Fictional Warships - Novels

[Graham1973]

Continuing my search through wartime pulp magazines...

Henry Gade, Heroes Die Hard, published in Fantastic Adventures, December 1943

United States (Coast Guard)

USCGC Bertram
'Cutter' class not specified
No other details provided

USCGC Wallace
'Cutter' class not specified
No other details provided

United Kingdom

HMS Hampstead
Banff Class Sloop
Details as per the real ships
Note: The author refers to this ship as a 'Cutter'. The Banff Class Sloops were Lake Class Coast Guard Cutters transferred to the Royal Navy in 1941 under 'Lend Lease'.

Plot summary: 'You will fight until you are killed. When you are killed you will fight on with your spirit.' Attributed to General Sato, commander Japanese 31st Infantry Division at the Battle of Kohima.

 

[Graham1973]

From an anthology of action stories aimed at younger readers...

Walter Havinghurst, Suicide Ship, published in Stand By For Adventure: Six Stories of Action, William H. Larson (ed.), 1967

United Kingdom

HMS Pentland Firth
Armed Merchant Cruiser
Armament details as per the real ships of this type (Most likely 8 x 6 inch guns mounted 4 a side.)
No other details provided.

Germany

Schwartzwald
Scharnhorst Class Battleship
Details as per the real ships
Author's Description: "...a battleship, with tripod mast, a powerful curved wake and bristling turrets. The pictures in the naval manual leaped to his mind - "Schwartzwald" - the long low hull, the flaring bows, the severe raked superstructure."
Note: Class assignment is based on the authors description which best fits the Scharnhorst Class (Including an 11inch main battery.) rather than any other ship in German service during WWII. The English translation of the name can be rendered as either 'Blackwood' or 'Black Forrest', with the latter being the more likely.

Plot summary: It is the early years of WWII (The Americans have not entered the war and so it has to be set before the 7th of December 1941.). An British convoy comes under attack by German battleship and is defended by the escorting Armed Merchant Cruiser, an unequal contest.

Note: There were two naval actions where RN Armed Merchant Cruisers took on German warships in the early part of WWII, HMS Rawalpindi vs Scharnhorst & Gneisenau (23rd November, 1939) and HMS Jervis Bay vs Admiral Scheer (5th November, 1940). The 1941 short story covered in this post appears to be based on the action of the 5th November, 1940, but the ship the Armed Merchant Cruiser faces is clearly based on the German ships that took part in the action of the 23rd November, 1939.

 

[ptdockyard]

Douglas Reeman, Torpedo Run, 1981

United Kingdom

'Parthian' Force

'Merlin'
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Flotilla leader

'Harrier'
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships.

'Buzzard'
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships.

'Osprey'
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships.

'Kestrel'
Vosper Type II MTB
Details as per the real ships.

Note: Note it is stated that the pennant numbers have been removed from all five MTBs that make up this force, each is given the code name of a bird-of-prey. All ships are described as being newly built and the crews specially chosen for this mission. Class has been determined based on armament description and the fact that the length described fits the Vosper Type II.

Russia

Various 'Unnamed' warships

Germany

Potsdam
S-Boat Depot Ship (Converted merchant ship)
Displacement: 20,000 tons
Former Cargo liner on the Hamburg - South America routes.
No other details provided
Note: Exactly how a German ship this size made it into the Black Sea after the outbreak of WWII is never explained.

Unnamed
S-Boat
Details as per the real ships
Captured by the British and taken into service under the code name 'Trojan'

Unnamed
Several S-Boats
Details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Two Destroyers
No other details provided
Note: The author has the characters identify them as 'German' however it is more likely that these are Romanian ships, as the chances of the Germans or Italians getting ships of this size into the Black Sea was virtually nil at the time. The heaviest ships of the Bulgarian navy during WWII were torpedo boats.

Plot summary: The year is 1943 (Exact dates are not given but Operation Husky (9th July to 17th August, 1943) takes place partway through the story. The Soviet invasion of the Crimea which took place in November 1943 occurs near the end of the novel.), the British seeking to assist the Russians in mounting a credible threat to the Crimean peninsula dispatch a five ship flotilla of MTBs to assist the Black Sea Fleet in their operations. Initial success brings retaliation, with the Germans sending in their most effective and ruthless officer at the head of Gruppe Seeadler, a hand picked S-Boat force. What began as a struggle between nations starts to take on the characteristics of a private little war...

Just a point on this one- the British boats are British Power Boat 72' MTBs, a later version of the earlier MGB. I have read that one five time- my favorite Reeman.

The "Vosper Type II" reference is perhaps a fictional designation for the Vosper 73' MTB thanks to a certain game designation


Dave G
The PT Dockyard

 

[Graham1973]

Just a point on this one- the British boats are British Power Boat 72' MTBs, a later version of the earlier MGB. I have read that one five time- my favorite Reeman.

The "Vosper Type II" reference is perhaps a fictional designation for the Vosper 73' MTB thanks to a certain game designation


Dave G
The PT Dockyard

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Graham1973]

Another in the irregular 'Non-State' series...

Terence J. Quinn, The Scoop, 2018

Indonesia

KRI Viper
'Patrol Boat', class not specified
Length: 40m
Armament: Typical as for warships of this type.
No other details provided.

Non-State

Crimson Tide
Armed Trawler
Length: 28m (91.9ft)
Hull: Wood
Engines: 1 x Scania Turbocharged Diesel (Exact horsepower unspecified)
Electronics: "...radar, sonar and GPS..."
Crew: 13
Armament: Small arms, described as "...automatic weapons and rocket launchers..."

Operated by an Indonesian criminal named BamBam 'BangBang' Buidman and his gang on behalf of an unnamed Chinese Triad.

Plot summary: A yachtsman stumbles across the aftermath of an Indonesian pirate attack and escapes with more than just the survivor...

 

[Graham1973]

Dale Brown, Tiger's Claw, 2012

United States

All US Naval and Coastguard vessels mentioned in the novel are real.

China (People's Republic)

Baohùzhe
'Cruiser', class not specified
Carries at least one helicopter of unspecified type.
No other details provided

Jiujiang
'Frigate', class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Appears in a characters backstory which references the events of the 1994 set novel 'Sky Masters' (1991).

Zhenyuan (ex-Varyag, ex-Ayatolla Ruholla Khomeini, ex-Mao Zedong)
Liaoning Class (Kuznetzov (Pr.1143.5 Class)) Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: Has undergone an extensive overhaul since the events of 'Fatal Terrain' (1997) (The novel was set between May/June 1997). The originally fitted engines and electronics have been replaced with newer equivalents. The armament now includes a weapons system code-named 'Wushen Leiting' (Eng: Silent Thunder), described in the novel as "an experimental high-power microwave weapon... that temporarily cripples electronic signals". This is similar to what the 'laser' in the 1977 graphic novel 'Biggles and the Sargasso Triangle', covered earlier in the thread is capable of.

Zeng He (ex-Sao Paulo, ex-Foch)
Clemencau Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service
Note: The Chinese have thoroughly updated the carriers electronics since purchase from Brazil.

