Fictional Warships - Novels

David Hagberg, Breaking Point, published in Combat, Stephen Coonts (ed.), 2001

United States

USS George Washington (CVN-73)
Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

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

USS Marvin Shields (FF-1092)
Knox Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: This ship decommissioned in 1992.

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

China (Peoples Republic)

Nanchong (502) (ex-??, ex-Kobchik)
Type 6601 Chengdu Class (Riga Class) Frigate.
Details as per the real ships
Note: The Kobchik is a real Riga Class frigate for which I've been unable to locate firm details for it's disposal. In the short story the ship was sold to the Bulgarians and then later transferred to the Chinese. In real life the Chinese built four Riga Class frigates from kits in the 1950s. I was also unable to find full class details for the Chengdu Class ships so this may be a real ship, even if the backstory is fictional.

Hekou (405)
Han Class (Type 091) Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant matches that of a Han Class Submarine commissioned in 1991 and is still in service (In the short story the submarine is sunk.). However none of the class are named.

Plot summary: It is the mid/late 1990s, a pro-democracy activist has fled mainland China to Taiwan. Now the Chinese government is using his presence as a pretext to threaten invasion. Careful planning has tied the Americans hands, so nothing should go wrong...

Note: No specific information is given to provide dating, but there are several references to the handover of Hong Kong to China in the past tense suggesting these events take place after this occurred.
 
Alan Hebden, Sink the Odessa!, published as Commando Comics Nº. 4661, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Uprising
U Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the U Class by the author.

Italy

Meridoni
Cruiser, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Artwork is contradictory as to appearance, without specifics class identification is not possible.

Unnamed
Armed Trawler
1 x 30mm Breda Cannon
No other details provided.

Russia

Odessa
Battleship, class not specified
12 x 16 inch main battery (4 x triple turrets A, B, X & Y)
Steam turbine engines.
No other details provided
Note: Not fully completed in 1941.

Plot summary: During Operation Barberossa a partially complete Russian battleship was scuttled off the coast of the Crimean peninsula, the Germans are trying to salvage her and use the ship to bribe the Turks into joining the war on their side. A daring mission is launched to prevent the salvage from succeeding.
 
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Harry Rubin, The Missing Bomb, 2008

United States

USS Broken Arrow (aka MV Broken Arrow (GA876CG))
Covert Ops Vessel (Converted Shrimp Boat)
Length: 80ft (24.4m)
Built: 1974
Engine: 1 x 450hp Diesel Engine
Speed: 7knots (Cruising) 15knots (Max)
Crew: 6 (4 USN, 1 Navy SEAL, 1 USAF)
Electronics: Military grade communications (Including SatCom equipment) and unspecified sonar concealed in the former shrimp hold. Retains civilian grade communications equipment, radar and GPS. 1 x 35kw generator to provide power when the engines are not in use.
Armament: 6 X M1911 Handguns, 3 x M-14 Rifles, 1 x M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle, 12 x M67 Fragmentation Grenades, 6 x M34 White Phosphorus Smoke Grenades, "...a few..." M14 Thermite Grenades & 4 x Limpet Mines. Added later is 1 x M32A1 Multi-Shot 40mm Grenade Launcher.
Also carried aboard is a 14ft dingy powered by a 50hp motor.
Note: The ships registration number is described in the novel as being the registration of another shrimp trawler that was "...sunk in a storm a few years back...". This ship, like the ship in 'The Counterfeit War' (2007) was transferred to the navy for covert ops use after being confiscated as proceeds of crime. (The previous owner was caught with a hold full of drugs.) Modifications for the current role include the adding of a sonar dome under the former shrimp hold, which as noted previously has been fitted out with military grade equipment. The cover story used is that the boat is carrying out a sonar survey for an oil company.

USS Keystone (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer (?) (The author simply refers to the ship as a 'Guided Missile Destroyer', given the year the novel is set this is the most likely class.)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Appears in a characters backstory, where it is stated to have been recently commissioned. The name depending on interpretation ('Keystone' could be a surname, it's also the nickname of the State of Pennsylvania.) may not fit the class.

USCGC Dallas
Coast Guard Cutter, class not specified
No other details provided.

Non-State

Unnamed (ex-Volgograd)
Converted Whaling Factory Ship
Armed with unspecified AA guns.
No other details provided

Unnamed
2 x ex-Whale Catchers.
Armament: Unspecified Rocket Propelled Grenades & Machine Guns
No other details provided

Note: All three ships are owned by al-Qaeda through a front company.

Plot summary: The year is 2008. Evidence has surfaced that certain parties are searching for an atomic bomb lost off the coast of Georgia in 1958. A team is quietly assembled and sent to locate the bomb before it falls into the wrong hands.

Note: This is the third in a series of books by this author dealing with small scale covert operations by the US Navy (The previous two novels in the series are 'Chasing Pirates' (2006) and 'The Counterfeit War' (2007), covered earlier in this thread.), some of the characters from the previous novels recur and while the author handles the camaraderie between the characters pretty well, the novel becomes a bit discursive in places and the ending of the main plot (spoiler) feels rather contrived. The basic idea behind the plot, that the USAF lost a nuclear bomb off the US coast and 'swept it under the carpet' is similar to the plot of 'Deepkill' (2006) by author Michael Kilian which I've covered earlier in the thread.
 
Jack Higgins, Wrath of the Lion, 1964

France

L'Alouette (ex-U-2???) (Note: All Type XXIIIs built by Deutsche Werft had pennants in the 2xxx series.)
Type XXIII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Builder: Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
History: Completed 1945, sank in the Baltic with all hands about a month after completion, raised in 1946 and given to the French as war reparations.

Plot summary: It is the early 1960s. A passenger ship has been raided and all aboard killed. The evidence indicates that somehow, the Organisation armée secrète (OAS) has managed to infiltrate the French Navy and gained control of one of their ships.

Note: The OAS was a paramilitary group opposed to Charles DeGaulle's decision to grant full independence to Algeria in 1961, their activities also inspired author Frederick Forsyth to write 'The Day of the Jackal' (1971). Their heydey actually ended in 1962, but at the time the novel was written, the possibility they might resume activities was still a valid one. There is no specific dating information in the novel, only hints that it's set more or less the year the book was published.

The French Navy did receive a Type XXIII U-Boat as war reparations, but that ship sank in Toulon harbour in 1946 and was subsequently scrapped.

The author is an incredibly prolific writer of thrillers, one of which 'Storm Warning' (1976) has been covered earlier in this thread.
 
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With thanks to Hood for some ship identification.

W. H. Canaway, The Grey Seas of Jutland, 1966

United Kingdom

HMS Nilotic
'30 Knotter' (1890s Destroyer), class not specified
Weight: 560tons
Armament: 2 x 4 inch guns (A & X), 2 x 18 inch TT, no other armament specified.
Speed: 30 knots (Max)
Note: Described as an 'old' ship that had been refitted in 1913. The specific class is not given by the author. The late 1890s '30 Knotters' were gathered into the A, B, C, D & E Class Destroyers in 1913, not enough details are provided to show which class the ship was. Part of the 13th Destroyer Flotilla in 1913. In real life the 13th Destroyer Flotilla was not formed until 1915.

HMS Lossiemouth
Monmouth Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Laid down: 1901

HMS Daunter
Cruiser, class not specified
Extant in 1903.
No other details provided.

Germany

SMS Saschen
Deutschland class Pre-Dreadnought
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name clashes both with the lead ship of the Saschen Class Ironclads (In service 1878 - 1902, used as a target hulk in 1911, scrapped 1919.) and with a Bayern Class Battleship whose construction was canceled prior to completion and scrapped in 1921. The author describes the ship as having "...very high upperworks--higher than the Pommern; she has military masts of equal height, and she carries cranes amidships..."

Plot summary: A romantic rivalry between two cousins, one English, the other German comes to a head as the two fleets clash at the Battle of Jutland.
 
Keith Douglass (Pseud.), Carrier: Joint Operations, 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).

USS Centurion (SSN-???)
Submarine, class not specified, most likely Virginia Class.
Stated to be "...lead ship in a new class of attack submarines..."
Note: The 'Centurion Study' was the design program that ultimately resulted in the Virgina Class Submarines replacing the Seawolf Class. This makes the class identification fairly secure. If it is indeed the 'lead ship' then the pennant number would be SSN-774 identical to that of the USS Virginia, however the pennant is not given in the novel.

Unnamed
2 x Ticonderoga Class Cruisers
Details as per the VLS equipped members of the class.
Note: Author simply identifies them as 'Aegis Cruisers'.

'USS' The Lucky Star
Armed merchant ship (ex- Fishing Trawler)
2 Diesel Engines
Armament: Small Arms including FIM-92 Stinger missiles.
Electronics: Civilian radar and a 'Fishfinder' (A rudimentary sonar system used to detect shoals of fish.) pressed into service as a makeshift ASW sonar system.
Note: Temporarily commissioned into the US Navy straight out of the US Coast Guards impounded ships lot.

