Fictional Warships - Novels

Philip McCutchan, Halfhyde and the Chain Gangs, 1985

United Kingdom

Glen Halladale
Full Rigged Sailing Ship
Details as per the last ships of this type constructed wholly of wood.
Note: In temporary RN service as a transport vessel during the lead up to the 2nd Boer War (1899 - 1902)

Tintagel Castle
Steamer (Described as "...a big ship, three masts and tiered decks...")
Details as per typical ships of this type during the late 19th Century
Note: In temporary RN service as a transport vessel during the lead up to the 2nd Boer War (1899 - 1902)

Non-State

Unnamed
Steam Yacht
Armament: 2 x .303 Gatling Guns & other small arms
No other details.
Owned by a criminal conspiracy with ties to people in the British Establishment...

Plot summary: As tensions between the British and the Boer Republics in South Africa increase, a retired RN Captain is temporarily recommissioned and put in charge of a transport ship taking prisoners from Dartmoor to South Africa where they will form part of a labor battalion. One of the prisoners makes some extraordinary claims and events at sea start to suggest there may be some truth to them.

Note: No specific dating information is provided, but this story takes place before 'Halfhyde and the Flag Review,' (1991) which is set in 1897 and the events from it are referred to in the later novel.
 
Philip McCutchan, Halfhyde and the Admiral, 1990

Chile

Almirante Smith (ex-HMS King William IV)
'Battleship' class not specified
No other details provided.

Note: In an earlier novel in the series 'Halfyde Ordered South' (1979) the Royal Navy transferred an Inflexible Class Battleship, HMS Meridian to the Chilean Navy. This is a later British transfer. The author describes the ship as the 'flagship' of the Chilean Navy. No specifics are given to determine what class she is. In reality while the Chilean's did obtain a pre-dreadnought battleship in the 19th Century, it was a new French built ship named Capitán Prat, after Chilean naval hero Arturo Prat.

Unnamed
'Cruiser', class not specified
No other details.

Germany

Unnamed
'Cruiser', class not specified
No other details.

Plot summary: The series hero has his arm twisted by the RN and is asked to assist in a delicate matter, a former commander, now the officer in charge of the Chilean Navy has fallen out of favor thanks to the machinations of the Germans, can he provide temporary sanctuary until the Whitehall Mandarins can work out how to restore him to favor.

Note: In this, the penultimate story of the 'Halfhyde series' the author repeatedly mentions the transfer of HMS Meridian to Chile that was the centerpiece of 'Halfhyde Ordered South' (1979), covered earlier in the thread, at no point in the novel does he mention what the Chilean's named the ship once she was in their service.
 
Last edited:
Philip McCutchan, Halfhyde on Zanatu, 1982

United Kingdom

HMS Seahorse
Torpedo Boat Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided
Note: This ship first appears in the previous novel 'Halfhyde on the Yangtze' (1981), in this story she is undergoing a refit and does not take part in events. The name clashes with a survey ship in service between 1880 and 1920.

HMS Talisman
Torpedo Boat Destroyer, class not specified
Turtle-back foredeck
No other details provided
Note: This name was apparently not used by the Royal Navy until just before WWI.

HMS Port Royal
'First Class Cruiser', class not specified
See note below for armament, otherwise no specifics provided.
Note: The name had not been used by the Royal Navy since the 18th Century.

HMS Plantaganet
'Second Class Cruiser', class not specified
See note below for armament, otherwise no specifics provided.
Note: At the time the novel is set in the late 19th Century, the name did not clash with any active RN Ship. A 74 gun ship of the line of that name had been in service between 1801 and 1817.

Note: In one scene where a character is referring to both cruisers named above, it's stated that they have a main battery of "...Six-inch breech-loaders..."

Russia (Empire)

Ekaterina Velikaya (Eng: Catherine the Great)
'Battleship', class not specified
No other details provided
Note: The author only gives the name in English. The name Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya (Eng: Empress Catherine the Great) was used for a dreadnought battleship commissioned in 1915.

Smolensk
'Armored Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided.

Berezina
'Armored Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided.

Japan

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

Plot summary: Some renegade Irishmen have stirred up the natives on a Pacific island, and there is evidence that the Russians are up to tricks again...

Note: The author appears to have read the accounts of post WWII 'Cargo Cults' to craft this one. This is the last novel in the series where the character is in active RN service.
 
Mike Lunnon-Wood, Dark Rose, 1996

United Kingdom

HMS Dundee
Type 42 Destroyer (Batch III)
Completed: 1986
Details as per the real ships

Republic of Ireland

LÉ Kathleen (ex-HMS ?)
Peacock Class Patrol Vessel
Details as per the real ships
Note: The Peacock Class were built for service at Hong Kong, when the colony reverted to China the ships were sold off to the Philippines and Ireland.

