one of several featuring this character I've covered, the others are 'Gimme the boats!' (1953), 'Subsmash' (1960) & 'Jim Brady, Able Seaman' (1985), chronologically this is the earliest set of the novels. 'Jim Brady, Able Seaman' is set in 1942, 'Gimme the boats!' is set in 1943 and 'Subsmash' is set in 1959. The novels climax is the Battle of Matapan (27-29 March 1941), which also featured in the authors novel 'The Glory Hunter' (c.1980s)

 

[Graham1973]

Martin Caidin, The Last Fathom, 1967

United States

Orca Class
Experimental Submarine
Nuclear powered (Engines can produce 350,000hp.), twin screws and hydrojets (which are used for low speed/low noise propulsion.)
Speed: 80 knots (Maximum speed mentioned in book, not specified if maximum speed capable.)
Crew: 2
Teardrop shaped hull, with hydrofoils mounted aft of the centre of gravity.
Weight (Not specified if gross or displacement): 1600 tons
Length: 120ft (36.6m)
Crew compartment is a steel sphere, much of the hull is constructed of highly advanced forms of glass reinforced plastics of very high tensile strength.
The dialog implies some form of dolphin/whale derived boundary layer control system is being used to give high underwater speed.
Unlike conventional submarines, the Orca has been designed with negative buoyancy (eg It has to keep moving to avoid sinking.)
Sensors include Sonar and Lidar, the lidar sensors are mounted on tethered drones that can be separated from the submarine and sent to obtain close-up imagery in areas the submarine itself is too large to enter.
Armament: Mark IX Torpedoes (No details are specified, but presumably this is a supercavitating rocket powered torpedo.), other unspecified weapons.

Note: These experimental submarines are the product of company called Astro Hydrodynamics (AHD) under a US Navy contract. The design goal of the programme is to produce a craft that is to the conventional submarine what a powered aircraft is to a dirigible airship. Two identical prototypes have been completed, they are not named in the novel, but for the sake of this post I am naming them Orca One & Orca Two.

USS Charger (SSN-???)
Submarine (SSN), class not specified
Described as "...the latest in her line..."
Weight (Not specified if gross or displacement): "...nearly..." 3000 tons
Rated Maximum Operating depth: 3000ft (914.4m)
Speed (Not specified if submerged or surfaced.): 60 knots (+)
Crew: 56
Armament: "...every weapon known to naval science..."

USS Rapier (SSN-???)
Same unspecified class as USS Charger (SSN-???)
See above for details.

USS Cranshaw (CV-?? or CVN-??)
'Attack Carrier', class not specified
No other details.

Base Savage
Submarine pens and support facility for Project Orca
Built underground on the Island of Culebra (Real island near Puerto Rico.)

Other Unnamed warships.

Non-ship.

'Bottles'
Unarmed drone torpedoes disguised as Sharks and Dolphins.
Four cameras are fitted, two electro-optical motion picture cameras where the eyes would be on the real animal and two still photo cameras in the dorsal fin.
Fitted with a self-destruct charge.
Powered by a 'miniaturized nuclear reactor' stated to have been developed for Project Apollo.
Normal propulsion is via a process that mimics the movements of the real animals.
High speed propulsion makes use of a single hydrojet, where the intake is the 'animals' mouth.
Range 100mi (160.9 km) from the mother ship.

Russia

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified
Nuclear powered
Tonnage: 12,000 tons (If Gross weight or DWT not specified by the author.)
Described as "...several times bigger than the Poseidon Class..." (George Washington & later classes?) and also larger than USS Triton (SSN-586), the largest nuclear submarine built by the US navy and the first ship to go around the world underwater.
Unarmed.
Used to carry two Bathyscaphe's larger than Trieste II, the successor to the submersible that went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench

Unnamed
Various ships of unspecified type, some of which are armed.

Non-ship

High-Speed Torpedoes
Rocket propelled (Presumably supercavitating.)
Active sonar guidance
Proximity trigger
No other details provided.