USS Lewis B. Puller (FFG-23)
Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: This ship was decommissioned in 1998 and transferred to Egypt as the Toushka (F906) the same year.

USS Chief (MCM-14)
Avenger Mine Countermeasures Class
Real ship, details as in service.

China (Peoples Republic)

Rising Sun (ex-Varyag)
Ex-Soviet Kuznetsov (Pr.1143.5) Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as built
Amament: 1 x VLS (SSMs), ? x 'Silkworm' Missiles (Note: Reporting name 'Silkworm' covers a wide range of SSMs, both land and sea based, not enough information in the novel to make a type determination.), Unspecified anti-air weapons & ASW torpedoes
Fitted with a ELINT system based on the NSA 'Echelon system', described as being "...cobbled together from different pieces of US gear. Thanks to the Clinton administration, they'd had no problems assembling the highly specialized equipment needed..."
Aircraft: 80 x Mig-33 'Harrier-clone' VTOL fighters, unspecified helicopters.
Note: Disguised as a "...simple merchant vessel..." (Container ship)

Unnamed
'Warship'
Armament comprises a number of unspecified missiles mounted in a VLS system
Note: Disguised as an LNG Tanker.

Unnamed
Landing Ship (Infantry), class unspecified
Stated to be carrying: "...two divisions of Chinese troops."
Note: Disguised as a Roll-on Roll-Off ship.

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified
Diesel Powered
Described as being a Russian built type with unspecified modifications

And for the aircraft mavens:

MiG-33
VTOL Fighter
Manufacturer: Mikoyan
Nation: Soviet Union/Russia (Operated by China in this novel)
Speed: Unspecified (Probably supersonic.)
Crew: 1
Controls: Fly-by-Wire, described in one scene from a pilots point of view as "...so advanced it virtually did the thinking for him."
Armament: Unspecified missiles, no mention of a gun armament, but it's highly likely one is fitted.
Description: "Those are Harriers," ... "not exactly--but something like it."
Note: This is a very tentative reconstruction based on the information the author provides. He starts off the novel referring to the aircraft as 'Harriers' and then partway through switches to referring to them as 'MiG-33s'. In the 1980s the identifier 'MiG-33' was used for an F-16 like aircraft the Soviets were developing as a compliment to the MiG-29 whose development was cancelled in 1986. The MiG-29ME was an upgraded version of the MiG-29 that was unveiled as the MiG-33 in 1994, before changing to the designation MiG-29M

Plot summary: Those dastardly Chinese are at it again, this time they've sent disguised warships across the Pacific to seize Hawaii. Can they be stopped?

Note: This is the 16th 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. The 14th novel 'Carrier: Typhoon Season' (2000) has been covered earlier in this thread. This novel is a crossover between this series and the authors other 'gung ho' action series 'SEAL Team Seven' which was published around the same time. The novel from the 'SEAL Team Seven' series which covers their side of the events covered in this novel is called 'SEAL Team Seven: Tropical Terror' (2000).

Something about this story makes me think that it was written much earlier than it's publication date and may have originally been intended as a 'Yellow Peril (Japan)' story, the name of the enemy carrier for one thing. Similarly, the description of just how the Rising Sun drops her disguise is more suited to anime than anything else. The novels revisions though, push it firmly into the category of 'Yellow Peril (China)'. I've covered a few other books of this kind earlier in the thread. These are 'Sunstrike' (1979), 'Sky Masters' (1991), 'By Stealth' (1992) 'Flood Tide' (1997), 'Icefire' (1998), 'China Sea' (2000), 'Two Peasants and a President' (2012), 'White Plague' (2015) and 'Rising Sea' (2018).

Various hints in the story indicate that this one takes place after the events of 'Carrier: Typhoon Season' (2000) & 'Carrier: Enemies' (2000), however the presence of a ship that left the US Navy in 1998 suggests, that as I mentioned earlier the story may have been written prior to that year.

What do I think of the story overall? Personally I think it's a lesser tale than either of the novels that preceded it. While slightly over the top, the previous tales still felt grounded in reality. This does not, and with clear evidence of something written earlier being hastily(?) revised, perhaps to meet a demanding publishing schedule this just feels completely over the top.
 
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'Aircraft Mavens' reading the thread are advised that the entry for the novel 'Carrier: Typhoon Season' (2000) by Keith Douglass (Pseud.) has been updated to include the fictional UAVs that are featured in the plot.
 
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Keith Douglass (Pseud.), Enemies, 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).

USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Jouett (CG-29)
Belknap Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service.
Armament adds BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles.
Note: The USS Jouett was decommissioned in 1994 and sunk as a target ship in 2007. It is possible that this is in fact a Ticonderoga Class Cruiser with a non-class name, however the author provides no specifics to determine if this is the case or not.

Aircraft mavens may like to know that in this novel the Hellenic (Greek) Air Force is equipped with F-14 'Tomcats', a type they never operated.

Plot summary: It is the early 2000s, tensions between Greece and the FYR Macedonia are rising, exacerbated by the activities of a pro-Macedonian insurgent group. The UN is persuaded to set up an intervention force that puts US servicemen under Greek control. What they find on arrival are byzantine schemes that have very little to do with 'maintaining the peace'.

Note: This is the 15th 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. The 14th & 16th novels in the series 'Carrier: Typhoon Season' & 'Carrier: Joint Operations' (Both 2000) have been covered earlier in this thread.

Dating this one is tricky. The story runs between Wednesday, May 3 and Thursday, June 1 of an unspecified year. The first year after publication this occurs is 2006. If the preceding novel 'Carrier: Typhoon Season' took place in 2003 then this means the events of this novel are taking place about three years later. However dialog in the novel implies that there is a much shorter distance in time between the two novels. This could be as short as 8 months (E.g. This novel is set in 2004).
 
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Paul G. Ochs (Pen Name: Colum Fitzroy), South China Seas: A Novel of Modern Piracy, 2009

United States

USS Decatur (FFG-??)
'Frigate', Class not specified
Armament includes unspecified missiles and unspecified 'guns' mounted fore and aft. It also appears that there are either more than one gun to a turret, as dialog mentions "...Decatur's aft guns began firing...", though this could also mean there are more than two turrets. However there is not enough information to clarify this point.
No other details provided.

USS Cumberland
'Cutter', class not specified
Length: 350ft (106.7m)
Armament: 2 x 0.5 inch guns
Speed: 26 knots
Note: Referred to by a character as "...perhaps US Typhoon or Pegasus class cutter..". The term 'Cutter' in US service is reserved for ships operated by the US Coastguard. More likely this ship is a Patrol Gunboat of some kind although the details provided do not match either the Cyclone Class (of which USS Typhoon (PC-5) is a member.) or the Pegasus Class Patrol Hydrofoils.

USS Mark Armstrong
'Oiler', class not specified
No other details provided.

Cape Rain (T-AK-??)
Transport Ship (Breakbulk cargo ship)
Length: 635ft (193.55m)
Speed: 16 knots (Max)
Stated to be a member of the US Ready Reserve Force a subset of the US National Defense Reserve Fleet. Cargo includes a large quantity of Ammonium Nitrate and the WWII treasure known as Yamashita's Gold (Wikipedia:Yamashita's gold).

Philippines

BRP Sultan Salamat (ex-USS ?)
Datu Kalantiaw Class Frigate (Cannon Class Destroyer Escort)
Details as per the real ships.
Armament adds an unspecified number of Exocet missiles.
Note: The author is inconsistent with the ships type initially referring to it as a 'Corvette' and giving the armament details as 4inch guns, 20mm Oerlikons and Exocet Missiles. Later in the novel he has a character refer to the ship as a 'Gunboat' and state the armament is "As least one three-inch gun, several smaller caliber." Later on in the novel the armament is given as 3 x 3inch main guns, other armament unspecified. The closest fit would be a former Cannon Class Destroyer escort similar to the BRP Rajah Humabon.

BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-11) (ex-USS Atherton (DE-169))
Datu Kalantiaw Class Frigate (Cannon Class Destroyer Escort)
Real ship, details as in Philippines service.
Note: This long serving ship was finally decomissioned in March of 2018. It also appears in Dale Brown's 1994 novel 'Sky Masters' where the armament is augmented by the addition of 4 x RGM-84 Harpoon missiles in a Mk-141 mount.

China (People's Republic)

Dongguan
Jianghu (Type 053) Class Frigate (Unspecified sub-class.)
Armament: 4 x 4inch guns, 12 x 37mm guns
No other details provided.
Note: Initially implies that the ship has been 'acquired' by a Chinese Triad to assist the Morrison Gang in stealing the treasure. Later on indications are given that the ship is actually still in Chinese service and operating under the orders of Beijing, albeit not under any flag. The armament details do not fit any specific sub-class of the Type 053.

Plot summary: The year is 1988 (The story runs between the 6th of June and the 22nd of August of this year.). Yamashita's Gold, the treasure seized by the Japanese during WWII and lost since the end of that conflict has been found. However that much treasure attracts all kinds of people, like Finn Morrison and his gang of multi-national pirates, can he be stopped...