Tongyi (ex-Principe de Asturias)
Principe de Asturias Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: In 2012 it was announced the ship was going to be decommissioned in 2013, several countries expressed interest in purchasing the ship which was eventually sold to a Turkish scrapyard in 2017. In the novel the ship has been purchased by China and converted into a Helicopter Assault Carrier, at the time the story is set it is not yet operational.

Note on Chinese Carriers

In the novels 'Dreamland: Piranha' (2003) and 'Dreamland: End Game' (2006) both of which are set in the 1990s (Between 1997 & 1998), shortly after the events of 'Fatal Terrain' (1997) (Which is set between the months of May and July 1997), the previous novel covering a large scale confrontation between the US and China, the Chinese are depicted operating aircraft carriers other than the ones mentioned in this novel. However these stories appear to have been completely ignored as the novel depicts the Chinese as only having one carrier and they are buying more from overseas to build up their forces. This is interesting because the 'Dreamland' series is set in the same fictional universe.

China (Republic Of)

Fùchóu Zhe (Ex-?)
Type 800 (Dolphin Class) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Stated to have been sold to Taiwan by Israel. It's former Israeli identity is never revealed.

Vietnam

Cá mâp (HQ-013)
Gepard (Pr.1166.1) Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: Russian design, licence built in Vietnam. The pennant number is that of a Petya (Pr. 159) Class Frigate still in service.

Russia

Vladimir Putin
Aircraft Carrier (CVN), class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The year is 2014, political instability in China leads to the ascension of a leader who decides military adventurism will re-unify the country behind his lead.

Note: By this point in the series Dale Brown's 'Universe' is starting to diverge sharply from the real world from which it draws inspiration, an earlier novel features a Russian surprise attack on the United States which while unsuccessful causes sufficient damage to tempt China into making aggressive moves in the Pacific.

 

[Graham1973]

Another product of my search through old pulp magazines.

Gordon Carroll, Dover Crossing, published in Adventure Magazine, April 1932

United Kingdom

HMS Clive
'Destroyer', class not specified
Built: 1899 (Not clear if this means launched or commissioned.)
Speed: 30 knots (Highest speed mentioned in story.)
Armament includes an Anti-Aircraft 'Pom-pom' gun (40mm QF 2-pounder Mk.II) on a platform aft of the wheelhouse. Also referenced without specifics torpedoes and other guns.

Unnamed
Several Destroyers.

Germany

G.91
V25 Class Torpedo Boat
Real ship, details as in service.
Note (Spoiler): In the short story, this ship sinks after being rammed by HMS Clive in a night action. In real life the ship survived the war and was scuttled post war at Scapa Flow.

Unnamed
2 x V25 Class Torpedo Boats

Plot summary: The year is 1916, one night a destroyer preparing to join a cross channel escort group is instead asked to transport an army officer and a large number of trunks across the channel.

Note (Spoiler): As with Erskine Childers, 'The Riddle of the Sands' (1903), the unnamed officer is implied to be a very high ranking individual indeed. Identified only as a 'Field Marshal' the most likely candidate is Herbert Kitchener, which given the story also does not reference Jutland (31 May/1 June 1916) places events as taking place before his death on the 5th of June 1916 and thus has to be set between January and May of that year. George Haig did not attain the rank of Field Marshal until the 1st of January 1917.

 

[Graham1973]

Some more pulp action, this time dating from WWI...

Frederick William Wallace, Some Fishing, published in Adventure Magazine, August 1916

Canada

Leona T. Himmelman
Fishing Schooner
Displacement: 95 tons
Armament: 2 x Double Barreled shotguns, 1 x Winchester .30-30 & 1 x Snider-Enfield Rifle
Crew: 19
Note: A civilian vessel, general details as per typical members of this type of ship operating of the Canadian coast during WWI.

Unnamed
'Destroyer', class not specified
Three funnels
No other details provided

Germany

Juno
Cod Fishing Schooner (Covert Supply Ship)
Rig: Three Masted Topsail Schooner
Fitted with an Auxiliary Engine
Armament: Small Arms
Details same as per typical vessels of this type during WWI.
Note: The crew claim to be based out of Fécamp in Normandy.

Unnamed
U-Boat
No other details provided

Plot summary: During WWI Canadian fishermen stumble across a rendezvous between a German U-Boat and a covert supply ship off the Canadian coast and resolve to do whatever it takes to teach the scoundrels a lesson.

 

[Graham1973]

Continuing my survey of naval themed stories in the pulp magazine 'Adventure'...

George Bruce, Blow All Tanks, published in Adventure Magazine, December 1934

United States

USS Saratoga (CV-3)
Lexington Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Snark (V-21)
Barracuda Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author has the character give the name as "...Cuttlefish or Snark or something...", editorial discretion has been used. The 'V-Boats' were a group of nine experimental
submarines (V-1 to V-9) constructed between 1921 and 1934. The author gives dimensional details that match that of the Barracuda Class, the class name given to the first three submarines constructed during the program. The name USS Cuttlefish was that of one of the two members of the Catchalot Class, the last two 'V-Boats' constructed.

Plot summary: A routine 'fleet problem' turns into a struggle for survival.

 

[lordroel]

Lightning in the Night by Fred Allhof 1940

United Greater German Reich

KMS Himmler, former British King George V-class battleship hat where under construction by the United Kingdom where taken over by the United Greater German Reich and completed for service with the United Greater German Reich Kriegsmarine.

KMS Admiral Reader, a heavy cruiser.

Soviet Union

Tretij Internacional, a battleship.

United States

USS Virginia, a 40,000 ton battleship and flagship of the United States Pacific Fleet.

 

[Dilandu]

Lightning in the Night by Fred Allhof 1940

Plot summary, please?

 

[lordroel]

Lightning in the Night by Fred Allhof 1940

Plot summary, please?

Its based on 12 episodes written by Fred Allhof between August 24th to 16th November 1940 in the Liberty magazine and later bundled into a book which was published in the 1970s, the introduction in the book begin as follows:

On June 10, 1939, Liberty publisher, Bernar Macfadded, stated in a editorial that there would be "no war for a year,maybe five years" with Germany, thus Allhof own World War II does not begin until 1945, based on three quite logical premises: first, that Hitler would never gamble on a two front war and thus would honor the nonaggression pact with Stalin, Second, that both Germany and Japan would settle down to assimilating their conquered territories, preferring to extend their power by diplomatic coups and international blackmail. And third, that with European war at a standstill, America would slow her own rearmament efforts and retreat to an isolation position.

I even tried to make a Timeline out of it from 1940 to Augusts 1st 1945 when the Germans begin their invasion of the East coat of the United States and the Japanese-Soviets launch a invasion of the West coast.

Lightning in the Night timeline

 

[Graham1973]

Percy F. Westerman, Unfettered Might, c.1946

Japan (Former Empire Of)

Hotaro
'Battleship', class not specified (Nagato Class?)
Main battery: Guns of unspecified caliber in 6 twin turrets
Description: "No smoke - not even a suspicion of it - rose from her two widely separated funnels, the foremost, besides being taller, being topped by a weird contraption, presumably to shield the top heavy structures on the foremast from heat from the furnaces.