LÉ Deirdre
Eithne Class Patrol Vessel
Details as per the real ships
Note: Only one of the class LÉ Eithne, was built in the real world.

Libya

Ras Ali
Armed Merchant Ship
Armament: Aft mounted Exocet launcher.
No other details

Ras Mohammed
Armed Merchant Ship
Armament: Tanks of unspecified type chained to deck
No other details.

Note: In both cases it appears to be the improvised use of land armament in a naval setting

Plot summary: The year is 1995. For those who planned it, it seemed simple, suborn the Irish republic economically, take over the country and make a simple offer, Ireland for Palestine... They should have talked to the IRA about how that might go down in Ireland...

Note: Mike Lunnon-Wood (1956 - 2008), was a rising figure in military/action fiction at the time of his death, I've covered several of his novels earlier in the thread, namely, 'Let Not the Deep' (1995), 'Kings Shilling' (1998), 'Long Shot' (1999) and 'Congo Blue' (2002) which are marketed as a group, this novel is one of his 'stand alones'.

This is also probably the wildest scenario the author came up with, and I will give him some credit for coming up with something beyond the usual terrorist shenanigans. But this novel feels 'over-the-top' compared with the other novels. he wrote.
 
Last edited:
The fruits of a 'deep dive' into pulp fiction.

Stanton A. Coblentz, The Phantom Armada, published in Fantastic Adventures, May 1942

Inter-America (Described as an alliance of the US, Canada & 'Latin America', but more likely the US has expanded to include all states in North/South America.)

USS Wake Island
'Battleship'
90,000 tons
Main Battery, 22 inch guns.
Speed: 40 knots
No other details

USS Pearl Harbor
'Battleship'
Same details as USS Wake Island

USS Samoa
'Battleship'
Same details as USS Wake Island

Note: The author never gives a class name, so I'm dubbing these the 'Wake Island Class Battleships', all of them are named after locations important in the First Hemispheric War (aka World War II...)

Trans-Asiatic League (aka Greater EastAsia Co-Prosperity Sphere, aka Empire of Japan.)

Hiwata
'Battleship'
No other details

Unnamed
2 x Battleships
120,000 tons
Main Battery 8 x 25 inch guns
Length: "...a fifth of a mile long..."
No other details

Plot summary: In 1982, the Second Hemispheric War began, certain events at the start of the conflict have never been officially explained, but information surfacing in 1997 offered clues as to just what happened.

Note: This piece of wartime (The story came out before the Battle of Midway (June 1942)) hokum, falls firmly into the category of 'Future of the Past'. I also have to wonder if this story fed into the lore that became the 'Philadelphia Experiment' in 1957.
 
Last edited:
Percy F. Westerman, The Pirate Submarine, No copyright date.

Non-State

Trevorrick, Pengelly & Co. Shipbreakers (Trading as the Polkyll Shipbreaking Company.)

Alerte (Ex-R-81)
R Class Submarine (WWI)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Disguised as a small tramp steamer, the submarines batteries have been removed, but the submarine retains it's capacity to submerge if need be. The armament is now 1 x 6inch QF (Purchased from a Belgian manufacturer). Small arms described as 'pistols' and a 'machine gun', which are noted to use the same calibre of ammunition, presumably also Belgian in origin.

Fairy (PZ 4452b)
Fishing Boat
Typical boat of the type found off the Cornish coast in the early 1920s.
Note: Not owned by the Polkyll Shipbreaking Company, but belongs to an associate of the principles and is used as a covert supply ship, this is also the ship that collects the loot. No armament.

United Kingdom

R-67
R Class Submarine (WWI)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Undergoing scrapping at the Polkyll Shipbreaking yard in Falmouth, used as a parts source for Alerte.

Note: The WWI R Class of submarines were the first submarines designed to hunt and kill other submarines. They had the highest submerged speed of any class of submarine during WWI, completed without deckguns they were capable of a submerged speed of 14knots. Twelve were ordered, two of which were cancelled prior to completion. All but two of the submarines were scrapped in 1923, the survivors were retained as high speed underwater targets for ASW training with the last survivor going out of service in 1934. While the author does not identify the class by name, the details he provides fits this class.

HMS Calder
'Destroyer' Class not specified
No other details provided
Note: Forms part of a characters backstory. Does not take part in the story.

HMS Windrush
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment based name only.

HMS Canvey
Q Ship (Converted tramp steamer)
Armament: 6 x 6 inch guns (3 a side), 2 x TT (under water), depth charge launchers.
Aircraft: 2 x "...the latest type of small flying boats fitted with folding wings."
Note: Operating under the identity of the Candide, a Belgian steamer.