Note: The author had a good idea, but spoiled it with a complete lack of research. As I have noted earlier in this post no US Navy ships are called Cutters, the term is used by the US Coastguard only. The ending of the novel is spoiled by one too many betrayals and a plot twist at the end that leaves more questions than answers.
 
Steven Wilkins, Operation Paradox, 2018

United States

USS Nashville (SSN-889)
Nashville Class Submarine (Fictional)
See below for details
Note: Name clashes with the Austin Class Amphibious Transport Dock USS Nashville (LPD-13).

USS Detroit (SSN-890)
Nashville Class Submarine (Fictional)
See below for details
Note: Name clashes with a Sacramento Class Fast Support Ship, USS Detroit (AOE-4), decommissioned in 2005 and a Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship, USS Detroit (LCS-7), which entered service in 2014. The author explicitly states the pennant number is SSN-890.

Nashville (889) Class Submarine
Crew: 134
Length: 340ft (103.6m)
Diameter of hull: 40ft (12.2m)
Weight (Not specified if gross or displacement): 5100 tons
Speed (Submerged, surfaced speed not specified.): 35knots (Cruising) 65knots(+) (Max) At high speeds the pumps switch off and seawater is directly fed through the reactor cooling system to reduce the submarines sound signature.)
Armament: 8 x 21inch TT, Six tubes (4 x fwd of the sail, 2 x aft of the sail) are for use with Mk. 52 Torpedoes (Speed: 75knots(+), Guidance: Wire guided initially, then switches to tracking the targets sonar signature.), the remaining two located abeam the sail are dedicated to decoys.
Highly sophisticated sonar system stated to be more efficient at high speed than the one fitted to the Soviet Alfa Class.
Hull is coated with an anechoic coating described as looking and feeling "...much like the skin of a dolphin."

Note: Stated to be an improvement on the Seawolf Class (Which in the novel is a six ship class, rather than three ships as in the real world). Only two submarines were built of a much larger planned class, which was curtailed by budget cuts. The author simply refers to the ships as being of the '889 Class', however as the USS Nashville (SSN-889) appears to be the lead boat I have taken the editorial decision to refer to the ships as the Nashville Class.

Iran

IRI Elburz (ex-? (617))
Redoutable class submarine
Details as per the real ships.

IRI Zagros (ex-? (618))
Redoutable class submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Note: Author does not give a positive class identification, this has been assumed based on the identies of the SSNs. The pennants for the Redoutable Class SSBNs ran 611-615, the pennant numbers in the novel belong to the succeeding Triomphant Class SSBNs. Ships were sold disarmed, the missiles fitted were stolen from Israel.

IRI Sefid Rud (ex-? (607))
Rubis Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as Rubis Class by the author.

IRI Karkeh (ex-? (608))
Rubis Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as Rubis Class by the author.

IRI Karun (ex-? (609))
Rubis Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as Rubis Class by the author.

IRI Atrek (ex-? (611))
Rubis Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as Rubis Class by the author.

Note: The French Rubis class submarines have pennants 601-606, the pennant numbers in the novel may be assigned to the Barracuda Class in the future. All six of the submarines above were sold to Iran via an Italian cut out.

Plot summary: The Iranians have managed to get their hands on ballistic nuclear missiles and the submarines to launch them. Their goal is simple, destroy Washington DC and Moscow with weapons stolen from Israel and then take advantages of whatever Allah wills the result to be.

Note: It is not possible to date the story, the author steadfastly avoids providing any dates beyond referring to the retirement of the SR-71s in 1990, since the story does not mention the internet, nor the SR-71s reactivation in 1995 it would suggest that the story is being set somewhere between those years. This is a tale that makes use of a 'weird science' idea known as the Philadelphia Experiment, I've covered other stories inspired by this in the thread. They are 'Thin Air' (1977), 'Thunderfish' (1999), 'Whisper' (2010) and 'The Displaced' (2017).

Overall, I am wondering if the author was inspired by a late 1990s TV series called 'Seven Days', which involved sending a volunteer back in time after a disastrous event had happened to prevent it happening.
 
Ed Bowie, Vinterkrig (Winter War), 2018

United States

USS James Madison
James Madison Class Submarine (Modified)
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: In real life the submarine was scrapped in 1997. In the novel the submarine was secretly converted to a cargo/troop transport configuration and is still in use as of the early 21st Century for covert operations. The ballistic missiles have been removed and replaced with a cargo/troop compartment. Armament includes the original torpedo armament and RIM-116 missiles. The original pennant was SSBN-627. The current pennant is not given in the novel.

USS Tecumseh
James Madison Class Submarine (Modified)
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: In real life the submarine was scrapped in 1994. In the novel the submarine was secretly converted to a cargo/troop transport configuration and is still in use as of the early 21st Century for covert operations. The ballistic missiles have been removed and replaced with a cargo/troop compartment. Armament includes the original torpedo armament and RIM-116 missiles. The original pennant was SSBN-628. The current pennant is not given in the novel.

Russia

Generalissimus Suvorov
Borei Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service
Note: As of this post, this submarine is under construction with an estimated completion date of 2020.

Unnamed
2 x Borei Class Submarines
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
Submarine of unspecified class.
No other details provided

Plot summary: It is the 'Day after Tomorrow', in the high Arctic the confrontation between the Western powers and Russia continues unabated.

Note: The author provides no dating information beyond a single reference to an event in 2008 in the past tense. This was originally published under the title of 'Cold War Two', but has been reissued with a revised title due to the release of a sequel entitled 'Sommerkrig (Summer War)'.
 
Harry Rubin, U-Boat Secret Mission, 2008

United States

USS Broken Arrow (aka MV Broken Arrow (GA876CG))
Covert Ops Vessel (Converted Shrimp Boat)
Length: 80ft (24.4m)
Built: 1974
Engine: 1 x 450hp Diesel Engine
Speed: 7knots (Cruising) 15knots (Max)
Crew: 8 (Initially 7 an FBI Agent joins the crew later.)
Electronics: Military grade communications (Including SatCom equipment) and unspecified sonar concealed in the former shrimp hold. Retains civilian grade communications equipment, radar and GPS. 1 x 35kw generator to provide power when the engines are not in use.
Armament: ('The Missing Bomb' (2008)) 6 X M1911 Handguns, 3 x M-14 Rifles, 1 x M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle, 12 x M67 Fragmentation Grenades, 6 x M34 White Phosphorus Smoke Grenades, "...a few..." M14 Thermite Grenades & 4 x Limpet Mines. Added later is 1 x M32A1 Multi-Shot 40mm Grenade Launcher. ('U-Boat Secret Mission' (2008)) 7 x Beretta M9 Handguns, 2 x M-14 Rifles, 1 x M3A1 SMG, 1 x M107 0.5 inch Anti-Materiel Rifle & 4 x Limpet Mines. Added later is 1 Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum gun, 1 x M-16 Rifle & 1 x Browning Auto-5 12 gauge shotgun.
Also carried aboard is a 14ft dingy powered by a 50hp motor.
Note: The ships registration number is described in the first novel it appears in as being the registration of another shrimp trawler that was "...sunk in a storm a few years back...". This ship, like the ship in 'The Counterfeit War' (2007) was transferred to the navy for covert ops use after being confiscated as proceeds of crime. (The previous owner was caught with a hold full of drugs.) Modifications for the current role include the adding of a sonar dome under the former shrimp hold, which as noted previously has been fitted out with military grade equipment. The cover story used in 'The Missing Bomb' (2008) was that the boat is carrying out a sonar survey for an oil company. In this novel the ship is described as a US Navy Auxiliary Trawler.

USS Keystone (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer (?) (The author simply refers to the ship as a 'Guided Missile Destroyer', given the year the novel is set this is the most likely class.)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Appears in a characters backstory, where it is stated to have been recently commissioned. The name depending on interpretation ('Keystone' could be a surname, it's also the nickname of the State of Pennsylvania.) may not fit the class.

Germany (WWII)

U-724
U-Boat Type VIIC
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author never specifies the class but based it on the Type VIIC U-Boat U-977, which was rumored to have carried out a secret mission in the dying days of WWII. The pennant number is that of a Type VIIC U-boat canceled prior to the start of construction in 1943.


Non State

American Nazi Party

Horst Wessel
Yacht, type not specified
Length: 100ft (30.5m)
Armament: Unspecified 'Rifles' for the crew
No other details provided

Plot summary: The year is 2008 (The novel takes place a few months after the previous story 'The Missing Bomb' (2008)). A former U-Boat crewman comes forward describing how late in WWII he and the captain of U-724 buried something on an island in the Caribbean before they surrendered. Now it needs to be found, and whatever secret it contains unearthed.

Note: This is the fourth in a series of books by this author dealing with small scale covert operations by the US Navy. The previous three novels in the series are 'Chasing Pirates' (2006), 'The Counterfeit War' (2007) and 'The Missing Bomb' (2008) have been covered earlier in this thread.
 
Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul, Corsair, 2009

Libya

Khalij Surt
Koni (Pr. 1159TR )Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Purchased from Russia in 1999

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 McDonnell-Douglas MD-520N 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)

And for the aircraft mavens...

Ali Ghami's Faction

Mil Mi-24 (Modified)
Helicopter
Details as in service
This one has been modified for high altitude operation by unspecified changes to the engine and rotor blades. Armament now includes AA-7 Apex missiles.

Plot summary: It is the early 2000s (Note: The story is set in the 'Present Day', but because Colonel Gaddafi is still the leader of Libya, it has to be set before 2011.). The plane carrying the US Secretary of State has crashed in Libya while heading to an important meeting with the leader of that country. The crew of the Oregon are contacted to find if she is alive, what they find is that a faction in Libya linked to the countries foreign minister has plans for her and Libya that cannot be allowed to succeed.

Note: The cover for this is by Larry Rostant and is one better CGI covers I've seen from this artist, much better than the ones he did for novels by author Douglas Reeman a few years earlier.
 

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Peter Tonkin, Cape Farewell, 2006

Canada

HMCS Quebec (ex-HMS ?)
Victoria Class (Former Upholder Class) Submarine (This would be a fifth member of the class.)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Has been modified by the addition of an escape capsule similar to that used in the Russian Oscar Class Submarines. As a fifth member the class the pennant would most likely be (SSK 880), but this is not stated in the novel.

HMCS Iroquois (DDG 280)
Iroquois Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service
Note: The ship was decommissioned in 2015 and scrapped in the following year.

HMCS Huron (DDG 281)
Iroquois Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service
Note: The ship was decommissioned in 2005 and sunk as a target in 2007. In 1999 the ship appeared in the US TV series 'Seven Days' (Episode 'The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' which was based very loosely on 'The Bedford Incident'.) playing the role of USS Melville (DD-998) in close up. With footage of USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) used to show the Melville at sea.

HMCS Athabaskan (DDG 282)
Iroquois Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service
Note: The ship was decommissioned in 2017 and scrapped in the following year.

Plot summary: It is the early 21st Century. Off the coast of Greenland a Canadian submarine tried to save the crew of a sinking trawler but wound up entangled by the trawlers net, now trapped and unable to surface, the race is on to rescue to the crew.
 
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Peter Tonkin, Titan 10, 2004

Non-State

Texas Oil (United States)/Brashnev Power (Russia) Consortium (Note: Both companies are fictional.)

Titan 10 (ex-Severstal (TK-20))
Titan Class Submarine Oil Tanker (former Typhoon Class SSBN.)
Crew: 75
Highly automated, the submarine is capable of autonomous navigation without a crew.
All weapons systems have been replaced with oil storage tanks and associated support equipment. The submarine can carry a cargo of 10,000 tons of crude oil.
All other details as per the real ships.

Titan 6
Titan Class Submarine Oil Tanker (former Typhoon Class SSBN.)
Details as per Titan 10
Note: Only mentioned by name, does not take part in the story. There are eight other Titan Class Submarines (Titan's 1-5 & 7-9) all of which are converted Typhoons. The Soviets (Russians) had planned to build ten Typhoon class submarines, but in real life only six were built.

Russian Mafiya

Karakov
Factory Fish Ship
Length: 700ft (213.4m)
Armament: Small arms for the crew.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: It is the early years of the 21st Century, an oil tanker has arrived to rendezvous with a submarine carrying oil from wells under the ice of the Kara Sea. Instead they find a unidentifiable dead body and later the submarine, with no crew aboard and her cargo replaced with seawater. With few clues the decision is taken to reactivate the submarines computers and allow them to take the investigators on the path of her last voyage...

Note: The authors notes at the end of the book state he was inspired by articles published in 2002 proposing that the Typhoon class be converted as he describes in the novel, though the Russian company that part owns them was inspired by articles from 1998 on investment opportunities in Russia.
 
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Dean Ing, Inside Job, published in Combat, Stephen Coonts (ed.), 2001

Non-State

Ras Ormara
Armed Tramp Ship
Length: 'almost' 300ft (91.4m)
Displacement: 2000 tons (1814.369 tonnes)
Speed: 24 knots
Armament (Spoilers): Unspecified small arms for the crew. Ternary (e.g. Three Part) Nerve Gas, type unspecified. One of the ingredients required to make the gas is contained inside the ships triple hull, the remaining ingredients will be loaded as cargo and mixed as soon as the ship weighs anchor from San Fransisco for release within the harbor.
Note: Owners not specified. Described as being Liberian registered and charted by "...Sonmiani Tramp Service of Karachi...". The ship has been modified in Pakistan with the help of North Korea on behalf of an unspecified Muslim terrorist group.

Plot summary: An investigation into a missing crewman from a tramp steamer recently docked in San Francisco uncovers more than expected...

Note: The story evinces an incredible degree of paranoia about Islamic extremists, with one character claiming that they have 'Sleepers' in every country. Other novels of this kind I've covered include, 'SuperHawks: Strike Force Alpha' (2004), 'Crescent Fire' (2007), 'Saved' (2013) & 'Vanished' (2013).
 
Alexander Fullerton, Look to the Wolves, 1992

United Kingdom

HMS Caledonian
C Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment based on name only.

HMS Splendid
Cruiser, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Appears in a characters backstory. Lost in mysterious circumstances during 1918. Name clashes with an S Class Destroyer (WWI) launched in 1918.

HMS Terrapin
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: This is the same ship as appeared in the authors earlier novel 'Patrol to the Golden Horn' (1978)

HMS Mistral
Marksman Class Destroyer Leader (Eighth member of the class.)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author refers to it by the alternate class name of Lightfoot Class.

Plot summary: The year is 1919. The Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War is collapsing. A British naval officer of Russian descent is ordered into the Ukraine to find two British women working as nurses at a White Russian military hospital and bring them to safety.

Note: When Alexander Fullerton's, third 'Everard Chronicles' novel 'Patrol to the Golden Horn' (1978) concluded, the character Nick Everard had just taken command of HMS Terrapin and was preparing to head north to join the Allied forces trying to intervene in the Russian Civil War. The fourth novel in the series 'Storm Force to Narvik' (1979) is set in 1940 and opens with an authors note indicating that he would write other stories to fill in the gap between the two books at a later date.

This novel is the second in a two book sequence set during the early phases of the Russian Revolution and centered on a British naval officer named Bob Cowan. Because it also features HMS Terrapin and her commander, who is the point-of-view character for part of chapter five, I am willing to speculate that the two novels featuring Bob Cowan originated in attempts to write the novels hinted at back in 1979.

The cover for the 1992 edition by Warner Books was by naval fiction artist Paul Wright. The 2018 cover for the eBook edition by Canelo Digital publishing which features a bizarre image of an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer with a stovepipe funnel, is uncredited.
 

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Anthony Molloy, Long Day's Night, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Nishga
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Adds a prototype 'Hedgehog' ASW weapon installation to the armament replacing B turret.

HMS Atrebate
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Gaul
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Iceni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMT Halibut
Armed Trawler
No other details provided.

HMS Edward
S-boat
Details as per the real ships

HMS Egbert
S-Boat (Copy)
Details as per the real ships as to dimensions and external appearance.
Note: This ship is a British copy of an S-Boat, the external appearance is identical to the German versions, but the engines and weapons are the closest British equivalents to the German originals.

HMS Hal
S-boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Captured from the Germans during operations off Norway. Name is that used by King Henry V before he took the throne.

MTB-445
Elco (73ft) PT Boat
Details as per the the real ships.
Note: Stated to be one of several prototype PT Boats transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease. An MTB with the same pennant number appears in the novel 'Mettle at Woomera' (1962?) by James MacNeil which I've covered earlier in this thread. There is no evidence that the author of this novel was aware of that. Dubbed 'Fortified' by the crew.

HMS Antler (ex-U-491)
Type VIIC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.

Germany

U-56
U-Boat, type not specified
No other details provided
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type IIC U-boat in service between 1938 - 1945. The submarine in the novel is sunk in 1941 while attempting to attack convoy PQ "...something or the other...".

U-432
U-Boat, type not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC U-Boat in service between 1941 - 1943. The submarine in the novel is sunk in mid 1941.

Werner Stelzer
Type 1934 Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

Z-84
Type 1936A Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author does not provide any details for this ship, but in a later novel features a Type 1936A Class Destroyer named Z-85, making this identification fairly secure.

Unnamed
Several Destroyers.

Gottenburg
'Heavy Cruiser', class not specified.
Weight: 14,000 tons
Fitted with radar
Main battery: 9 inch guns (Four turrets, how many guns per turret not specified.), other armament unspecified.
Carries 2 x Arado AF-196 Seaplanes
No other details provided.