She had six turrets, with two guns in each..."
No other details provided
Note: Ship has been surrendered to the United States following WWII and is being used as the target for a nuclear weapons test. I suspect that the ship is meant to be a Nagato Class Battleship due to the Nagato's presence at Operation Crossroads, the probable inspiration for the scene in which it appears. In which case it's details would be identical to the Nagato Class.

United States

Various Unnamed Warships

Plot summary: It seemed like a good idea at the time, sail a small boat across the Pacific Ocean in search of gold buried by the Germans at the start of WWI...

Note: The book lacks a publication/copyright date, however the presence of a nuclear testing sequence in the story suggests that it was written in close temporal proximity to Operation Crossroads, the first Pacific Nuclear Test which took place in 1946 and the only one in which surplus/captured warships were used as targets.

 

[Dilandu]

She had six turrets, with two guns in each..."

Hm. Looks more like a "Tosa" to me.

 

[Graham1973]

Percy F. Westerman, Clipped Wings, C. 1920s (Post Washington Naval Conference.)

United Kingdom

HMS Rebound
Battleship, class not specified
Displacement: 40,000tons
Beam: "...slightly over a hundred feet..."
Funnels: 2
Armament: 8 x 15 inch guns (A, B, X & Y twin turrets.)
Description:"...embodying many details of construction that bitter experience at Jutland had taught the naval constructor."
Note: The author explicitly identifies the ship as a 'Battleship'.

HMS Retrench
Revenge Class Battleship
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment by name only.

HMS Royal Oak
Revenge Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service

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

HMS Egmont
'Battle Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Edgcumbe
'Battle Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Baffin
Hawkins Class Cruiser?
Displacement: 9900tons
Speed: 30 knots
Armament: 7 x 7.5 inch guns, 12 x 3 inch guns
Description: "The Baffin was a typical unit of the post-War fleet—long, lean, with two funnels of unequal size; a tripod mast with a decidedly ugly raking topmast, and an aftermast that, by reason of its position, should be termed a mainmast, but, on account of its stumpiness, could not reasonably be expected to be so termed. As if to make amends for its insignificance, the after-mast flew a white pennant, streaming yards and yards astern and terminating in a gilded bladder that bobbed and curtsied in the frothy wake of the swiftly-moving vessel."
Note: Class description based on authors description and armament details which fit this class best. In the novel the ship is referred to as a 'Light Cruiser'.

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

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

HMS Basilikon
'Light Cruiser', class not specified
Carries seaplanes
No other Details provided

HMS Spanker
'Light Cruiser', class not specified
No other Details provided

HMS Volobus
'Light Cruiser', class not specified
No other Details provided

HMS Furious
'Seaplane Carrier'
No other details provided
Note: Name clash with the aircraft carrier HMS Furious.

HMS Messines
'Destroyer', class not specified
Armament: 4 x 4.7inch guns, 1 x 3inch gun 6 x 21inch TT
Speed: 35knots (Design) (Reaches around 40knots in story)
No other details provided

HMS Armentières
'Destroyer', class not specified
Armament: 4 x 4.7inch guns, 1 x 3inch gun 6 x 21inch TT
Speed: 35knots (Design) (Reaches around 40knots in story)
No other details provided

HMS Audax
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Greyhound
'Destroyer' class not specified
No other details provided
By 1935 this name would have clashed with that of a G Class Destroyer launched that year and sunk in 1941.

HMS Cynesephon (Cover name SS Complex)
Q Ship
Displacement: 570tons
Length: 230ft
Speed: 23knots (Max)
Armament: 1 x 4.7inch, 4 x 12pdrs, 2 x 6pdr AA-guns 4 x 14inch TT & 2 x Depth Charge Throwers
Description: "The transformation had been an astounding one. From a long, low-lying "P" boat, she had been altered into a very presentable tramp, looking at least of 1500 tons, although her actual displacement was little more than one-third of that tonnage. Yet she retained the speed and high maneuvering qualities of her original role. She could work up to 23 knots when required, could turn almost in her own length and with the minimum of "tactical advance". She could go astern at 18 knots, while her nominal fuel capacity of 93 tons could be augmented sufficiently to give her a cruising distance of 4000 miles without replenishing her oil tanks.

...

The "P-boat's" original conning-tower was still in existence, although, owing to the new superstructure, its sphere of usefulness was considerably curtailed. Another had been built for'ard.

Cavendish walked right round the latter and never spotted it. Outwardly, nothing was to be seen but a big reel of wire hawser. The reel was a dummy, being actually the hood of the armored conning-tower."

Republic of Rioguay (Fictional country in South America)

Unnamed (Ex - Admiral Lattore, ex-HMS Canada)
Admiral Latorre Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service
Note: Former RN/Chilean Navy ship sold to Rioguay

Unnamed (Ex - ?)
Minas Gerias Class Battleship
Real ship details as in service
Note: Either Minas Gerias or São Paulo (Sold to Rioguay)

Numancia (Ex - ?)
Real ship details as in service
Note: Either Minas Gerias or São Paulo (Sold to Rioguay)

6 Unnamed
'Battleships' class not specified
At least some of these have 15 inch gun main batteries

Also posess a number of destroyers, origins unspecified.

20 Submarines (Based on German U-Boat Designs)
At least some of these are armed with a 4inch, 120caliber gun.

20 to 30 x 'Commerce Raiders' (Purpose built Warships with merchant style hulls/upper works. See below for an example.)

Cerro Algarrobo (Cover name SS Holton Heath)
Commerce Raider (Disguised Light Cruiser)
Main Battery: 6 inch guns. Secondary Battery: 4 inch guns
Description: "A triple-screwed cruiser disguised as a tramp, the Cerro Algarrobo—alias Holton Heath—was "legging it" at twenty-two knots, yet it was evident that, apart from the raking she had received, she had been hulled aft, since she was yawing badly. A 12-pounder shell had penetrated the submerged steering flat and had put the rudder out of action."

Note: The navy of Rioguay has undergone rapid expansion, a number of former German and Russian naval officers have been hired to provide training. Much of the new construction is being handled at a yard constructed/operated by Japanese nationals.

Republic of San Valodar (Fictional country in South America)

Possesses a fleet, no specifics provided

Republic of San Benito (Fictional country in South America)

Possesses a fleet, no specifics provided

Note: Relationship between the three countries is described thus: "After a voyage lasting nearly a week, the steamer entered the wide estuary of the Rio Guaya, which, for more than a hundred miles, averages forty miles in width, and is tidal for a distance of nearly four hundred and fifty miles. On the right bank is the Republic of San Valodar; on the left that of San Benito. Rioguayan territory does not begin until Sambrombon Island, where the river is divided into two deep-water channels barely five miles in width.

Sambrombon Island made the position of the Republic of Rioguay unique. It was in the territory of San Valodar, consequently San Valodar claimed control of the Corda Channel on the north-east side, and one-half of El Porto Channel on the south-west side, sharing the jurisdiction of that waterway with the Republic of San Benito. Thus, whatever shipping Rioguay possessed could not pass to the open sea without entering the territorial waters of either San Benito or San Valodar; but, by mutual arrangement among the three republics, Rioguayan ships were allowed the right of using El Porto Channel, without payment of dues."