Spain

Villamil
'Destroyer' class not specified
Displacement: 360tons
Speed: 28knots
Crew: 80
Described as 'old'
Armament: 5 x 6pdr guns "...of which three could fire ahead and three on the beam...", 2 x TT

Plot summary: It is within a few years of the end of WWI, two scrap merchants, faced with disaster as the scrap metal price collapses come up with an 'unorthodox' solution to their money troubles.

Note: This is classic 'Boys Own Adventure' stuff, to the authors credit he does the one thing that many other writers of 'modern age' piracy tales forget to do, covers how the pirates plan to dispose of the loot.
 
Last edited:
Continuing the 'deep dive' into pulp fiction...

John Webb, Torpedo!, published in Battle Stories, May 1929, republished in World Wide Adventure, Fall 1968

United States

USS Achilles
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided

USS Scorpion
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided

Germany

Unnamed
U-Boat, type not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: The year is 1917, America has just entered World War I and the German Navy has just inflicted the first blow against the Americans, now the crew of a destroyer must make a dangerous decision if they are to survive.
 
Edward Ellsberg, Cmdr., War Zone , Published in Adventure Magazine, February 1932

United States

USS Walton
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided.

L-20
L Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Historically only 11 members of the class were built.

Germany

U-38
U-Boat, type not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with U-38, UB-38 & UC-38, not enough information to provided to identify which type it is.

U-83
U-Boat, type not specified
Note: Pennant clashes with U-83 & UB-83, not enough information provided to identify which type it is.

Plot summary: It is some time after the American entry into World War I, the crew of an American submarine find the distress buoy of a German submarine, and attempt to persuade the captain to surrender his ship.

Note: The author was a serving US Navy officer who at the time had been involved in the failed attempt to rescue the crew of the S-4 and in the successful salvage of the S-51. In 1931 he wrote a novel called 'Pigboats' about the US submarine service which was subsequently filmed as 'Hell Below' in 1933. This short story published in 1932 is identified as "...a sequel..." to the 1931 novel, but until I've located a copy of the novel I will not be able to confirm just how accurate that statement is.
 
Moving away from the pulps for a bit...

Claude G. Berube, The Aden Effect, 2012

United States

USS San Antonio (LPD-17)
San Antonio Class Landing Platform Dock
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Bennington (CG-74)
Ticonderoga Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Ships Motto is 'Vigilant and Victorious'
Stated to be on her 'last mission'.

USS LeFeon (DDG-125)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: The pennant clashes with that of the USS Jack H. Lucas whose construction started in 2019, with an estimated commissioning date of 2023.

India

INS Talwar (F40)
Talwar Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service 2003 - Ongoing.

INS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes)
Centaur Class Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

China (People's Republic)

Harbin
Type 052 Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Shenzhen
Type 051B Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

Non State

Somali Pirates

Sulieman
'Mothership' (Dhow)
No other specifics provided

Highland Maritime Defense ('Defense Contractor' e.g. Mercenaries.)

M/V Kirkwall
Armed Offshore Supply Ship.
Length: 120ft
Displacement: 160 tons
Engines: 2 x Paxman Diesels
Speed: 23 knots
Armament: Unspecified small arms.

Plot summary: As Somali piracy spikes of the coast of Yemen, evidence comes to light of a deep laid conspiracy.
 
Grey Havoc said:
Graham1973 said:
Highland Maritime Defense ('Defense Contractor' e.g. Mercenaries.)
Click to expand...

Now, now, they are 'Private Military Contractors'. ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction.

Now onto the next set of ships.

Alexander Fullerton, Storm Force to Narvik, 1979

United Kingdom

HMS Gauntlet
G Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Hoste
H Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Intent
I Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

Norway

HNoMS Valkyrien
Sail Training Yacht
Built: 1890
Length: 120ft
Displacement: 200 tons
Unarmed
Steam engine with auxiliary sails
Speed: 6 Knots
No other details provided.

Germany

Unnamed
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Tonning
Oiler
Displacement: 14,000 tons
Speed: 12knots (14knots at trials)
Unarmed, but has the capability to fit a gun forward.
Cargo: 8,000tons fuel oil
No other details provided.
Note: Captured by HMS Intent.

Unnamed
2 x Type 1934 Destroyers
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author identifies these as Beitzen Class Destroyers, the Richard Beitzen (Z4) was a Type 1934 Destroyer in service 1937 until the end of the war. It was handed over to the British and scrapped in 1949.

Plot summary: The year is 1940, the German invasion of Norway has just begun and a damaged British destroyer finds itself in a cat and mouse game with the enemy.
 