Wurzen
Oiler, class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: As 1941 continues, the expanding nature of WWII means there is no rest for the wicked, or the men of Special Force Orca.

Note: This is the fifth novel in the long running (The series is up to 34 novels as of this post) WWII action series. There are still a few editing glitches in this one, but the author continues to show some skill in keeping his characters close to, but just outside the major events.
 
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Warren Tute, The Admiral, 1963

United Kingdom

HMS Thespis
'Cruiser' class not specified
Weight: 3,500 tons
Commissioned: 1899
No other details provided other than the fact the ships company was involved in the supression of the Boxer Uprising in China.

HMS Lobelia
Warship of unspecified class
No other details provided than the fact that it was the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, East India station during the third Somaliland campaign in 1904.

HMS Vortex
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The hero takes command of her in 1915. Explicitly identified as being a V & W Class Destroyer by the author. However the first members of the class were not commissioned until 1917.

HMS Medusa (H90)
Medea Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: Lost following a collision during a raid on Lowestoft in April of 1916, the hero's destroyer is one of those that takes part in the operation.

HMS Monmouth
'Cruiser' ,class not specified. Possibly a County Class Cruiser.
Details as per the real ships
Note: At the time this part of the novel is set (1926 - 1942) there was no ship of that name in service with the Royal Navy. The last ship of that name had been sunk at the Battle of Coronel in 1914. The next ship of that name would not be built until 1991. The tentative assignment to the County Class is based on the name only as the author does not provide any details. However the first members of the class were not commissioned until 1928, this ship is described as being 'newly commissioned' in 1926.

HMS Flintshire
County/Kent Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Stated to be "...one of the older 'County' class cruisers..." at the time of the Invergordon Mutiny (1931), which clearly makes her a member of the Kent sub-class as they were the first commissioned.

Plot summary: The career of a Royal Navy officer, from his joining the RN in 1897 until shortly before Operation Torch in 1942.

Note: Warren Tute (1914 - 1989) was an author as well known for his work with television as for his fiction. This novel was one of several featuring WWII as a background he wrote. The stirring battle scene on the cover for the 1976 Pan edition is by Chris Mayger, a cover artist who on the available evidence seems to have specialized in naval scenes, supplying covers for books by Douglas Reeman & C. S. Forester amongst others.
 

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Anthony Molloy, To Catch A Rat, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Nishga
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
A prototype 'Hedgehog' ASW weapon has been added to the armament replacing B turret.

HMS Iceni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Edward
S-boat
Details as per the real ships

MTB-44
Torpedo Boat
Exact make/type not specified

MTB-445
Elco (73ft) PT Boat
Details as per the the real ships.
Note: Stated to be one of several prototype PT Boats transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease. An MTB with the same pennant number appears in the novel 'Mettle at Woomera' (1962?) by James MacNeil which I've covered earlier in this thread. The ship has been dubbed 'Fortified' by the crew.

HMS Antler (ex-U-491)
Type VIIC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.

Germany

U-330
U-Boat, type not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC/42 U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944.

U-686
Type IX U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC U-Boat laid down in 1943 and cancelled in 1944 prior to completion. Author explicitly identifies this ship as a Type IX U-Boat

R-367
R Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The 'Räumboote' were built as small minesweepers, this one is being used as a patrol boat. Author explicitly identifies this ship as an R Boat.

Wolfgang Lody
Type 1934 Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author explicitly identifies this ship as a Type 1934 Destroyer.

Krumbach
Type 39 Torpedo Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: These ships used pennant numbers in the 'T-XX' series, not names. Author identifies the ship as an 'Elbing Class Destroyer'. The Allies referred to the Type 39s as the Elbing Class during WWII.

Rabe
Armed Trawler
Weight: 500 tons
Armament: 1 x 4 inch gun, 2 x 20mm flak guns & ? x MG34 Machine guns.
No other details provided

Sven
Minesweeper, class not specified.
Armament: 1 x 88mm gun (fwd), ? x MG42, no other armament mentioned
Wooden hull
Described as being 'old'.
No other details provided

Plot summary: It is late 1941, Special Force Orca is given orders to capture a Quisling whose removal will cause damage to the relations between the Quislings in Norway and the Germans. He also has knowledge of a German project whose outcome could decide the war, knowledge Britain desperately needs.

Note: This is the sixth novel in the long running eBook series, the author is doing a good job keeping his characters relationships fresh and brings in a few WWII era conspiracy ideas to open up the darker side of the war.
 
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Anthony Molloy, Most Immediate, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Nishga
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Adds a prototype 'Hedgehog' ASW weapon installation to the armament replacing B turret.
Sunk by an air attack on the 2nd of April 1942.
Note: Flagship 31st Escort Group, after the ship is sunk, HMS Regni becomes the flagship.

HMS Atrebate
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Iceni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Gaul
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Lugi
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Modified so that all 4.7 inch guns have been replaced with high angle 4 inch guns.

HMS Regni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Partisan
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name does not fit class.

HMS Light of Dorset
AA Ship
No other details provided.

HMS Bugwort
Flower Class Corvett
Details as per the real ships

HMS Edward
S-boat
Details as per the real ships

HMS Egbert
S-Boat (Copy)
Details as per the real ships as to dimensions and external appearance.
Note: This ship is a British copy of an S-Boat, the external appearance is identical to the German versions, but the engines and weapons are the closest British equivalents to the German originals.

HMS Antler (ex-U-491)
Type VIIC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Teacher
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

HMRT Mindful
Salvage tug
No other details provided.

HMRT Redeem
Salvage tug
No other details provided.

Germany

Hoxter
'Destroyer', class not specified
Note: A named German destroyer would have been either a Type 1934, 1934A or 1936, all others were unnamed. Author never states what class the ship is, nor does he provide sufficient details for a class determination.

U-329
Type IX U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC/41 U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944. Author explicitly identifies this ship as a Type IX U-Boat

U-330
U-Boat, type not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC/42 U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944.

U-686
Type IX U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC U-Boat laid down in 1943 and cancelled in 1944 prior to completion. Author explicitly identifies this ship as a Type IX U-Boat

U-807
U-Boat, class not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type IXC/40 U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944.

U-823
U-Boat, class not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944.

U-824
Type IXD/42 U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944. Author identifies the submarine as being of Type IXD2/42. I have used editorial discretion in this case.

U-902
U-Boat, class not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1944.

Plot summary: The war is entering a new phase (The story runs from September 1941 - April 1942.), Germanies grip on Norway is tightening even as Special Force Orca has been regularized as the Royal Navies 31st Escort Group. With the entry of the United States into the war the 31st is sent West in an attempt to explain the value of good ASW tactics to the United States Navy before being thrown into a new ASW operation designed to keep the U-Boats away from Operation Chariot, the raid on St Nazaire.

Note: This is the seventh book in the long running eBook series. This one suffers a little from editing glitches, but overall the author is still doing the most important job, namely keeping the reader interested.
 
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Anthony Molloy, By Night's Dark Shadow, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Regni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Flagship 31st Escort Group

HMS Gaul
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Iceni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Edward
S-boat
Details as per the real ships

HMS Egbert
S-Boat (Copy)
Details as per the real ships as to dimensions and external appearance.
Note: This ship is a British copy of an S-Boat, the external appearance is identical to the German versions, but the engines and weapons are the closest British equivalents to the German originals.

MTB-445
Elco (73ft) PT Boat
Details as per the the real ships.
Note: Stated to be one of several prototype PT Boats transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease. An MTB with the same pennant number appears in the novel 'Mettle at Woomera' (1962?) by James MacNeil which I've covered earlier in this thread. The ship has been dubbed 'Fortified' by the crew.

HMS Antler (ex-U-491)
Type VIIC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Appearance has been updated so that the ship resembles U-Boats at this point in the war (Mid-1942) in respects to anti-aircraft armament. For two missions the submarine is fitted with a temporary cradle for carrying Welman mini-subs.

Unnamed
2 x Welman (Minisub)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The Welman was an unsuccessful mini-sub design created by SOEs Station IX (Located in Welwyn Garden City.) and all of them were numbered in the series W(<NUMBER>). The author accurately depicts the problems associated with their use.

Germany

Paul Rosenheim
'Destroyer', class not specified
Note: A named German destroyer would have been either a Type 1934, 1934A or 1936, all others were unnamed. Author never states what class the ship is, nor does he provide sufficient details for a class determination to be made

Freidrich Bielegard
'Destroyer', class not specified
Note: A named German destroyer would have been either a Type 1934, 1934A or 1936, all others were unnamed. Author never states what class the ship is, nor does he provide sufficient details for a class determination to be made

Wittengen
Net Tender
No other details

U-395
Type IXC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Armament adds a rack of six 30 cm Wurfkörper 42 Spreng artillery rockets mounted aft of the conning tower.
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC cancelled prior to completion in 1944. Author explicitly identifies this submarine as being a Type IXC. Has been fitted with cradles to carry 3 Italian SLC 'Maiale' Human Torpedoes

U-474
Type IIB U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC that was damaged by bombing while under construction in 1943, but not scrapped until 1945. Author explicitly identifies this submarine as being a Type IIB.