Going on various clues provided in the novel the approximate location for the three states would be where the mouth of the Amazon is. (E.g. they would replace parts of Northern Brazil...)

Non-Warship but interesting

The 'Death Ray' (aka 'Strong's Anti-Aircraft Ray')

Engine Stopping Ray, acts on the magneto of an engine to supress ignition. A line-of-sight weapon, the inventor believes it has a 20,000 yard range, in operation the range appears to be 3 miles. Like a beam of light it can be blocked by terrain. In addition it cannot affect underwater targets. Projector looks like a searchlight.

For the Aircraft Mavens

Rioguay

Unnamed
Flying Boat
Wings: 3
Engines: 4 (Each engine produces 850hp)
Range: 2000miles
Description: "She was a craft of nearly a hundred feet in length, propelled by four powerful engines. For her length, her wing-span was ridiculously small, the planes, three en échelon on either side, being short and with a decided horizontal camber. The absence of struts and tension wires gave Corbold the impression that the planes were of steel." ... "As matters stand, they have a numerous fleet of fast flying-boats, capable of operating in a radius of two thousand miles. They can rise almost vertically in a twenty miles an hour breeze and hover without the aid of helicopters—never did think much of helicopters, Peter; that's power wrongly applied and consequently wasteful. With four engines, each of 850 horse-power, they are unsurpassed for speed by any other aircraft in existence. Their all-steel planes and armor-plated hull are practically invulnerable to shrapnel, and only a direct hit could put them out of action. And their means of offense is highly formidable: liquid-air torpedoes."

Plot summary: A ruthless South American leader decides to take advantage of the post-Washington Naval Treaty environment for a spot of military adventurism.

Note: The novel does not bear a copyright date but it would appear to post date the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty (Negotiations ended in 1922, ratification occurred in 1923.)

 

[Dilandu]

Plot summary: A ruthless South American leader decides to take advantage of the post-Washington Naval Treaty environment for a spot of military adventurism.

Note: The novel does not bear a copyright date but it would appear to post date the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty (Negotiations ended in 1922, ratification occurred in 1923.)

Whoa! This is... complex. Author clearly put a lot of efforts into creating fictional ships, navies and countries.

 

[Graham1973]

Plot summary: A ruthless South American leader decides to take advantage of the post-Washington Naval Treaty environment for a spot of military adventurism.

Note: The novel does not bear a copyright date but it would appear to post date the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty (Negotiations ended in 1922, ratification occurred in 1923.)

Whoa! This is... complex. Author clearly put a lot of efforts into creating fictional ships, navies and countries.

Seems to have in this case. There's also an interesting piece of renaming late in the novel. After referring to the US & Japan for most of the book, he throws in a conflict between the 'Associated Republics of America' (e.g. United States of America) and the 'Empire of Hondo' (e.g. The Empire of Japan) with results that suggest he was at least aware of the Japanese Kantai Kassen concept. This is a key background moment that allows the Brits to dictate terms in South America without interference.

 

[Dilandu]

Seems to have in this case. There's also an interesting piece of renaming late in the novel. After referring to the US & Japan for most of the book, he throws in a conflict between the 'Associated Republics of America' (e.g. United States of America) and the 'Empire of Hondo' (e.g. The Empire of Japan) with results that suggest he was at least aware of the Japanese Kantai Kassen concept. This is a key background moment that allows the Brits to dictate terms in South America without interference.

Very interesting and also demonstrate that author though it out very well.

 

[Graham1973]

Seems to have in this case. There's also an interesting piece of renaming late in the novel. After referring to the US & Japan for most of the book, he throws in a conflict between the 'Associated Republics of America' (e.g. United States of America) and the 'Empire of Hondo' (e.g. The Empire of Japan) with results that suggest he was at least aware of the Japanese Kantai Kassen concept. This is a key background moment that allows the Brits to dictate terms in South America without interference.

Very interesting and also demonstrate that author though it out very well.

You might also want to check out the other Percy F. Westmann stories in this thread covered by Hood.

Now moving back to pulp magazines...

Harold Bradley Say, Admiralty Orders, published in Adventure Magazine, February 1928

United Kingdom

HMS Shepherdess
Submarine Depot Ship
No other details provided

HMS E-31
E Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service
Note: Was in service 1915 - 1922.

Unnamed
E Class Submarine
Details as per the real ship
Note: Stated to be an 'improved' version of the class. Just what the differences are between a standard member of the class and this submarine are not specified.

Germany

Various Unnamed Warships.

Plot summary: A snap decision in a critical situation leads to a submarine captain being reassigned from active duty to commanding a new submarine on sea trials.

Note: The most interesting feature of this story is that the initial illustration depicts an M Class Submarine rather than an E Class Submarine.

 

[Hood]

Percy Westerman is perhaps underrated but was a prolific naval writer and also ventured into the spheres of aviation stories too. He was very productive from the 1910s to the 1940s and his works moved with the times. Sometimes his future technologies (his 1910s views of what might be afloat in the 1920s) were sometimes rooted in reality (diesel power) but some of the weapons like 'Z-Rays' were a touch too sci-fi but entirely fitting within the sci-fi genre of that time which seemed to love death rays and other such exoticia. Almost all his stories follow much the same pattern, plucky British heroes defying the odds to foil the plans of dastardly Germans, Japanese, Arabs, pirates, smugglers, rival Sea Scout troupes, treasure hunters - you name it. He always has a good chunk of action on shore too. He is well worth digging out at Project Gutenberg and Faded Page.


I have just re-read The War in the Air, by H. G. Wells, published in 1907. One of his seminal works set sometime around 1917, the nations of the world are trying to perfect aviation technologies. The Germans feel they have stolen a lead with their airships and launch an attack on the USA. En route they help destroy a small American naval force in the Atlantic and they bomb New York. Wells covers the destructive capacity from the air but points out that airships could not occupy territory, attempts to bully the populace into fear of bombing leads to loss of control. The world economy collapses just as the devious Asiatic hordes, an ill-defined Asiatic League of Japan and China (Wells hints at Japanese domination of the alliance) has built thousands of airships and attacks the West. Society collapses across the world.

In terms of naval interest relevant to this thread, Wells rails against expensive race of the dreadnoughts which cost millions (in hindsight he was probably right about their cost vs. utility) and took years to build (in the book he states 3-4 years while his airships could be built in 3-4 weeks - an optimistic production rate as it turned out in reality). In his universe he states that no less than 12,500 ironclads had been built since the Crimean War. Wells uses the term 'ironclad' throughout and he seems to be referring to all armoured ships from those early armoured iron hulled batteries to cruisers and battleships. Even allowing for that, this feels a massively overstated number! Dreadnought appeared in 1906, probably as Wells was writing. He makes no reference to dreadnoughts and the technical details of the ships are vague, although its clear that the latest battleships are much larger and more powerful. The US ships are all driven by steam turbines (2 to 4 funnels) but 7 out of the 18 German battleships are diesel-powered (Wells uses the term 'explosive engine' several times when describing motorbike, aircraft and ship engines - he is probably referring to internal combustion, its possible the German ships were petrol powered in his thoughts, diesels were still very novel in 1907). The only AA defence are rifles and some high-angle QF guns (many pre-dreadnoughts of course carried many smaller calibre QF in 57-47mm calibre), though one airship is downed at long range from the forward main guns of one of the US battleships. The airships tow small 1-man aircraft used for bombing attacks, these sink one battleship but generally were too fragile and shot down, its the airships hovering over the ships that deliver the coup de grace in co-operation with gunfire from the German battleships.