30 Gt Nuclear device
Appearance is a sphere between 30 - 40ft (9.1 - 12.2m) in diameter
No other details
Note: 1 Gigatonne (Gt) is 1000 Megatonnes (Mt). The largest nuclear device ever exploded was the Soviet Tsar Bomba which had a yield of 50 Mt (0.05 Gt).

Plot summary: It is the 'Day after Tomorrow'. A series of mysterious disasters (earthquakes and tsunami) strike coastal regions, while prominent scientists declare these events to be the result of natural processes, evidence has been found linking these events to a world wide oceanographic survey being carried out by the Soviet Union, just what is Project Giant and what does it portend for the free world?

Note: Martin Caidin (b. 1927- d. 1997), was a writer of action fiction, some with a science fiction basis. He is most well known for 'Marooned' (1964), a novel about an astronaut stranded in orbit that was filmed in 1969 and 'Cyborg' (1972) the novel which inspired the television series 'The Six Million Dollar Man'.

The novel has contains no specific dating information beyond the fact that it is set after the first Moon landing (eg after 1969). This means it falls into the 1970 -1995 time-period before the rise of personal computers and the internet.

 

[Graham1973]

From the 'Future of the Past' to 'Self-Published on Amazon'...

Philip Caine, Poseidon's Ransom, 2018

United Kingdom

HMS Poseidon
Olympus Class Submarine (SSBN)
Armament consists of "...Trident nuclear missiles, cruise missiles and hi-ex torpedoes..."
No other details provided.

HMS Hades
Olympus Class Submarine (SSBN)
Same details as HMS Poseidon

HMS Zeus
Olympus Class Submarine (SSBN)
Same details as HMS Poseidon

Plot summary: Someone has successfully hijacked a Ballistic missile submarine and gotten away with the 'pay me or I launch' demand. Now the hunt is on to track down the mastermind and recover the ransom.

 

[Graham1973]

A return to WWII and a particular author, probably for the last time this year.

J. E. MacDonnell, Night Encounter, 1958

Australia

HMAS Hornet
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided
Note: Appears in the Hero's backstory. In the time period the story was set HMS Hornet was the name of a Coastal Forces base in existence 1941 - 1956.

United Kingdom

MTB-282
Vosper Type II MTB
Armament: 1 x 6pdr fwd, 2 x 20mm Oerlikon Guns, 4 x .303 machine guns (Ex-bomber or Ex-Boulton-Paul Defiant quad mount aft.), 2 x 18 inch TT.
Fitted with Radar
Other details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant clashes with a US Built MTB in service in 1942. Author explicitly states the ship is a torpedo boat. Type was worked out from the armament details provided.

Unnamed
Destroyer, class not specified.
Main battery: 4.7 inch guns in Twin Turrets.

Germany

Unnamed
Several S-Boats

Unnamed
Several destroyers


Plot summary: His ship laid up for repairs, an Australian destroyer crewman volunteers for the Royal Navies Coastal Forces.

Note: For the authors details see the post covering 'The Snake Boats' (1967). This novel is unusual in that it does not feature any of his series characters. Dating the story is relatively easy, the opening seems to be set in the period shortly after the fall of France (25 June 1940), with the ending of the story a couple of months after the Saint Nazaire Raid (Operation Chariot) (28 March 1942)

 

[Graham1973]

S. D. M. Carpenter, Genesis of Antimony, 2018

United Kingdom

HMS Gwendolen
'Gunboat' class not specified
Operates on Lake Nyasa.

HMS Halberd
'Destroyer', class not specified
3 x 4 inch
No other details provided.

HMS Midas
M Class (WWI) Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Explicitly identified as such by the author.

HMS Spitfire
Acasta Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Archer
Acheron Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Unnamed
L Class (WWI) Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Explicitly identified as such by the author,

HMS St Andrews
Town/Weymouth Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Explicitly identified as such by the author.

HMS Bristol
Town/Bristol Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Fearless
Active Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Goliath
Canopus Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service.

Germany

SMS Aachen
Dresden Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Fitted with the 'Steinweiss Device' a primitive form of radar with a detection range of at least 50km (27 nautical miles), the rotating antenna (Mounted at the top of the Mainmast.) is described as looking like "...a set of bed springs set on it's side...".