Dominic Conlon, Arctic Firepath, 2014

United States

USS Montana (SSN-812)
Virginia Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name clashes with Virginia Class Submarine SSN-794, pennant number clashes with that of an Unnamed Block V Virginia Class Submarine. Hood notes in his fictional warships list that this would imply USS Virginia is SSN-800 rather than SSN-774.

Russia

LK-80
Icebreaker (Nuclear Powered)
Twin Reactor Powerplant (Two KLT-80C reactors)
Speed: 25knots
Crew: 140
Length: 150m
Beam: 50
Draft: 6m
No other details provided
Note: Appears to be based off the Project 22220, the name indicates it has an 80 megawatt power plant.

Plot summary: An investigation into fraud involving a major Russian energy conglomerate turns into an international incident when a Russian icebreaker collides with a US submarine high in the Arctic.
 
Joe Bergeron, The Voyage of the Ling Cod, 2020

United States

USS Shaw (DD-373)
Mahan Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
Portland Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Ling Cod (ex-USS Tarakihi)
Balao Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Has been modified from standard. Fitted with a prototype 'Magnetic Mine Detector' (aka the 'Rittenhouse Device'.), armament has not been altered, but the torpedo load is reduced to 14 to fit the additional equipment. The aft ballast tank has been converted into an additional fuel tank giving a range of 18,000 nautical miles (33,336km). The author simply notes the renaming with the implication that something went badly wrong with an earlier test of the device, causing the submarine to be repaired and renamed to 'remove the bad luck'. The same thing happened with USS Squalus, following it's sinking, after being salvaged it was recommissioned as USS Sailfish, while retaining the same pennant number SS-192.

Japan

Various Unnamed warships including 2 x Akizuki Class Destroyers.

Non-Ship (Spoilers)

Rittenhouse Device

Essentially this is a version of the device fitted to the USS Eldridge (DE-173) in the 'Philadelphia Experiment' stories, as modified for use on a submarine. It renders the fitted ship invisible to normal means of detection by rendering them 'out of phase' with the rest of the universe.

Plot summary: It is late WWII (The dropping of the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima takes place during the story.), a modified Balao class submarine is sent out on a mission to test a piece of experimental equipment in combat conditions, the results are not as expected.

Note: The 'Philadelphia Experiment' is a tale from the fringe that first appeared in the 1957, other stories I've covered related to it are 'Thin Air' (1977), 'Thunderfish' (1999), 'Whisper' (2010), 'The Displaced' (2017) & 'Operation Paradox' (2018). Recently I discovered a 1942 plup science fiction story called 'The Phantom Armada' which also has a plotline involving an invisibility inducing device that has unexpected side effects when used operationally and which may have been the inspiration for the 1957 story.
 
Last edited:
Bill Knox, Wavecrest, 1985

United Kingdom

Merlin
Fishery Protection Vessel
Crew: 24
Length: 180ft (55m)
Weight: 400 tons
Engines: 2 x 2000hp Diesels
Speed: 30 knots (Max)
Armament: None fitted, provision exists to fit weapons in wartime.

Tern
Tern Class Fishery Patrol Boat (Fictional Class?)
Length: 65ft (19.8m)
Displacement: 45 tons
Crew: 5 (Ship is described as being highly automated.)
Hull is made of glass reinforced plastic.
3 x Diesel Engines, each driving a separate propellor
Rudders: 3
Speed: 30knots

Puffin
Tern Class Fishery Patrol Boat (Fictional Class?)
Same details as Tern.

Plot summary: The series hero has been promoted to command of his own boat. Assigned a tricky patrol area he soon finds matters complicated by hostile locals, an oil slick and a murder. Heading to the victims home, he finds the place ransacked, but the items stolen suggest that someone other than the locals were behind the theft, but what were they looking for?

Note: This is one of a long running series based around a member of Britain's Fishery Protection Agency. Each book in the series is a standalone murder mystery, with an action emphasis.
 
Last edited:
Richard Setlow, The Black Sea, 1991

United States

USS Stephen Decatur (FFG-??)
Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author explicitly identifies the ship as an Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate. The ships name has not been used in this form for a US Navy warship, as the navy preferred to use the name USS Decatur for ships named after Stephen Decatur. At the time the novel was published there was no ship named USS Decatur in the US Navy, the last example was a Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer decommissioned in 1983, the Arleigh Burke Class replacement did not commission until 1998.

Russia

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

Singapore

RSS Valour (89)
Victory Class Corvette
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: A Russian cruise liner carrying American tourists around the Indonesian archipelago has been hijacked, demands for weapons have been sent to both the United States and Russia, each day the ransom is not paid, the severed head of one of the hostages is found in Singapore. The race is on to find the ship and prevent the hijackers from killing any more hostages.
 