Asiatic Alliance
Unnamed: armoured cruiser, fights a battle with a lone British armoured cruiser in the Atlantic

Germany
All battleships - German sends all 18 of its battleships and converted liners and tankers to attack the USA.
Barbarossa: sunk in the Atlantic
Bremen: damaged during the battle; name clashes with Bremen-class light cruiser completed in 1904 and does not fit naming convention for battleships
Eiserne Kreuz: sunk in the Atlantic
Fürst Bismarck: name clashes with an armoured cruiser completed in 1900 [from The War in the Air, by H. G. Wells, 1907]
Germanicus
Hermann: damaged during the battle
Karl der Grosse: sunk by a collision with a British liner in the Atlantic; name clashes with Kaiser Friedrich III-class pre-dreadnought Kaiser Karl der Grosse completed in 1902
Weimar: damaged during the battle; city name does not fit naming convention for battleships

Great Britain
Unnamed: armoured cruiser, fights a battle with a lone Asiatic Alliance ironclad in the Atlantic

USA
Battleships (none of the names fit the naming convention for battleships which are named after US States), the Atlantic Fleet in the book has 4 battleships and 4 armoured cruisers, two further ships pass through the Panama Canal but take no part in the main battle.
Abraham Lincoln: completed around 1916, transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal
Andrew Jackson: sunk in the Atlantic by German battleships and airship attacks
Delaware: completed around 1916, transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal; name clashes with Delaware class (BB-24) completed in 1910 [from The War in the Air, by H. G. Wells, 1907]
Miles Standish: completed by 1912, described as being the best ship at gunnery in the USN, sunk in the Atlantic
Susquehanna: sunk in the Atlantic
Theodore Roosevelt: sunk by German battleships and airship attacks

Armoured Cruisers:
Kansas City: operated in the Atlantic
Monitor: sunk in the Atlantic by battleships and airship attacks

 

[Graham1973]

From yet another wartime pulp magazine found on the Internet Archive...

Scott Morgan, Lieut., Flight Over Lisbon, published in The American Eagle, April 1942

United Kingdom

HMS Hercules
'Battleship', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Firefly
'Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Panther
'Cruiser', class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Cossack
Tribal Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service (1937 - 1941), service fictionally extended to 1942.

HMS Yeats
'Warship', type not specified
No other details provided

HMS Sea Lion
S Class Submarine (British)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class assignment based on name only. Partial name clash with HMS Sealion (72S) an S Class Submarine in service 1934 - 1945.

Plot summary: Somehow the Germans have found a way to make warships disappear at sea.

Note: This is one of a series of stories featuring the character John Masters aka 'The American Eagle' daring aviator and implacable foe of the Axis...

 

[Graham1973]

From one of the last 'pulp adventure' issues of Adventure Magazine before they transformed themselves into a 'skin mag'...

Alec Hudson, Periscope Patrol, published in Adventure Magazine, September 1948

United States

USS Sailfin
'Fleet Submarine', class not specified
No other details provided

USS Niagara
'Aircraft Carrier', class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: A gunnery officer on a US submarine finally has the chance to show whether he has what it takes.

 

[Graham1973]

David Poyer, Overthrow, 2019

United States

USS Savo Island (CG-?)
Savo Island Class Cruiser
Armament is only vaguely described, 2 x railgun turrets (A & X), 2 x laser turrets (B & Y), multiple VLS arrays.
Exact dimensions are not provided.
Clearly a wartime design, engine power is provided by engines salvaged from jet airliners driving engine pods containing electric motors taken from Tesla trucks.
Notes: Optimized for Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense.

Non-warship but interesting

Advanced-ALIS (aka 'Alice')

AI Combat Control Computer

Successor to ALIS, the Ballistic Missile Defense Subroutine that provided an autonomous defensive mode to late model Ticonderoga Class Cruisers. Capabilities are more in line with ACDADS (aka 'Elmo') from the 1980s, this unit can control the ship it's fitted to without a crew, but due to a tendency to misidentify 'friendlies' as 'foes' the ships retain a full crew. The software has a secondary function as ships censorship officer, monitoring all communications and notifying higher command of any deviations from 'doctrine'.

Plot summary: The great war between the United States and China rumbles on, both sides are stretching to the limit, but which will break first.

Note: this story has a high portion of 'name only' weapons and ships which I have chosen to leave out. I suspect they are detailed in the previous two volumes of this 'sub-series' in the authors long running 'Dan Lenson' series.

 

[Graham1973]

Clearing up my 'backlog pile' of books...

Dale Brown, Silver Tower, 1988

United States

USS California (DWRS-36 ex - CGN-36)
California Class Cruiser (Modified)
The modifications which convert the ship into a "...fleet command and control ship..." are quite exensive. Armament has been extensively reworked including "...twin missile-launch rails on the nose..." and "...cannons everywhere...". The only specific weapons system mentioned are 4 x RIM-116 missile launchers fore and aft.

The major external change is the addition of a furl-able dish antenna with an unfurled area of "...eleven thousand square feet..." mounted on four legs "...just behind the midships masts...". The antenna and support structure takes up the after portion of the ship. The antenna is intended to provide a dedicated data link with the Space Based Radar (SBR) fitted aboard the Armstrong Space Station.

The ships Combat Information Centre (CIC) has been extensively rebuilt for it's new role. The key component of this is a three-D holographic display system called the Digital Advanced Near-space Communications Equipment (DANCE) which is designed to provide commanders with a real time image of a region based either on data from the Armstrongs Space Based Radar (SBR) along with data from other ships radars and lesser surveillance satellites, or if the SBR is out-of-position, then simply the latter two sources mentioned previously.

Note: This is the configuration into which the ship is modified at the end of the novel.

Russia

Arkhangelsk
CVN, class not specified
Described as being "...our newest and best..." and as "...the largest naval vessel ever built, much larger than the Nimitz..."
Airgroup: 85 x SU-27B Fighters.
No other details provided
Note: ASW/Land attack/Recon functions are handled by the Kiev Class Carriers, Kiev & Novorossiysk which form part of the Arkhangelsk's battlegroup. This ship may be based on early/speculative reports of the abortive Ulyanovsk (Pr. 1143.7) Class Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carriers or possibly the earlier Pr. 1153 OREL Class Carriers cancelled in 1983.