U-492
Type X U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type XIV that was cancelled in 1944. Author explicitly identifies it as a Type X.

U-685
Type X U-Boat?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with that of a Type VIIC that was scrapped at the end of the war without being comissioned. Author simply refers to the sub as a 'minelayer' without giving specific class details making this identification tentative. Has been fitted with cradles to carry 3 Italian SLC 'Maiale' Human Torpedoes

U-724
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC/41 U-Boat cancelled prior to completion in 1943. Author explicitly identifies it as a Type VII. The same pennant is used for a U-boat in the 2009 novel 'U-Boat Secret Mission' by Harry Rubin.

U-808
Type VII U-Boat?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type IXC/40 laid down in 1943 and canceled incomplete in 1944. The author does not explicitly identify this submarine as a Type VII, but implies it in dialog.

Unnamed
Several Italian Maiale Human Torpedoes

Plot summary: The year is 1942 (The story runs between May and November of that year.). With Operation Torch approaching, the 31st Escort Group is tasked with using their special talents for causing havok to convince Hitler that the landings will come in Norway.

Note: While the author still has a problem with editing and ship identification, does have a knack for characterization and appears to be doing at least a little research in writing his fiction.
 
Ralph Peters, The War in 2020, 1991

USS Reagan (SSBN-???)
Submarine, class not specified (Ohio Class?)
No details provided, other than it is a ballistic missile carrier and that it is "...the nation's newest ballistic missile submarine..."
Note: The majority of the novel is set in 2020, the submarine is mentioned in a flashback to events in 2005.

Plot summary: The year is 2020. backed by the 'Iron hand' of Japan, Muslim separatists have risen up in the Soviet Union. America long mired in isolationism since a disastrous intervention in Africa in the early 2000s, ravaged (as is most of the world) by Runciman's Disease (aka 'Ashburn Fever') (A fictitious illness with a 85 percent fatality rate and which leaves survivors disfigured and either with or without severe brain damage.) and tied down by Japanese supported guerillas in Latin America somehow finds the will to intervene, but will it succeed?

Note: This is of course a 'Yellow Peril (Japan)' story dating from around the period that kind of thing was popular (Late 80s/Early 90s) before writers reverted to the more traditional 'Yellow Peril (China)'.

A heavily land based scenario the novel is full of high grade paranoia (as can be seen by the summary above.) directed at the Japanese. I've only covered one other 'Yellow Peril (Japan)' novel in this thread Clive Cussler's 'Dragon' (1990). This is also a 'Future of the Past' story and contains the usual results of extrapolating forward from 'present events'. Other novels of this kind I've covered include 'Thirty-Four East' (1974), 'The Hastings Conspiracy' (1980) (Both by Alfred Coppel), 'North Star Crusade' (1976) (William Katz), 'Side-Wall' (1982) (Geoff Hunt), 'The Phoenix Odyssey' (1986) (Richard P. Henrick) 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.).
 
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Jack Higgins, Thunder Point, 1993

Germany (WWII)

U-?
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Identity disguised as 'U-180'. This is the pennant of a Type IXD U-Boat sunk in 1944. The actual identity of the Type VII U-Boat is not revealed in the version of the novel (Readers Digest) that I have. Author explicitly identifies the submarine as a Type VII.

Plot summary: A sunken U-Boat dating back to 1945 is found off the coast of the British Virgin Islands, a document recovered from the wreck suggests that aboard it lie other documents with political ramifications even decades after the submarine sank.

Note: There is no specific dating information, so I have to assume the story is set around the year it came out. As with all books where I've made use of a Readers Digest edition when I am able to locate a copy of the novel proper I will revisit the post.

Other novels by Jack Higgins covered in this thread are 'Wrath of the Lion' (1964) & 'Storm Warning' (1976)
 
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William Roskey, A Terrible Loyalty: A World War II Submarine Novel, 2019

United States

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

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

USS Coley (SS-?)
Submarine, clas not specified
No other details provided

USS Cowfish (SS-?)
Submarine, clas not specified
No other details provided

USS Dorab (SS-?)
Submarine, clas not specified
No other details provided

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

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

Japan

No fictional ships, but the author has his hero sink the aircraft carriers Kaga and Soryu prior to the battle of Midway.

Plot Summary: A fictionalized account of the early days the Pacific War (1941 - 1945) covering the period between December 1941 and May 1942 focusing on the problems the Americans had with their Mark 14 torpedoes.

Note: This is another novel that's let down by various problems, the author spends about a third of the novel setting up the characters past in detail when it could be and is recounted in summary by the characters themselves later on. He also grossly oversimplifies the problems with the Mark 14 torpedo and as noted above indulges in pure fantasy.

That is a real pity because he has a good human drama at the heart of the story, the American Torpedo Scandal, like the problems the Germans had with their torpedoes at the start of the war, was a consequence of inadequate pre-war testing coupled with over-rigorous security. But it lasted far longer, because once the reports of problems started coming in the people in charge responded by blaming the crews and their commanders.
 
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With thanks to Hood for help with ship identification.

Owen Gibson, 20º West - To Hell, 1950s?

United Kingdom

HMS Greenock
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit class. Author explicitly identifies the ship as a Tribal Class Destroyer

HMS Nighthawk
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit class. Author explicitly identifies the ship as a Tribal Class Destroyer

HMS Seeley
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit class. Author explicitly identifies the ship as a Tribal Class Destroyer

HMS Scarfe
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit class. Author explicitly identifies the ship as a Tribal Class Destroyer

HMS Thistle
Sloop, class not specified.
No other details provided
Note: A Flower Class Corvette with the same name appears in the novel 'To Risks Unknown' (1969) by Douglas Reeman which I've covered earlier in the thread.

Germany

U-430
Type IX U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC U-Boat launched in 1943 and sunk in 1945.

U-500
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant was not apparently used by the Kreigsmarine.

U-503
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type IXC U-Boat launched in 1941 and sunk in 1942.

Note: The three U-Boats in the novel are identified by tonnage only. After discussion with Hood, it has been decided that the class identities above were the ones intended by the author.

Holstein
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
No other details provided.

Plot summary: It is December 1939, a vital overseas cable has broken, but the destroyers sent to rendezvous with the cable ship and it's escort find only wreckage and a single survivor. The hunt is on to find the enemy ships responsible for the sinking.

Note: The author clearly dates when the action is taking place, but the book itself has no publication date. Going by the artwork style I'm guessing that it was published in the 1950s or possibly the late 1940s. The authors bio on the back cover of the book indicates that he spent part of the war as a Coastwatcher in the Pacific before moving on to other tasks including taking part in the D-Day landings as an observer for the Australian Army.
 

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Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, 1988

Soviet Union

Strong/Krepkiy
Grisha (Pr. 1124) Class Corvette (Subtype not specified)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: I have not been able to conclusively prove that this is a fictional warship.

Plot summary: Evidence has come to light that the Soviet Union has an operational laser based ABM system. A mole deep within the Soviet hierarchy is pressed for more information, but it soon becomes clear that they've been compromised and a rescue mission is planned.

Note: Aside from being the direct sequel to 'The Hunt for Red October' (1984), this book is one of a number of American action novels dealing with the idea that the Soviets had a massive lead in ground based ABM systems based on directed energy weapons, the earliest such novel I've encountered, is A. P. Kobryn's 'Poseidon's Shadow' (1979), which is covered earlier in the thread.
 
With thanks to Hood for his assistance with ship identification.

Anon., Buccaneer Bob R.N., published as Commando Comics Nº. 1740, 1983

United Kingdom

MTB-1362
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships

MTB-1604
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships

MTB-1617
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships

MTB-1721
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships

Note: MTB's 1362, 1604 & 1617 all have the 6pdr gun removed and replaced with a 290mm Petard spigot mortar, the same type as fitted to the AVRE tanks modified for naval use. The projectile used is different from the ones used by the AVRE tanks, it has a larger charge (How large is not specified.) and in addition to an impact fuse, it can be fitted with a variable time proximity fuze.

Germany

Various Unnamed Warships

Plot summary: An MTB commander who's taken one too many risks finds himself transferred to an underwater demolition unit.

Note: The story had been published previously in 1972, whether or not the same artwork had been used is unclear.
 
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Anon., Man Overboard! published as Commando Comics Nº. 1577, 1982

United Kingdom

HMS Dart
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name does not fit class.

Japan

Various Unnamed Warships.

Plot summary: Two members of a submarine crew, one the ships regular troublemaker are lost overboard during an attack on a Japanese freighter, finding themselves washed ashore on a Japanese held island will they be able to cooperate long enough to escape.
 
John Winton, We Joined The Navy, 1959

United Kingdom

HMS Rowbottom
A wartime emergency class destroyer, presumably R-class.
Sounds like the actual warship HMS Rotherham (a method the author uses throughout his works).