James B. Adair, Deepcore, 1991

United States

USS Houston (SSN-713)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service 1982 - 2016

USS Cleveland
SSBN, class not specified
No other details provided.

Russia

Riga
Kilo Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Has been modified to carry tracked minisubs.

Odessa
India Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Non-Ship but interesting

United States

Liquidair Underwater Breathing System
Next generation wetsuit making use of an oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid rather than gas to permit divers to operate at great depth (Maximum depth: 3000ft (914.4m)) without the need for decompression.
The technology was in the news in the late 80s, but to date has not been used in any of it's potential applications. Gerry Anderson fans should note that the aliens in the TV series 'UFO' make use of a liquid breathing system in their spacesuits.

Non-Military but interesting

Deepcore Station
Large scale underwater habitat owned/operated by UnderWater Corp. (Fictional company.) designed to carry out industrial activities/underwater research. Power is supplied by a reactor intended for a Seawolf Class Submarine (In the authors universe the class was cancelled before any of the submarines were completed.). One research project at the station is PosiTrak, an advanced form of underwater tracking/identification system intended for the US Navy.

Plot summary: The Russians have learned that the US is working on a revolutionary underwater tracking system that will be able to identify everything manmade in the ocean. Plans are put in motion to steal, or if that is not possible destroy the technology before it can be bought into operation.

Note: As the first novel in what was apparently intended as a long term series, the novel puts some time in setting up the major characters. In the event, like the authors other attempt at series fiction 'WWIII: Behind The Lines', the series only lasted for three books. The only other novel I've covered by this author is 'Pirahna' (1992) , which may have been intended as first in yet another action series.
 
Last edited:
Evan Hunter (Pen name: Ed McBain), Murder In The Navy, 1955

United States

USS Sykes (DD-012)
Gearing Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment based on the fact that during the novel the ship is assigned to be converted into a radar picket, this was only done to the Gearing Class post-WWII. The use of a non-standard pennant is a deliberate move on the part of the author. Other details provided by the author confirm this identification.

Plot summary: A US Navy nurse is murdered aboard a destroyer, the FBI investigation into the crime ends when a crewman dies in an apparent suicide, but something is not right.

Notes: The author was born Salvatore Lombino, but changed his name to Evan Hunter in 1952 in what was essentially a commercial move. He also used several different pseudonyms for crime fiction in the 1950s before settling on Ed McBain, this novel was first published as 'Murder In The Navy' by Richard Marsten, it was subsequently re-issued as 'Death Of A Nurse' by Ed McBain before reverting to the original title.
 
With thanks to Hood for their help.

Bill Knox, Blacklight, 1967

United Kingdom

Merlin
Fishery Protection Vessel
Crew: 24
Length: 180ft (55m)
Weight: 400 tons
Engines: 2 x 2000hp Diesels
Speed: 30 knots (Max)
Armament: None fitted, provision exists to fit weapons in wartime.

Fictional Naval Weapon

United Kingdom

Unnamed
Torpedo (Prototype)
Length: 6ft (1.83m)
Weight: 550pds (249.5kg)
Air dropped (Wasp Helicopter)
Description "...advanced prototype which should have homed on target on a new sonar-pulse principle."
Note: The Royal Navy used air-dropped Mk.44 Torpedos until the United States declared the type obsolete in 1967 to be replaced with the Mk.46 Torpedo. This fictional design does not match either torpedos dimensions at least in terms of the dimensions provided. Diameter is probably the same as the Mk.44/46, 12.75inch (324mm)). It is possible that the author was inspired by early reports of a British project to design a replacement for the Mk. 44 that eventually emerged as the Sting Ray Torpedo in 1983. Hood has mentioned a further possibility in the abortive Mk.31 ASW torpedo.

Mk.19 Torpedo
Submarine Launched Torpedo
Diameter: 21inch (533mm)
Length: 20ft (6.1m)
Weight: 1.5tons (1361kg Using US Tons to Kg conversion.) (1524.1kg Using Imperial Tons to Kg conversion.) (Author just says 'tons' without specifying.)
Propulsion: Propeller driven by an Alcohol/Hydrogen Peroxide engine.
Note: From my own research the British abandoned research into using hydrogen peroxide in torpedo engines following a series of explosions with the Mk.12 Torpedo code-named 'Fancy', the information resulting from the development program and the inquiries into the explosions was passed on to Sweden who used it to develop the Torped 61 (Tp.61) a successful torpedo using hydrogen peroxide. This has led some to believe that the British gave up too early on this line of development. The next torpedo in the British armory to be given a formal 'Mark' was the Mk. 20 Torpedo code-named 'Bidder' an electrically powered torpedo that was in service between the 1950s and the 1980s. The information above is based on the following line in the novel: "The standard 21 inch Mk.19 torpedo used by the submarine branch, a hydrogen peroxide unit, was approximately twenty feet long and weighed about a ton and a half.", as to the stats not provided either the Mk.12 or the Swedish Tp.61 could be used as a model to work them out.