Leonid V. Brezhnev
Moscow Class Carrier (Fictional)
Airgroup: 45 x Su-27B, Unspecified numbers of MIG-23 (A fictional navalized version.), Antonov RU-18 (Fictional carrier based AEW aircraft) Mi-14 'Haze' (Being used in an SAR role.)
No other details provided.
Note: The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was originally to have been named Riga, but the changing political situation in Russia led to the ship being renamed Leonid Brezhnev (1982 - 1987) and then Tiblisi (1987 - 1990), the name it carried while undergoing sea trials, before taking it's final name in 1990. The author introduces the ship with this quote "The Kievclass Leonid V. Brezhnev aircraft carrier is stationed in the Persian Gulf." (In the 2019 eBook edition this line is given as "The Mockba-Class Leonid V. Brezhnev aircraft carrier is stationed in the Persian Gulf. "), however the implied airgroup cannot be carried by a either by member of the Kiev Class nor the succeeding Kuznetsov Class or the unbuilt Ulyanovsk Class.

Plot summary: The year is 1992, the Soviet Union makes it's long awaited move towards the Persian Gulf.

Note: This is the author's second novel. From the appearance of the cover of the first paperback edition, which unusually for the era is photographic, this was a quick release to capitalize on the success of 'Flight of the Old Dog', the events of which are not mentioned in this novel. Nor do any of the characters from it make an appearance. This suggests the novel was, like Tom Clancy's second novel 'Red Storm Rising' (1986), written originally as an unrelated stand-alone. Elements from it, most notably the Armstrong Space Station, have been incorporated into the authors main fictional 'universe'. A quick examination of the 2019 eBook version of this novel suggests that it may have been revised extensively to tie it more firmly into the main line of the authors fiction.

 

[Graham1973]

Another item from the 'backlog pile'...

Dale Brown & Jim DeFelice, Dreamland: Armageddon, 2004

Malaysia

KD Barracuda
Wing-in-Ground effect craft.
Stealth Design
Speed: 400knots (740.8km/h), Note: Wepons cannot be fired above 100knots (185.2km/h)
Amament: 1 x 30mm gun, Exocet missiles.

KD Kalsamana
Laksamana Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships.
Note: All real members of the class are named after individuals who reached the rank of 'Laksamana' (Rough modern equivalent 'Admiral') in Malaysia's historic (e.g. Pre-British past.)

KD Gendikar
Handalan Class Missile Boat
Details as per the real ships
Note: A version of the Spica-M Class of Fast Attack Craft purchased from Sweden in the 1970s.

Brunei

Unnamed
2 x Nanuchka Class Corvettes
Details as per the real ships

For the aircraft mavens.

In the previous novel the Sultanate of Brunei asked for 6 x EB-52 and 12 x F-15 aircraft from the United States. In this novel it's revealed that the US Government has only allowed the transfer one of the former and is trying to persuade the Sultan to accept F/A-18s instead of F-15s along with two more EB-52s to bring the total to 3 x EB-52s and 12 x F/A-18.

In addition to these the Royal Brunei Airforce possesses a number of A-37a & A-37b 'Dragonfly' Light Attack Aircraft and an ex-Polish MiG-19 that is the personal property of the same nephew of the Sultan of Brunei who owns the TU-16 'Badger' referred to in 'Dreamland: Strike Zone'.

Plot Summary: The year is 1997 (The story runs between 6 October - 24 October of that year.) even as the US Government moves to supply some of what Brunei requested at the end of 'Dreamland: Strike Zone' other forces move to threaten the country.

Note: For whatever reason the two authors decided to cook up a scenario where the Malay Govt teams up with Al-Queda to launch an attempt to overthrow the Sultanate of Brunei. Of course they then have to work out just how to keep their series heroes from killing the 'Holy One' (aka Osama bin Laden) before his appointed time...

 

[Graham1973]

A chance (and odd) find in a late 1970s 'Disaster Novel'...

Richard Doyle, Deluge, 1976

United Kingdom

HMS Lowestoft
'Destroyer', class not specified
Note: Name clashes with a Type 12 Frigate in service 1951 - 1985. The author explicitly identifies the ship as the "...Royal Naval Destroyer Lowestoft..." in the story.

Plot summary: The year is 1977 and thanks to the perfect conditions arising, a thirty foot high wall of water has surged up the Thames and flooded central London.

Note: This was the authors debut novel, it was a theme he returned to in a 2002 novel entitled 'Flood', which featured a revised version of the scenario to take into account the construction of the Thames Flood Barrier in the 1980s.

 

[Graham1973]

Another book from the 'backlog pile'...

Dale Brown, Fatal Terrain, 1997

United States

USS Honolulu (SSN-718)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Pasadena (SSN-752)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

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

USS Springfield (SSN-761)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

Plus other real members of the US fleet.

China (Peoples Republic)

Mao Zedong (ex-Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ex-Varyag)
Ex-Soviet Kuznetsov (Pr.1143.5) Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as built
Ex-Iranian aircraft carrier, sold to China following the events of 'Shadows of Steel' (1996) and refurbished by the Chinese.

Fuqing
Type 905 Class Replenishment Tanker (Fifth member of class)
Details as per the real ships

Hudong
'Repair and Support Ship', class not specified
No other details provided.

Kang
Luda (Type 051) Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: In the earlier novel 'Sky Masters' (1994), these ships were referred to as 'Type EF4' Destroyers and had been modified to enhance their Anti-Air Warfare capabilities, this ship appears to have been modified with an aft mounted HQ-7 launcher.

Changsha (161)
Luda (Type 051) Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service.
Note: In the earlier novel 'Sky Masters' (1994), these ships were referred to as 'Type EF4' Destroyers and had been modified to enhance their Anti-Air Warfare capabilities.

Xia
Nuclear Submarine (Attack), class not specified
No other details provided

Republic of China (Taiwan)

Kin Men
Kuang Hua III Class Frigate (Fictional)
Armament: 1 x 40mm gun (Fwd), 2 x 20mm Phalanx (Fwd & Aft), 36 Round VLS (12 Harpoon, 10 ASROC, 14 Standard AAM), 4 x Torpedo Tube (21 inch?), .5 Mgs, Sea Sparrow.
Has a helipad and hangar space capable of holding 2 x S-70C(M)-1/2 Thunderhawk Helicopters, normally carries one.
Stealth Design
Note: The real Kuang Hua III program produced the Ching Chiang Fast Attack Craft (Specifications)

Iran

Taregh
Kilo Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Non-Ship

Kevlar Fishing Nets - Designed/manufactured by China, sold to Iran, & North Korea. Can be deployed from fishing craft and large enough to catch a Los Angeles Class Submarine.

Note: Catching nuclear submarines in this manner is quite dangerous and can result in the loss of the fishing vessel and it's crew. Despite what the author thought it can be performed with ordinary steel fishing nets, no special equipment is required. See following list for details of real life cases: (Link - British Sea Fishing: Submarine and Trawler Collision Incidents.).

Plot summary: The year is 1997 (The novels timeframe is 18 May to 1 July.), Iran has sold their ex-Soviet aircraft carrier to China. With this new ship and ideas derived from Sun Tzu, the Chinese launch a devious campaign designed to give them Taiwan.

Notes: This novel sets up background elements for the later 'Dreamland' novels 'Pirahna', 'Strike Zone' & 'End Game'. One key event in it is severe damage being caused to the Mao Zedong which necessitates an extensive rebuild, from which the ship emerges as the Zhenyuan in 'Tiger's Claw'. As with the later novel this one does not mention any of the other Chinese aircraft carriers that appear in the Dreamland Series, despite the fact the books are nominally set in the same fictional universe.