HMS Barsetshire (Cadet Training Cruiser)
County Class Cruiser
Based on HMS Devonshire (39) which served in the cadet training role 1947-1954.

RFA Wave Chiropodist (Fleet Tanker)
Wave Class Oiler

Voluminous Unidentified
Tadpole Unidentified

Plot summary: A humorous novelisation of cadets joining the Royal Navy just after WW2. Essentially the author is telling the thinly disguised truth of what happened during his (and possibly others) training days.

Notes: John Winton rose to become Lieutenant-Commander during the 1950s, leaving in 1964, and later wrote for the Daily Telegraph. This was his first work of naval fiction, many of which feature 'The Bodger' aka Lieutenant Commander Robert Badger. Publishing this work got him into trouble with the Admiralty who had him up before his Captain for a severe talking to!
The book was adapted to a film in 1962 starring Kenneth More and many other big names of the day but was not deemed a success by the critics.
 
John Winton, All The Nice Girls, 1964

United Kingdom

HMS Seahorse
Submarine described as being the 'first of her class', this being post-WW2 we can assume the author simply reused a classic RN name. The boat is in drydock the whole time and is merely a setting.

Note: HMS Seahorse (98S) was an S-Class sunk in 1940, the first RN submarine lost to the enemy in WW2.

Plot summary: HMS Seahorse is sent to Oozemouth (looks and sounds like Newcastle Upon Tyne) for a refit in a rundown dockyard. Featuring many of the same characters as his other works, this book is more about how the crew adapt to living ashore, dating and farcical situations. It is mixed with a comedic study of British working practices and trade unions - think of "I'm All Right Jack" starring Ian Carmichael.
 
Nick, thanks for finding those. I've been hunting down John Winton's serious novels ever since I found and covered 'HMS Leviathan' (1967) which looks from your description of 'All The Nice Girls', to be a more serious look at some of the themes covered humorously in the earlier novel.
 
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Graham1973 said:
Nick, thanks for finding those. I've been hunting down John Winton's serious novels ever since I found and covered 'HMS Leviathan' (1967) which looks from your description of 'All The Nice Girls', to be a more serious look at some of the themes covered humorously the earlier novel.
Click to expand...

I consider HMS Leviathan to be a serious novel in contrast to the others. The We Joined The Navy series can be considered more comedy and farce - in film terms they are Carry On.. and Doctor and Ealing comedies, the sort of light-hearted black and white show you watch on a Sunday afternoon.

Graham, you seem to have covered most of the other books I have in my collection. I have a few that I need to read again and some that are fiction but feature only real ships (as far as I can tell) - is it worth naming those?
 
Nick, depends on what the author does with them in the books. I've covered some where the author bought real ships into service earlier than they actually were or kept them in service later than they were. There's one I'm working on at the moment which ends with some pretty major modifications to a real ship. I mean if anyone looks over the thread, you'll find I've treated the inclusion of real ships (Where I've mentioned them.) in different ways at different times.
 
Returning to a long running WWII set series.

Anthony Molloy, Notice for Steam, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Regni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Flagship 31st Escort Group. Armament has been modified, original 4.7 inch armament has been replaced with high angle 4 inch guns and a prototype Squid mortar has been fitted replacing Y Turret. In real life the first shipboard installation of the Squid ASW mortar was on HMS Ambuscade in 1943, this one has been installed between October and November 1942.

HMS Atrebate
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Iceni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Beasley
B Class Destroyer?
Note: Class determined by name only.

HMS Antler (ex-U-491)
Type VIIC U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Appearance has been updated so that the ship resembles U-Boats at this point in the war (Late-1942/Early-1943) in respects to anti-aircraft/surface armament.

Germany

S-4780
S-Boat
Details as per the real ships.

M-501
M1935 Class Minesweeper
Details as per the real ships

R-449
R-Boat
Details as per the real ships, extant up to the period the novel is set (1942/43).
Note: The 'Räumboote' were built as small minesweepers, this one is being used as a patrol boat. Author explicitly identifies this ship as an R-Boat. The pennant number is outside the set assigned to the final batch of ships that were never completed due to the end of the war.

U-431
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat that was commissioned in April 1941 and sunk in October 1941. The U-Boat in the novel is sunk in February 1943. Armament includes 2 x prototype G7e/T4 'Falke' acoustic homing torpedoes (A real weapon, in service briefly in 1943 from March of that year.).

U-537
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type IXC/40 U-Boat commissioned in January 1943 and sunk in November 1944.

U-555
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat that was commissioned in January 1941 and survived WWII due to it's use as a training vessel. The U-boat in the novel is sunk in late November 1942.

U-601
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat that was commissioned in December 1941 and sunk in February 1944. The U-Boat in the novel is sunk in February 1943 by friendly fire.

U-630
U-Boat, type not specified
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat that was commissioned in July 1942 and sunk in May 1943. The submarine in the novel is sunk in February 1943.

U-647
Type XIV U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat commissioned in November 1942 and reported missing in August 1943. The submarine in the novel is sunk in February 1943.

F-11
F-class Escort Ship (Frigate)
Details as per the real ships.

F-12
F-class Escort Ship (Frigate)
Details as per the real ships.

F-100
F-class Escort Ship (Frigate)
Details as per the real ships.

Note: The F Class Escorts (or Flottenbegleiter) were a failed class of ten (Named: F-1 to F-10) 'frigate like' vessels built prior to WWII with the intention of using them as fleet/convoy escorts. However the decision to also use them as test beds for a future destroyer power-plant resulted in the class quickly being relegated to non-combat functions due to the unreliability of the power-plant installed.

Kalkar
Königsberg Class Cruiser (WWII)
Details as per the real ships

Fassen
Boom Defence Vessel (former Sperrbrecher)
500 tons
Coal fired.
No other details
Note: A 'Sperrbrecher' was a converted merchant ship used as an escort for vessels traveling through minefields, the hulls were specially strengthened to allow them to survive if they hit a mine.

Unnamed
3 x Type 1934 destroyers
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: As 1942 turns into 1943 (The story runs between November 1942 and the start of February 1943) the men of the 31st Escort Group (aka 'Special Force Orca'.) find themselves being pushed to the limit as the war rages on with seemingly no end in sight.

Note: As the series moves on it's been interesting to watch the evolution of the series from the 'Boys Own Adventure' styling of 'On The Edge of Darkness' (2013) to this novel which manages to generate real tension at several points and ends rather sombrely with the officer in charge of Special Force Orca again struggling with the loss of men under his command and the fear that he's pushing them and himself too hard.
 
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Nicholas Monsarrat, HMS Marlborough Will Enter Harbour, 1947

United Kingdom

HMS Marlborough
Sloop, commissioned 1926.
Clyde built, twin turbines, 2 four-inch guns converted later to twin mountings. Has an A gun and an X gun.

Plot summary: It is the last day of 1942 and HMS Marlborough has been torpedoed. She is 300 miles from home. The front half of the ship is badly damaged and the crew have to fight her back to a safe harbour.

Note: This is one of Monsarrats' first studies of the smaller ships of the type on which he served, his first being a Flower-class corvette. This marked a change from the usual stories about battleships and aircraft carriers.
 
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Nicholas Monsarrat, The Cruel Sea, 1951

United Kingdom

HMS Compass Rose
Flower-class Corvette, commissioned 1939.
As per the real ships. Four inch gun and depth charges.

Claimed to be the first of her class. Built at Fleming's Shipyard on the Clyde. Sunk in 1943.

HMS Viperous
V&W Class Destroyer.

HMS Sorrel, Trefoil and Campanula
Flower-class Corvettes. Sister ships to Compass Rose.

HMS Lancelot and HMS Liberal
L-class destroyers. Deemed brand new in late 1941.

HMS Saltash, Harmer and Streamer
River-class Frigates.

HMS Vista, Pergola, Rockery, Rose Arbour, Petal
Corvettes, class unidentified.

Plot summary: The Cruel Sea is considered the definitive novel of life on a small warship carrying out convoy duties during WW2. The author served aboard 4 such ships and wrote from personal experience to great acclaim.
 
Anthony Molloy, By Thought and By Deed, 2013

United Kingdom

HMS Illustrious (R87)
Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Regni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Flagship 31st Escort Group. See the entry for 'Notice for Steam' (2013) for details on the ships armament.

HMS Cornovii
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Iceni
Tribal Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Wilful
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class determined from name only.

HMS Impunity
Escort Carrier, class not specified
Airgroup includes Supermarine Seafires & Grumman Martlets (Note: Martlet was the British name for the Grumman Wildcat.)
No other details provided.

HMS Egbert
S-Boat (Copy)
Details as per the real ships as to dimensions and external appearance.
Note: See the entry for 'Dead Reckoning' (2013) for the details on this ship.

Germany

M-505
M1935 Class Minesweeper
Details as per the real ships

R-460
R-Boat
Details as per the real ships, extant up to the period the novel is set (1943).