SMS Hermann von Wissman
'Gunboat' class not specified
Armament: 1 x 3pdr (fwd), 1x 50mm SK/L40 (Aft), 2 x 'Maxim Guns'
No other details provided.
Operates on Lake Nyasa

Unnamed
Kolberg Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: It is the early years of WWI (The story is set between 18 November 1914 and 23 September 1915.), one German cruiser, while run to ground in an African river is proving a tough nut to crack with it's uncanny ability to evade intercepting warships. So a plan is put in motion to find out her secret.

Note: The saga of the SMS Königsberg in the Rufiji delta inspired at least one other author, Wilbur Smith, whose novel 'Shout at the Devil' (1968) was filmed in 1976.

The basic idea of radar was well known before WWI, but the problem that no one was able to solve until after that conflict was how to reliably determine range to target.

 

[Graham1973]

Kenneth Bulmer (Pen name: Bruno Krauss), Shark North, 1978

Germany

U-45
U-Boat, type unspecified, probably Type VIIB
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIB U-boat sunk in October 1939 off the coast of Ireland. In the novel the submarine was salvaged and returned to service. It takes part in the German Invasion of Norway (Starts 9 April 1940) and is badly damaged in a clash with a Norwegian destroyer during the German naval attack on Oslo. (Note: This would also imply that the sinking location was different from that in real life, it would have been impossible for the Germans to mount a salvage operation that close to Britain.)

U-55
Type VIIB U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIB U-Boat sunk in January 1940 in the Atlantic. In the novel the submarine is run ashore and abandoned by its crew during the First Naval Battle of Narvik (10 April 1940) and salvaged by the hero with a scratch crew during the lead up to the Second Naval Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940)

Norway

Unnamed
Destroyer
No other details provided.

United Kingdom

HMS Warspite
Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: The year is 1940. The Hero, having being rescued after his submarine submerged without him in the previous novel has been assigned to a new sub. Chafing under an incompetent commander, circumstances give him a chance to show his superiors what he is truly capable of, will he be able to seize it though...

Note (Spoilers): This is the second in an eight book series ('Sea Wolf') of novels following the career of a particular U-boat officer through the Second World War. Written by science fiction author Kenneth Bulmer under a pseudonym, this is one of several series of action novels he wrote under various pseudonym's (Adam Hardy ('Fox' A Napoleonic Naval Series & 'Strike Force Falklands' A Falklands War series.), Ken Blake ('The Professionals', TV-Tie ins.) , etc.) for the cheaper end of the paperback market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Likely intended to cash in on the success of Edwyn Gray's U-boat novels published in the mid to late 1970s, this series was probably intended to cover the entirety of World War Two, but the last published novel only carried the series to 1942.

As J. E. MacDonnell did in 'U-Boat' (1962) the author makes use of early war torpedo problems suffered by the German navy as a reason to have his hero shoot at historic warships and not hit them.

 

[Graham1973]

Continuing with WWII, and with apologies to Hood for finding another Hipper Class Cruiser...

David Black, Gone To Sea In A Bucket, 2015

United Kingdom

HMS Redoubtable
Revenge (R) Class Battleship
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author explicitly identifies her as a member of the Revenge Class. Takes part in the Second Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940). The name had been used in the novel 'Fighting Submarine' (1978) by Edwyn Gray for a WWI Battlecruiser of unspecified class. During WWI the name was used by a Royal Sovereign Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship that had formerly been named HMS Revenge. This ship was scrapped in 1919.

HMS Wolverhampton
Town Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class confirmed by a visit to the authors website.

HMS Hester
H Class Destroyer(?)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment based on name only. Takes part in the Second Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940).

HMS Hecate
H Class Destroyer(?)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment based on name only. Takes part in the Second Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940).

HMS H-57
H Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Pelorus
Parthian Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Trebuchet
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Trumpeter
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Germany

Graf von Zeithen
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Torpedo Boats, class not specified
Note: Details author supplies fits either the German Type 23 or Type 24, both of which were involved in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940.

Plot summary: A newly commissioned Royal Navy Volunteer Officer, having drawn the wrong kind of attention at the Second Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940) decides to transfer to the Submarines, where he finds that he is far better suited to that branch of the Royal Navy than the surface fleet.