Plot summary: A British Fishery Protection vessel has been assigned the task of supervising a towns first deep sea fishing contest, a matter complicated when the Royal Navy announces part of the area intended for the contest is off limits due to a lost experimental torpedo.

Note: This book is one of a number of murder/mystery stories with an action emphasis based around the British Fishery Protection Service. What led the author to think that the RN was using Hydrogen Peroxide engined torpedoes in regular service is a mystery that will probably never be solved.
 
Last edited:
Cyn Mobley (Pen name: C.W. Morton), Sea Trials, 1999

United States

USS Centurion (SSN-???)
Centurion Class Submarine (SSN)
Crew: 120
Displacement: 6500 metric tons
Length: 253ft
Beam: 34ft
Test Depth: 2,500ft
Builder: Quantum Tech, described as "...a newcomer to the sub-building business...". The USS Centurion is in fact the first combat submarine the company has built.
Armament: Only specific armament mentioned is 21 inch TT, however the exact number fitted is not specified. Probably the full armament load-out would not be dissimilar to the Los Angeles/Seawolf/Virginia classes.
No other details provided.
Note: The initial design work for the Virginia Class Submarines was performed under the auspices of the 'Centurion Study', however the specifications given for this submarine does not match those of the Virginia Class or any of the preceding US Submarine classes.

Plot summary: An NCIS investigator looking into the death of a crewman on the US Navies latest submarine goes aboard during the final sea trials.

Note: I've covered one other book 'Rites of War' (1998 ) by this author under a different pen name. As with that novel I'm not impressed with the authors ability as a writer, the ultimate resolution of the mystery is very unsatisfying.
 
J.S. Law, Tenacity: A Thriller, 2015

United Kingdom

HMS Tenacity
Trafalgar Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author explicitly identifies the submarine as being the eighth member of the Trafalgar Class.

HMS Lancaster (F229)
Type 23 Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service (1992 - Ongoing)

Plot Summary: It is 2014 (The story runs between the 25th of September and the 17th of October 2014, with a prologue set in 2010.). A officer in the Royal Navies Special Investigator Branch is tasked with investigating a suspicious death aboard a nuclear submarine that has recently returned from patrol, one that is linked to an off-base murder. With the submarine unexpectedly receiving sailing orders, the investigator finds themselves having to go to sea to carry out their investigation.

Note: This novel has been used as the basis of a thriller series commissioned by ITV in 2019.
 
Dick Couch & George Galdorisi, Tom Clancy's Op-Center: Into The Fire, 2015

United States

USS Milwaukee (LCS-5)
Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship
Real ship, details as in service (2008 - Ongoing)

USS Defender (MCM-2)
Avenger Class Mine Countermeasures Ship
Real ship, details as in service (1987 - 2014)
Note: It is not possible to date the stories setting to a specific year relative to date of publication.

Korea (Democratic People's Republic)

Wan Do
Sariwon Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships
Note: I've not found a source giving the names of the ships in the North Korean Navy, this could be a real ship name.

Unnamed
2 x Najin Class Frigates
Details as per the real ships

Korea (Republic of)

Unnamed
6 x Minesweepers
No other details provided.

China (People's Republic)

Fen Dou
Hydrographic Survey Ship, class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: North Korea decides to confront the US as part of a long term plan to secure control of oil rich regions of the Yellow Sea.
 
Something a little unexpected...

C. Alexander London, Tides of War: Blood In The Water, 2014

United States

USS Stokes (DDG-??)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: There is no ship of this name in current US service, the last time it was used was for a WWII era Amphibious Cargo Ship that was in service 1944 - 1946.

Submersible Intelligence Platform (SIP)
UUV
Optimized for intelligence gathering
Has onboard 'Artificial Intelligence' system.
No other details provided

Plot summary: A US Intelligence gathering drone submersible has become trapped in North Korean waters, with the precise situation unclear a special team including Navy SEALs and US Navy Dolphin handlers is put together to deal with the problem.

Note: This is the first in a Young Adult series based around the United States Navy's, Marine Mammals Program, which uses trained dolphins and sea lions to hunt mines and protect installations against divers. The basic concept has been around for a while in fiction, Joe Poyer's 'Operation Malacca' (1968) also features the use of a trained dolphin for underwater reconnaissance and explosives deployment.
 