 

[Graham1973]

James H. Cobb, Target Lock, 2002

United States

USS Evans E. Carlson (LPD-26)
San Antonio Class Landing Platform Dock (Modified)
Armament: 1 x 16 Cell VLS (RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow), 3 x RIM-116 RAM launchers (1 fwd, 2 aft), SMADS emitters (See the entry for the USS Cunningham for details.), 4 x Mk.46 30mm guns (Mounted in turrets described as identical to those "...carried by the new Marine Advanced Armoured Assault Vehicle..."), other armament as per the real ships.
Aircraft: 2 x SH-60 'Oceanhawk' Helicopters & 2 x CH-60 Cargohawk Helicopters. (All four have been equipped to carry Hellfire and Penguin missiles or Hydra Missile pods)
Dimensions as per the real ships
Note: The author explicitly states that this ship is the 13th member of the San Antonio Class. The pennant number clashes with that of the San Antonio Class LPD, USS John P. Murtha, in service 2016 - Ongoing. At the time the novel was published the class as a whole had not entered service. The ships modifications are related to its current use as the 'mother ship' for Benton Class Patrol Gunboats.

USS Cunningham (CLA-79) (ex-DDG-79)
Cunningham Class Destroyer (Now converted to a 'Cruiser Littorial Attack')
See the entry for 'Choosers of the Slain' (1996) for the major details for this ship.
Armament changes following refit: 2 x 5inch/64calibre guns (e.g. 5/64) in 'Axe blade' style turrets, 1 x 2 155mm (6.1inch) VGAS system replacing the second of the forward VLS arrays, Ship Mounted Area Denial Systems (SMADS), a Microwave based area denial system, emitters are mounted on the forward and aft superstructure. Some of the VLS space has been taken up by at least 6 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Missiles.
Aircraft: In the previous novels the ship has carried an SAH-66 Sea Commanche helicopter, for this mission this aircraft is replaced with 2 x UH-1Y 'Super Huey' helicopters. The stated reason is that they are better suited than 'gunship' type helicopters for the current mission.
Note: The ships backstory changes slightly in this novel. In the previous three stories she is identified as the lead ship of a new class of destroyers. In this novel she is identified as a one-off experimental design.

USS Queen of the West (PGAC-02)
Benton Class Patrol Gunboat
See the entry for 'Seafighter' (1999) for details on this class.

USS Carondelet (PGAC-03)
Benton Class Patrol Gunboat
See the entry for 'Seafighter' (1999) for details on this class.

USS Manassas (PGAC-04)
Benton Class Patrol Gunboat
See the entry for 'Seafighter' (1999) for details on this class.

Indonesia

KRI Sutanto (377)
Kapitan Patimura Class Corvette (ex-Parchim (Pr.1331M) Class Corvette)
Real ship, details as in service with Indonesia 1993 - ongoing.
Note: Author refers to the ship as a 'Frigate'.

Syria

Raqqa
Tarantul IV (Pr. 1241.?) Corvette (Fictional Class)
Details as to armament/equipment appear to be the same as the actual Tarantul Class Corvettes
Dimension/Performance details not given but presumably similar to the the actual Tarantul Class Corvettes

Non State

Makara Limited (Fictional Company)
Note: This is an intra-Indonesian trading company that is a legitimate front for the subversive activities of it's owner Makara Harconan which include various forms of piracy.

Harconan Flores (ex-?)
Hoyerswerda Class Landing Ship
Details as per the real ships
Note: This ship was purchased from East Germany, nominally civilianized, the ship has retained it's full armament.

The organization also controls a bunker complex on the New Guinea coast that dates back to WWII. Constructed by the Japanese the complex includes a underground dock 400ft (122m) long and 100ft (30.5m) wide. The organization calls it Crab Claw Base.

Plot summary: It is the late 2000s (The story runs between July and August 2008.) an industrial satellite that has just returned to Earth in the Indonesian archipelago has been stolen by pirates...

Note: This was the final 'Amanda Garret' novel published in English. Online research indicates that the fifth book in the series, to have been entitled 'Phantom Force' was rejected by the publisher and was only released in Japan and Germany. By all indications this fifth novel was a direct sequel to 'Target Lock' and would have continued the novels storyline. From the authors note at the end of the story it seems that the alterations to the USS Cunningham were inspired by reports of what eventually became the Zumwalt Class. It also appears that further changes to the series background were going to be made in the fifth novel, which from what I've been able to learn would have seen a Q-Ship added to the force under Amanda Garret's command.

Attached is the cover for the 2021 Silvertail Books editon of the novel.

 

[Graham1973]

Dale Brown & Jim DiFelice, Dreamland: Satan's Tail, 2005

United States

USS Abner Read (DDL-001) (Novel gives the pennant in the form DD(L)-001)
Littoral Destroyer (also referred to as a 'Littoral Combat Vessel')
Length: 110m
Engines: Gas turbines
Speed: 40knots
Armament: 2 x 155mm Advanced Gun System (AGS) (Single turrets), 2x 20mm Phalanx ?x VLS (SM-2 & Harpoon), ?x TT, radar (SPS-63 (Modified for use with this ship, until development of a radar designated SPY-3)) & towed sonar array, ?x heli/UAVs
Note: The ship appears to have been based on the Zumwalt Class. The backstory is that the ship is the US Navy's attempt to match the capabilities of the US Airforce's EB-52s. However due to development delays the UAVs and radars designed for the ship are not currently fitted.
Description: "...the Abner Read looked like a pyramid on a jacknife...", "Looks like a Popsicle with a couple of sugar cubes on it."

Unnamed
3 x Littoral Warfare Craft (LWC)
Length: 40m
Draft: 12ft (3.7m)
Crew: 15
Armament: 1 x 25mm gun, 2 x 'Missile Launchers' (loaded with Harpoon missiles for this mission.), torpedo tubes and mine dispensers (exact number not specified of either.)
Electronics: Ships take their sensory data from the DDL via data link.
Note: Look like smaller versions of the DDL, resulting in them being nicknamed 'Shark Boats'. They are designed to operate in close conjunction with a DDL and take their tactical orders from that ship.

United Kingdom

HMS Ark Royal
Invincible Class Carrier
Real ship, details as in service (1985 - 2010)

Unnamed
Type 42 Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

Non State

Al-Queda

Sharia (ex-?)
Polnocny Class Landing Ship
Real ship.
Hull details are unchanged as from when built
Original armament has been stripped off the ship and replaced with several SS-N-2D Missile launchers, exactly how many are not specified. The launchers are concealed by false deck cargo.
Note: Former Somali Navy ship. Information on the former Somali Navy is almost impossible to come by and I have not been able to find out the ships original name, nor have I found hard information on it's fate.

Various Unnamed Craft
Note: This novel takes the view that Bin Laden and his minions need but 'crook their fingers' and Muslims will do their bidding (except for heretics like the Iranians...) and thus most of their equipment has been supplied by crews defecting with their craft. There are also references to regional airforces taking their orders from Al Queda.