Note: This is the first novel in an ongoing series, the introductory notes include a statement from a former First Sea Lord, comparing the authors work to that of Patrick O'Brien or C. S. Forester (I'm not so sure that I would rate it that highly, but I found the book to be an entertaining read.) and one from the author stating that any mistakes or errors are entirely his own fault.

 

[Graham1973]

Kenneth Bulmer (Pen Name: Bruno Krauss), Shark Pack, 1978

United Kingdom

HMS Archon
Armed Merchant Cruiser
Armament: '...a few...' 6 inch guns (If actual practice has been followed 8 x 6 inch guns (Four a side)). Other armament is not specified
Displacement: 13,500 tons.
No other details provided.

HMS Vagrant
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships given the Long Range Escort conversion.
Note: The author explicitly identifies this ship as a member of the V & W Class. A ship of the same name (Also described as having undergone the Long Range Escort conversion.) appears in the 1942 set novel 'The Tinfish Run' (1977) by Ronald Bassett.

HMS Valkyrie
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships given the Long Range Escort conversion
Note: The real HMS Valkyrie was launched in 1917 and scrapped in 1936, most likely this is that ship fictionally retained in service.

HMS Aquilegia
Flower Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships
Note: A ship of the same name appears in the 1942 set novel 'The Torch Bearers' (1983) by Alexander Fullerton.

HMS Nemesia
Flower Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships

HMS Cormorant
Kingfisher Class Sloop
Built: 1935 (Not specified if this means Launched or Commissioned.)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name clashes with an Osprey Class Sloop commissioned in 1878 and which survived as a receiving ship in Gibraltar until 1949, having been renamed HMS Rooke in 1946.

HMT Maggie Dee
Armed trawler
No other details provided

Germany

U-42
Type IX U-boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a type IXA U-boat sunk in October of 1939. In this novel (The third of the series) it is still in existence as of June/July 1940.

U-55
Type VIIB U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIB U-Boat sunk in January 1940 in the Atlantic. In the previous novel 'Shark North' (1978) the submarine was run ashore and abandoned by its crew during the First Naval Battle of Narvik (10 April 1940) and salvaged by the hero with a scratch crew during the lead up to the Second Naval Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940).

Plot summary: The year is 1940, France has fallen and the German U-Boat arm is taking full advantage of this to strike hard at the British Atlantic convoys, for the series Hero it's a chance to show his superiors that their confidence in him is justified.

Note (Spoilers): This is the third in an eight book series ('Sea Wolf') of novels following the career of a particular U-boat officer through the Second World War. Written by science fiction author Kenneth Bulmer under a pseudonym, this is one of several series of action novels he wrote under various pseudonym's (Adam Hardy ('Fox' A Napoleonic Naval Series & 'Strike Force Falklands' A Falklands War series.), Ken Blake ('The Professionals', TV-Tie ins.), etc.) for the cheaper end of the paperback market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Likely intended to cash in on the success of Edwyn Gray's U-boat novels published in the mid to late 1970s, this series was probably intended to cover the entirety of World War Two, but the last published novel only carried the series to 1942.

 

[Graham1973]

Douglas Reeman, The Glory Boys, 2008

United Kingdom

HMS Bristow
Hunt Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified by the author as a member of the Hunt Class by the author.

HMS Java
J Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class identification by name only.

HMS Kinsale
K Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified by the author as a member of the K Class by the author.

HMS Minden
M Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified by the author as a member of the M Class by the author.

HMS Natal
N Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class identification by name only.

HMS Viper
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified by the author as a member of the V & W Class by the author.

HMS Gabriel
Minesweeper, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Saturn
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class identification by name only.

MTB-977
Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat
Details as per the real ships.

MTB-986
Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat
Details as per the real ships.

MTB-992
Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat
Details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Two Fairmile D Motor Gun Boats
Details as per the real ships.

Italy

Various Unnamed Warships.

Germany

Various Unnamed Warships.

Plot summary: The year is 1943, the tide of war is beginning to turn in the Allies favour. A newly promoted Coastal Forces officer finds himself thrust into the world of covert operations in the Mediterranean, a war of shadows presided over by a sinister figure known only as 'Jethro'.