Last edited:
C. Alexander London, Tides of War: Enemy Lines, 2015

United States

USS McNamara
'Dock Landing Ship', class not specified
The author does not provide details to identify a specific class.

Ukraine

Unnamed
2 x Warships, class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: As Russia moves into the Crimean peninsula, the US sends in a team of dolphins and their handlers to covertly clear mines to permit the Ukrainian Navy to evacuate their ships. When they arrive they find themselves faced with an unexpected foe, Russian combat trained dolphins...

Note: This is the third in the Young Adult series based around the USNs Marine Mammals Program. The other two volumes in the series focus on sea lions and their handlers. The idea that someone has trained dolphins to kill divers has been around since the 1960s, but no evidence has been uncovered that anyone has actually done this.
 
Graham1973 said:
Plot summary: As Russia moves into the Crimean peninsula, the US sends in a team of dolphins and their handlers to covertly clear mines to permit the Ukrainian Navy to evacuate their ships. When they arrive they find themselves faced with an unexpected foe, Russian combat trained dolphins...
Click to expand...

Since we used blockships, not mines, I would REALLY love to see dolphins trying to move 6500-ton hulk of "Ochakov" out of the way)
 
Dilandu said:
Graham1973 said:
Plot summary: As Russia moves into the Crimean peninsula, the US sends in a team of dolphins and their handlers to covertly clear mines to permit the Ukrainian Navy to evacuate their ships. When they arrive they find themselves faced with an unexpected foe, Russian combat trained dolphins...
Click to expand...

Since we used blockships, not mines, I would REALLY love to see dolphins trying to move 6500-ton hulk of "Ochakov" out of the way)
Click to expand...

That's probably why the author used mines...
 
David E. Meadows, The Sixth Fleet: Tomcat, 2002

United States

All ships mentioned in the novel are real.

Algeria

Al Nasser
Kilo (Pr.877) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Al Solomon
Kilo (Pr.877) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Note: Both submarines have defected to the breakaway Islamic Republic of Barbary and North Africa.

Plot summary: In the aftermath of an uprising in Algeria by Islamic extremists trapped Americans attempt to reach safety.

Note: This is the third in a four book series which focusses on the role of the US Sixth Fleet in a fictional crisis that I suspect is inspired by the 1979 Fall of the Shah, only the last two volumes were available on the Internet Archive.
 
This is a serious work, I've been ignoring it for years, but I have to ask, why are you cataloguing every fictional ship ever??

The first post says its a continuation of the topic from Warship Projects 3.0, but why?
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
This is a serious work, I've been ignoring it for years, but I have to ask, why are you cataloguing every fictional ship ever??

The first post says its a continuation of the topic from Warship Projects 3.0, but why?
Click to expand...

Because I quite enjoyed the original thread on the now lost Warship Projects 3.0 board and think it's a good way to see just what people were thinking, when they thought it and how it impacts popular culture. Wikipedia's 'Lists of Fictional Astronauts' section is another good example, also some forum members have found it useful for activities like gaming and one day I hope Tzoli might find something that inspires them.
 
Graham1973 said:
Because I quite enjoyed the original thread on the now lost Warship Projects 3.0 board and think it's a good way to see just what people were thinking, when they thought it and how it impacts popular culture. Wikipedia's 'Lists of Fictional Astronauts' section is another good example, also some forum members have found it useful for activities like gaming and one day I hope Tzoli might find something that inspires them.
Click to expand...

And also I found quite a lot of interesting things to read due to this theme - thank you!
 
Something unexpected...

David E. Meadows, Joint Task Force: America, 2004

United States

All ships named in the story are real.

France

Charles De Gaulle (R91)
Charles De Gaulle Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service 2001 - Ongoing.

United Kingdom

HMS Churchill
Aircraft Carrier (CVN), class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Stated to be first in class.

Plot summary: Intelligence has emerged that an Islamic extremist foiled in his attempt to turn the Republic of Liberia into an outpost of Islamic extremism in West Africa has another plan and the hunt is on to find a freighter reportedly carrying a nuclear bomb.

Note: This is the second in a four book series by this author. It's full of the usual post-11th of September, 2001 paranoia about Islamic extremists. I'll admit to being very surprised when the British CVN popped up.
 
Another find from my deep dive into the pulp magazines....

Reese Wolfe, Slow Bell, Published in Adventure Magazine, October 1942

Germany

Ostnabruck
'Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: An American freighter gets caught up in the German Invasion of Norway.

Note: In 1940 the US was still neutral.
 