U-381
U-Boat, Type not specified
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat commissioned in January 1942 and reported missing in May of 1943. The submarine in the novel is sunk in February of 1943.

U-441
Type VIIC (Flak) U-Boat
Real ship, details as in service
Note: The U-Flak conversions did not enter service in the real world until June of 1943, this novel has them becoming active in March of that year.

U-538
Type VIIC (Flak) U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type IXC/40 U-Boat commissioned in February 1943 and sunk in November of the same year. This U-Boat is sunk in March of 1943. The author identifies it as the 2nd such submarine to complete the conversion after U-441. While the author does not specifically state the submarine is a Type VIIC, all the other U-Flak conversions were and so this is the most likely type for it to be.

Note: The U-Flak boats (U-256, U-441, U-621 & U-953 (Three other U-Boats were under conversion when the program was abandoned.)) were all converted Type VIIC fitted with an augmented AA armament comprising 8 x 20mm guns (Quad mounts fore and aft), 1 x 37mm gun and multiple AA MGs. They were part of an attempt to reduce losses amongst U-Boats crossing the Bay of Biscay which failed due to rapidly improving Allied ASW tactics. Torpedo armament was reduced to five torpedoes with no reloads and range was only sufficient to transit the Bay of Biscay and return. Historically they became active in June of 1943, several months after the events the author depicts in this novel.

U-647
Type VII U-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant is that of a Type VIIC U-Boat commissioned in November of 1942 and reported missing in July 1943. The submarine in the novel is sunk in March 1943.

U-648
Type IXD
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Pennant clashes with a Type VIIC U-Boat commissioned in November 1942 and reported missing in November 1943. In the eleventh novel of the series 'Conqueror of the Oceans' (2013) which starts around June of 1943, the submarine is captured by the English and put into service as HMS Absolute. The author J. E. Macdonnell used the same pennant number for a U-Boat of unspecified type in his 1962 novel 'U-Boat' which I have also covered in this thread.

F-18
F Class Escort Ship (Frigate)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: See the entry for 'Notice for Steam' (2013) for details on the F Class Escort Ships.

Theodore Lody
Type 1936A Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author explicitly identifies the ship as a Type 1936A Destroyer. In real life all members of this class were unnamed.

Bernd Riedel
Type 1936A Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author explicitly identifies the ship as a Type 1936A Destroyer. In real life all members of this class were unnamed.

Hans Thiele
Type 1936A Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author explicitly identifies the ship as a Type 1936A Destroyer. In real life all members of this class were unnamed.

Gustloff Delfin
Type 1936A Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author explicitly identifies the ship as a Type 1936A Destroyer. In real life all members of this class were unnamed.

Nienberg
Minesweeper (either M1915 or M1916 Type)
No other details provided, other than it is a ship dating back to WWI.
Note: German minesweepers comprised several types identified by the year they were ordered (M1915, M1916, M1935, M1940 & M1943). The earliest classes were WWI era vessels reconverted into minesweepers on commencement of hostilities. The author had previously used the name 'Nienberg' in his first novel ('On The Edge of Darkness' (2013)) for a German heavy cruiser of unspecified class.

Pech
Armed Trawler
Main weapon (unspecified) is mounted fwd.
No other details provided.

Helga Geise
Salvage Tug
27,000 hp engines.
No other details provided.

Carl Gustloff
Armed Merchant Cruiser (Commerce Raider)
12 x 5.9 inch guns (Single mounts 6 a side)
Unspecified AA, 4 x TT (2 a side)
Carries 2 x Arado Ar-196 seaplanes

Plot summary: The year is 1943 (The novel covers the period February to May of that year.) having made Norwegian waters too hot for them, the 31st Escort Group (aka 'Special Force Orca') is transferred south and tasked with finding and dealing with the cause of a spike in aircraft losses over the Bay of Biscay.
 
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With thanks to Abraham Gubler & Observer114 for reminding me of this book and the trilogy it formed a part of.

John Wingate, Submarine, 1982

United Kingdom

HMS Orcus
Oberon Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author describes the submarine as being "...one of the last of the Oberons and in peacetime would have been consigned to the scrap-yard long ago..." This would imply she commissioned sometime in the 1965 to 1967 time period. The Oberon Class Submarines built for the Royal Navy commissioned between 1960 & 1967, with construction of the Oberons for Australia starting in the latter year.

HMS Safari
Swiftsure Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

United States

USS Constitution (CV-??)
Kitty Hawk Class Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author initially mentions the USS Constellation (CV-64) at one point and then uses USS Constitution thereafter for the rest of the novel for what is clearly the same ship, it is not clear if this is a misprint on the part of the publisher or not. The name clashes with one of the original ships of the US Navy, the sailing frigate USS Constitution which is nominally still in service.

Avalon 3
Mystic Class DSRV
Details as per the real ships

Avalon 4
Mystic Class DSRV
Details as per the real ships.

Russia

Various Unnamed warships

Plot summary: It is the 'Day After Tomorrow'. A conventional WWIII has been raging for some months, the attempts by the Soviets to interdict the trans-Atlantic supply lines have failed. Now, under the threat of taking the conflict to the nuclear stage they are demanding a truce. The Western Powers realize their only chance is to prove that they can take out the Soviet SSBNs before they can launch. Two British submarines are sent north with orders to sink a Soviet Typhoon Class Submarine at all costs.

Note: Author John Wingate is (was?) a British writer of nautical fiction whose career began in the late 1950s with the publication of the 'Boys own Adventure' - style series 'Submariner Sinclair' (I've covered the second volume of the series 'Jimmy-The-One: A Submariner Sinclair Story' (1960), which along with his later 'The Sea Above Them' (1975) in this thread.). This book is the last in a three part WWIII series (The other two books are 'Frigate' (1981?) & 'Carrier' (1981?)). I get the feeling the final paperback volume was hurried into publication to capitalize on the Falklands War (April - May 1982), with the use of a stock photograph rather than artwork on the cover being an unusual feature for the time, at least in fiction. The hardback edition of the novel seems to have been released shortly before the conflict started.
 

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Harry Rubin, Sunken Treasure, 2009

United States

USS Keystone (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer (?) (The author simply refers to the ship as a 'Guided Missile Destroyer', given the year the novel is set this is the most likely class.)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: While the ship appears in the opening of the story the author provides no details to specify the ships class.

USS Broken Arrow (aka MV Broken Arrow (GA876CG)))
Covert Ops Vessel (Converted Shrimp Boat)
Length: 80ft (24.4m)
Built: 1974
Engine: 1 x 450hp Diesel Engine
Speed: 7knots (Cruising) 15knots (Max)
Crew: 8
Electronics: Military grade communications (Including SatCom equipment) and unspecified sonar concealed in the former shrimp hold. Retains civilian grade communications equipment, radar and GPS. 1 x 35kw generator to provide power when the engines are not in use. This mission adds a magnetometer to the carried equipment.
Armament: 7 x Beretta M9 Handguns, 2 x M-14 Rifles, 1 x M3A1 SMG, 1 x M107 0.5 inch Anti-Materiel Rifle & 4 x Limpet Mines. This is the same fit out as in the authors previous novel, 'U-Boat Secret Mission' (2008), which is set a month prior to the events covered in this novel.
Other equipment: A 14ft dingy powered by a 50hp motor, SCUBA equipment and other underwater salvage gear.
Note: The ships registration number is described in the first novel it appears in as being the registration of another shrimp trawler that was "...sunk in a storm a few years back...". This ship, like the ship in 'The Counterfeit War' (2007) was transferred to the navy for covert ops use after being confiscated as proceeds of crime. (The previous owner was caught with a hold full of drugs.) Modifications for the current role include the adding of a sonar dome under the former shrimp hold, which as noted previously has been fitted out with military grade equipment. The cover story used in 'The Missing Bomb' (2008) was that the boat is carrying out a sonar survey for an oil company. In 'U-Boat Secret Mission' (2008) the ship was described as a US Navy Auxiliary Trawler. In this novel, a different cover identity, that of a 'party boat' named MV Rum and Coke is used. Papers are provided to the crew covering both identities.

Cuba

Unnamed
'Patrol Boat', class not specified
Crew: 12
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The year is 2008 or 2009 (As noted above the action starts one month after the events of the previous novel, however just which month is not specified.). A US Navy destroyer operating off the coast of Cuba rescues a stranded sailor. She advises them that she is an archaeologist who has located a sunken Spanish galleon carrying treasures looted from the Aztecs. Warning that Cuba or Venezuela will try and salvage the treasure for their own ends, she pleads with the United States authorities to prevent this from happening. The team that successfully solved the mystery of the U-724s mission is reactivated and tasked with locating the treasure and bringing it to the surface.

Note: This is the fifth in a series of books by this author dealing with small scale covert operations by the US Navy. The previous four novels in the series are 'Chasing Pirates' (2006), 'The Counterfeit War' (2007), 'The Missing Bomb' (2008) and 'U-Boat Secret Mission' (2008) have been covered earlier in this thread.
 
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