Note: In what turned out to be the authors last novel, he returned to the subject of his first novel 'A Prayer for the Ship' (1958), the Royal Navy's Coastal Forces. The cover is by Larry Rostant, the last artist to do covers for Douglas Reeman novels while the author was alive. While a computer generated creation, it at least attempts to reflect the contents, unlike the 2022 eBook cover.

 

[Graham1973]

Kenneth Bulmer (Pen name: Bruno Krauss), Shark Hunt, 1980

Germany

U-55
Type VIIB U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIB U-Boat sunk in January 1940 in the Atlantic. For the fictional history of the submarine, see the entry for the novel 'Shark North' (1978)

U-112
Type VIIB U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a member of the unbuilt Type XI U-Boat Class (U-112 to U-115) cancelled in 1939. The author implies that in this 'universe' the hull numbers were reassigned to new construction.

Kiruna
Armed Merchant Ship (Supply Vessel)
Armament: At least 1 x 105mm gun, other armament not specified.
No other details provided.

Bismark
Bismark Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service.

United Kingdom

HMS Bruiser
B Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Built: 1930 (Not specified if this is the year the ship was launched or the year it was comissioned.)
Armament: Modified from as built by the removal of 'Y' Gun and the after torpedo tubes to allow more depth charges to be carried. Currently carries 70 depth charges.
Note: Author not only specifically identifies ship as a member of the B Class, but states that it was specifically named after the Ardent Class (1895) Destroyer of the same name. By 1942 this name had been assigned to a Landing Ship Tank launched in October of that year.

HMS Kestrel
K Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name clashes with that of an RNAS base opened in 1939 that became RAF Worthy Down in 1942

HMS Pathan
Tribal class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: A Tribal Class Destroyer of this name appears in the 1943-1944 set novel 'Winged Escort' (1975) by Douglas Reeman.

Plot summary: The year is 1941, a U-boat commander assigned to fly along with a Luftwaffe crew on an anti-shipping mission to see if there is a way to improve co-operation between the two arms, finds himself getting a completely different view of the war at sea than even his superiors intended.

Note (Spoilers): This is the fourth in an eight book series ('Sea Wolf') of novels following the career of a particular U-boat officer through the Second World War. Written by science fiction author Kenneth Bulmer under a pseudonym, this is one of several series of action novels he wrote under various pseudonym's (Adam Hardy ('Fox' A Napoleonic Naval Series & 'Strike Force Falklands' A Falklands War series.), Ken Blake ('The Professionals', TV-Tie ins.), etc.) for the cheaper end of the paperback market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Likely intended to cash in on the success of Edwyn Gray's U-boat novels published in the mid to late 1970s, this series was probably intended to cover the entirety of World War Two, but the last published novel only carried the series to 1942.

The novel is easily dateable as Operation Rheinübung (18 - 27 of May, 1941) takes place towards the end of the story with the Hero getting a ring-side seat to the destruction of the Bismark in the final chapters. Also of interest is that it shows at at least in the case of this book the author did a little more reseach than you might expect from this end of the paperback market.

 

[Graham1973]

With thanks to Hood for his help in identifying one of the submarines.

David Black, The Skipper's Dog's Called Stalin, 2016

France

Durendal
Surcouf Class (Modified)
Armament: 1 x 12 inch gun (Mount based on the one used on British M Class Submarines), other weapons as per Surcouf.
Aircraft: 1 x Besson MB411 (Floatplane, real aircraft, also carried by Surcouf)
Other details as per Surcouf
Described by one character as a "...monstrosity out of the pages of Jules Verne..."

Radegonde
Saphir Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: By 1941, the original French minelaying equipment has been replaced with the British equivalent system. Carries 32 British Mk.XVII mines. The authors details in the novel are closest to this class, so it is most likely what he intended.

Minerve
Minerve Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

United Kingdom

HMS Redoubtable
Revenge (R) Class Battleship
Details as per the real ships.
Note: See the novel 'Gone To Sea In A Bucket' (2015) for the details on this ship. This novel indicates she survived into 1941.