Continuing the exploration of wartime pulp magazines,

Durand Kiefer, The Fog of March Fifteenth, Published in Adventure Magazine, March 1942

United Kingdom

HMS Tremaine (Ex-USS Briggs)
Town Class Destroyer
Details as per typical members of this class in British Service
Note: The specific US class (The Town Class was made up of former Caldwell, Wickes & Clemson Class Destroyers) is not given in the story. The anti-aircraft armament is described as 'augmented' without specifics. The name itself is that of a village in Cornwall.

Germany

Various Unnamed Warships.

Plot summary: An American Naval Observer finds himself in the thick of things during a night patrol of the English Channel.

Note: The author does not specify the year, but I get the feeling it's meant to be taken as being set on March 15, 1941. The 'Destroyers-for-Bases' deal was signed on September 2, 1940, meaning the story has to take place after that date, and there is nothing in the story to indicate it's taking place after December 7, 1941.
 
Last edited:
The 'deep dive' into the wartime pulp magazines continues.

Leslie T. White, East of the Williwaw (Part 4), published in Adventure Magazine, August 1941

Germany

Admiral Schneider
Deutschland Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Explicitly identified as such by the author.

Plot summary: American and Chilean cowboys team up to trap a German Pocket Battleship trying to sneak around Cape Horn.

Note: This is the last part of a four part story, which was the only part available on the Internet Archive. The basic plotline may have been inspired by C.S. Forester's 'Brown on Resolution'.

Later: The issues containing the first and second parts of the story, May and June of 1941 have been located, there are no additonal warships mentioned, but in passing it's mentioned that the Admiral Schneider was the ship that attacked Convoy HX86 on the 5th of November, 1940 rather than the Admiral Scheer, a clear case of 'ripping straight from the headlines'.
 
Last edited:
Charles T. S. Gladden, A God With Clay Feet, published in Adventure Magazine, May 1942

United States

USS Neptune (SS-137)
'Fleet Submarine', class not specified
Details as per the typical members of the Gato, Balao and Tench Classes.
Note: Pennant clashes with the S-Class Submarine S-32 which was in service 1922 - 1945.

USS Driad
'Fleet Submarine', class not specified
Details as per the typical members of the Gato, Balao and Tench Classes.

Japan

Unnamed
'Destroyer' Class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: A captain, survivor of a sunken submarine takes command of a new ship, the crew wonder if his experiences have left him unfit to command.
 
Last edited:
Time and Tide by Thomas Fleming

USS Jefferson City
Northampton class heavy cruiser with different features ( secondary 5" mounted in four twin turrets

USS Brockton
Unspecified heavy cruiser.

Multiple unspecified destroyers

Story: multi year epic where the Jeff City plays the part of cruisers Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and others in multiple real battles from Savo Island to the end of the war. I have read this multiple times and it always delivers!
 
H. Fredric Young, Bluewater Bullion, published in Adventure Magazine, May 1948

Japan

Shihoku Maru
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
No dimensional/Armament details provided
Equipped with a furnace capable of melting down gold ingots.
Note: Author has a character specifically identify the ship as a commerce raider in dialog.

Plot summary: After the end of WWII rumours spread that at least some of the treasure known as ' Yamashita's Gold' may have been spirited away on a commerce raider that evaded an Australian cruiser and then vanished. Now someone thinks they have found the ship...
 
Last edited:
Another pulp magazine find...

Gordon Carroll, The Last Dispatch, published in Adventure Magazine, January 1934

United Kingdom

HMS Durchester
Town Class Cruiser (WWI)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author has a character identify her as "...one of the old City Class...", as there was no such class in British service, I have used editorial discretion in this case. The town name is as far as I can tell fictitious.

Plot summary: The hunt for a German spy during the last years of WWI leads to an unexpected and agonising choice.
 
After a discussion with Hood, another pulp magazine find.

John Peter Drummond, Ki-Gor and the Nirvana of the Seven Voodoos, published in Jungle Stories 1949

United Kingdom

HMS Rhododendron
'Gunboat', class not specified
No other details provided
Note: Described by one character as a 'young battleship'. Operates on Lake Victoria.

This ship comes from a story in a long running pulp series that's regarded as the best of the Tarzan rip-offs, the stories are printed in no particular order after the first, but I think they were all set in the 1930s.
 
From a wartime era Sci-Fi pulp.

Gerald Vance & Bruce Dennis, The Giant From Jupiter, published in Fantastic Adventures, June 1942

USS Huxley (DD-723)
Alan M. Sumner Class Destroyer(?)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: This is based on the artwork that opens the story, which depicts a destroyer with pennant DD-723 and which closely resembles the Alan M. Sumner Class. The pennant clashes with that of USS Walke, a member of the Alan M. Sumner Class.

Germany

Various Unnamed U-Boats

Japan

Various Unnamed Submarines

Plot summary: First contact in a time of war is never an easy thing.
 

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.

Back
Top Bottom