United States

USS Pruett (DD-???)
Gleaves Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

Germany

Unnamed
Several U-Boats

Plot summary: The year is 1941. Thanks to a knowledge of schoolboy French, the series Hero finds himself assigned to the role of liason on a Free French submarine and enters a world both familiar and strange at the same time. One ruled as much by 'les Système D' as regulations.

Note (Spoilers): This is the second novel in an ongoing series. The author knows how to write an entertaining story and it's nice to see him placing his series hero in an unusual situation. Also nice are the notes at the end explaining what part of real history inspired him. And in case anyone is wondering the Captain of the Radegonde does indeed have a small dog which he has named after Joseph Stalin. As he explains, it's very clever but still a dog...

 

[Graham1973]

Kenneth Bulmer (Pen name: Bruno Krauss), Shark Africa, 1980

Germany

U-55
Type VIIB U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIB U-Boat sunk in January 1940 in the Atlantic. For the fictional history of the submarine, see the entry for the novel 'Shark North' (1978). In this novel which is set in 1941, the submarine is sunk by HMS Unscathed.

U-81
Type VIIC Class U-Boat
Real ship, details as in service.

U-114
U-Boat, class not specified.
Note: Pennant number is one that was assigned to an unbuilt Type XI Class U-Boat

U-331
Type VIIC Class U-Boat
Real ship, details as in service.

United Kingdom

HMT Lucky Lucy
Armed Trawler
Built: 1935
Armament: 1 x 4 inch gun, unspecified number of Lewis Guns, no other armament specified
Length: 120ft
Tonnage (Gross): 450 tons
Speed: 11 knots
No other details provided.

HMS Melpomene
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

HMS Unscathed
U Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Plot summary: The year is 1941, the series Hero is ordered into the Mediterranean Sea to assist Rommel in his campaign against the English Eighth Army.

Note (Spoilers): This is the fifth in an eight book series ('Sea Wolf') of novels following the career of a particular U-boat officer through the Second World War. Written by science fiction author Kenneth Bulmer under a pseudonym, this is one of several series of action novels he wrote under various pseudonym's (Adam Hardy ('Fox' A Napoleonic Naval Series & 'Strike Force Falklands' A Falklands War series.), Ken Blake ('The Professionals', TV-Tie ins.), etc.) for the cheaper end of the paperback market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Likely intended to cash in on the success of Edwyn Gray's U-boat novels published in the mid to late 1970s, this series was probably intended to cover the entirety of World War Two, but the last published novel only carried the series to 1942.

Dating this one is slightly trickier than the previous novel in the series, but based on the references to two real U-Boats sent to the Mediterranean in 1941, this story is probably taking place around October - December of 1941.

 

[Graham1973]

Douglas Reeman, A Prayer For The Ship, 1958

United Kingdom

HMS Leviathan
'Heavy Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Wycliffe
V & W Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class determined from name only. Appears in a characters backstory.

HMS Rockrose
'Corvette', class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Royston
Coastal Forces Depot Ship
Converted Edwardian era Passenger/Cargo Ship
No other details provided.

MTB-1815
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-1917
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-1991
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-1993
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-2001
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-2002
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-2007
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-2015
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-3007
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-7784
Motor torpedo boat, make not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

MTB-9779
Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author does not specifically name it as this class, but the details he provides fit this class perfectly.

Unnamed
Four MGBs, make not specified
No other details.

Germany

Various Unnamed warships.

Plot summary: For the men of the 113th MTB Flotilla the arrival of a new commander, one determined to apply a 'new broom', brings new challenges and new frustrations.

Note: It is not possible to more precisely date this story than to the middle of WWII due to a lack of specific events.

 

[Graham1973]

Kenneth Bulmer (Pen name: Bruno Krauss), Shark Raid, 1982

Germany

U-452
Type VIIC Class U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC Class U-Boat sunk off Iceland in August 1941. In the series it would appear that she survived and was transferred to the Mediterranean.

Unnamed
Two Type VIIC U-Boats
Details as per the real ships.

Garnele (Shrimp) Class
Mini-submarine
Length: 15m (49.21ft)
Diesel-electric propulsion, single screw
Armament: 2 x G7e Torpedos mounted externally underneath
Crew: 3
Described as looking like a "...model U-Boat..." Like the Seehund mini-sub, the submarine is capable of being fully submerged, the maximum depth possible is not mentioned in the novel.
Note: Aside from the three prototypes, mention is made in the novel that parts exist to build a further six such craft. Deployment is by the same method used for the British X-Craft, towing into range of the target by another submarine.

United Kingdom

Unnamed
Five MGBs, type not specified
Details as per typical members of that type of ship in British service.

Plot summary: His previous command sunk, the series hero finds himself given a new and much more dangerous assignment, testing a weapon that will bring the Kriegsmarine into a new era of warfare. If it works...

Note (Spoilers): This is the sixth in an eight book series ('Sea Wolf') of novels following the career of a particular U-boat officer through the Second World War. Written by science fiction author Kenneth Bulmer under a pseudonym, this is one of several series of action novels he wrote under various pseudonym's (Adam Hardy ('Fox' A Napoleonic Naval Series & 'Strike Force Falklands' A Falklands War series.), Ken Blake ('The Professionals', TV-Tie ins.), etc.) for the cheaper end of the paperback market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Likely intended to cash in on the success of Edwyn Gray's U-boat novels published in the mid to late 1970s, this series was probably intended to cover the entirety of World War Two, but the last published novel only carried the series to 1942.

It is not possible to conclusively date the story beyond late 1941/early 1942 as no specific events are mentioned.

 

[Graham1973]

David Black, Turn Left For Gibraltar, 2017

United Kingdom

HMS Nicobar
N Class Submarine (Fictional)
Stated to have been undergoing builders trials in 1938.
See below for details

HMS Nimuae
N Class Submarine (Fictional)
See below for details

HMS Norseman
N Class Submarine (Fictional)
See below for details

N Class Submarine
Length: 206ft (62.8m)
Beam: 19ft 1in (5.82m)
Armament: 1 x 3 inch Gun, 4 x TT (Bow) 2 x TT Stern (6 loaded, 4 reloads)
Speed: 14 knots (Surface), submerged speed unspecified.
Stated to be an improved version of the U Class.

HMS P413
Grampus Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Grampus Class by Author. The lack of name suggests that this submarine was completed after the June 1940 moratorium on naming submarines.

HMS Umbrage
U Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Uttoxeter
U Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Unleashed
U Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Billericay
Minesweeper, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Olympus (N35)
Odin Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

HMS Pandora (N42)
Parthian Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

HMS P36
U Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

HMS P39
U Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

Force F

HMS Pelleas
Arethusa Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Arethusa Class by the Author.

HMS Patroclus
Arethusa Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Arethusa Class by the Author.

HMS Jocasta
J Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the J Class by the Author.

HMS Darter
D Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class determined from name only

HMS Dimapur
D Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class determined from name only

Poland

ORP Sokół (ex-HMS Urchin)
U Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

Greece

RHNS Glafkos (Y6)
Protefs Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

Italy

Fabrizio del Dondo
Zara Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Zara Class by the Author.

Gradisca di Isonzo
Duca degli Abruzzi Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author identifies the ship as being a member of the 'Abruzzi Class'.

Lombardia
Troopship (ex-Liner)
14,000 tons
No other details provided.

Toscana
Troopship (ex-Liner)
14,000 tons
No other details provided.

Sovrana dei Mari
Troopship (ex-Liner)
18, 000 tons
No other details provided.

Various Unnamed warships.

Germany

Various Unnamed warships.

Plot summary: The series Hero, following on from his successful role as a Lisason Officer to a Free French submarine has been rewarded by a position aboard a submarine serving in the Mediterranean, can a man whose career in submarines began under an air of official displeasure make good?

Note (Spoilers): This is the third novel in an ongoing series, to date the author has done a good job in keeping the disruptions to actual history to the bare minimum. He is also doing a good job in showing the growth of the character in his chosen career path and the consequences it is having on him and his relationships. The authors notes at the start of the book again outline the history he was basing his story on and his reasons for using fictional ship names where possible.

The story itself runs between the years 1941 and 1942, finishing some time after May of that year.