For the Aircraft Mavens

United States

XF-16Z
Modified F-16D
Fusilage and Wings have been modified from the original.
Fusilage has been lengthened and widened to allow the original engine to be replaced with a prototype of the engine planned for the Joint Strike Fighter.
Wings/tails have been modified to a configuration similar to that used on the F-22 'Raptor'
Electronics suite has been reconfigured to serve as a 'Wild Weasel' anti-radar aircraft.
Speed: Mach 1.2
Combat Range: 1000miles (1609.3km)
Note: The aircraft has been modified by the staff at the US 'Dreamland' facility to serve as a testbed for constructional techniques/wing designs intended for the Joint Strike Fighter and electronics for the next generation of 'Wild Weasel' aircraft. At the time of the story (November 1997) the aircraft is slated for further modifications in January 1998 to allow it to serve as the testbed for an airborne laser weapon.

Plot summary: The year is 1997 (The story runs between the 2nd and 12th of November in that year.), evidence has come to light linking certain factions amongst the Somali pirates to Al Queda and the attempted takeover of Brunei earlier in the year.

 

[Graham1973]

From a badly written and edited piece of 'self-published on Amazon' fiction.

J. W. Orchard, Oceans of Fire, 2020

United States

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

USS Java (SSN-1408)
Submarine, class not specified
Length: 400ft (121.9m)
Beam: 50ft (15.24)
Armament: 8 x 660mm Torpedo Tubes (4 Fwd, 4 Aft). 10 x Tomahawk Missiles, 10 x Harpoon Missiles, 25 x Mk.48 Mod 8 Torpedoes, 5 x Mk.67 Submarine Launched Mobile Mines and 4 x 'Drone Torpedoes'

USS Hollingsworth (SSN-780)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit the class. Pennant number clashes with that of the Virginia Class Submarine USS Missouri. Author explicitly identifies the submarine as being of the Los Angeles Class.

USS Atacosa
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit the class. Author explicitly identifies the submarine as being of the Los Angeles Class.

USS Devine
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit the class. Author explicitly identifies the submarine as being of the Los Angeles Class.

USS Lytle
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit the class. Author explicitly identifies the submarine as being of the Los Angeles Class.

USS Natalia
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit the class. Author explicitly identifies the submarine as being of the Los Angeles Class.

USS Richard Bruce (CVN-??)
Gerald R. Ford Class?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Tentative identification, the carrier is clearly a CVN.

Russia

Arkhangelsk (eng: Archangel)
'Aircraft Carrier', class not specified.
No other details provided.

Murmansk
'Aircraft Carrier', class not specified.
No other details provided.

Ural
Akula Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Chersky
Akula Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Koryak
Akula Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Stanovoy
Akula Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

China (Peoples Republic)

Unnamed
Several ex-Russian Akula and Akula II class submarines obtained by various means. The submarines have been modified so that they can fire US Mk.48 torpedoes in addition to the weapons they originally carried.

Antarctica Base
Submarine pen constructed in an unspecified part of the Antarctic Ice Shelf.

Plot summary: China comes up with a 'cunning plan' to get the United States and Russia to fight.

 

[Graham1973]

Back to the 'Boy's Own Adventure' fiction...

T. C. Bridges, With Beatty in the North Sea, 1917

United Kingdom

HMS Aurora
Arethusa Class Cruiser (WWI)
Real ship, details as in service.

HMS Alicon
Town Class Cruiser (WWI)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Name does not fit the class.

HMS Alethea
'Cruiser', class not specified
Speed: 30knots (max)
No other details provided.

HMS Deva
'Destroyer', class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Mercia
Armed Merchant Cruiser
Displacement: 8000 tons
Main battery: 6inch guns (Most likely 4 guns a side in single mounts)

Germany

Stargard
'Cruiser', class not specified
Main battery not specified, secondary battery 5.1inch guns
No other details provided

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

Unnamed
Armed Merchant Cruiser (Commerce Raider)
Armament: 5inch guns, Torpedoes and Mines
No other details provided.

Plot summary: Set between the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland, the pursuit of a possible German spy leads an RN officer from the North Sea to the shores of the Baltic and back again.

 

[Dilandu]

Note: Former Somali Navy ship. Information on the former Somali Navy is almost impossible to come by and I have not been able to find out the ships original name, nor have I found hard information on it's fate.

There were one Project 770MA landing ship, transferred to Somalian Navy. It could be SDK-32, SDK-35, SDK-41, SDK-42, SDK-44, SDK-46 or SDK-67. The career of others is known.

 

[Graham1973]

Note: Former Somali Navy ship. Information on the former Somali Navy is almost impossible to come by and I have not been able to find out the ships original name, nor have I found hard information on it's fate.

There were one Project 770MA landing ship, transferred to Somalian Navy. It could be SDK-32, SDK-35, SDK-41, SDK-42, SDK-44, SDK-46 or SDK-67. The career of others is known.

Thanks for the additional information.

 

[Dilandu]

Thanks for the additional information.

Was able to narrow the list - it could not be SDK-32 (it was given to Yemen), SDK-46 (Bulgaria) or SDK-67 (Egypt). So, it's either SDK-35, SDK-41, SDK-42 or SDK-44.

 

[Graham1973]

Patrick Robinson, The Shark Mutiny, 2001

United States

USS Shark (SSN-???)
Sturgeon Class (Long Hulled SubClass) Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Described as the newest member of the class, dialog in the novel implies she commissioned in 1977, two years after the historic last member of the class USS Richard B. Russell (SSN-687). The submarine has been modified by adding a docking system aft of the conning tower capable of handling either a DSRV or two Swimmer Delivery Vehicles.

All other US Navy ships mentioned in the story are real.

China (People's Republic)

Hangzhou
Sovremenny (Pr.1156) Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service

Shantou
Type 053 Frigate
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author does not specify the subclass.

Kangding
Type 053 Frigate
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author does not specify the subclass.

Zigong
Type 053 Frigate
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author does not specify the subclass.

Nancang
Oiler, class not specified
37,000 tons.

Haing Gyi Island Base
Naval Base with repair and refuelling facilities.
Located in Myanmar (Burma), established with the permission of the Ruling Junta.
Description: "It's huge. Massive facilities for servicing and refueling warships of all sizes, including submarines."

All other PLAN ships mentioned in the story are Unnamed

Iran

Bayandor
'Corvette', class not specified
Stated to be former a former US ship built in Texas.
No other details provided.

Naghdi
'Corvette', class not specified
Stated to be former a former US ship built in Texas.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The year is 2007, the government of the People's Republic of China has come up with a 'cunning plan' designed to give them Taiwan on a platter...

 

[Graham1973]

Alistair MacLean, McCrimmon and the Blue Moonstones, published in The Lonely Sea, 1985

United Kingdom

HMS Ilara
I Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment based on ships name only.

Plot summary: The best laid plans always go astray...

Note: Author Alistair MacLean wrote a number of pieces of short fiction during his career, shortly before his death they were collected and published in a single volume along with a number of articles the author had written for various newspapers.

I have covered several of the authors other novels in this thread, they are: 'HMS Ulysses' (1955), 'South by Java Head' (1958), 'Night Without End' (1959), 'San Andreas' (1984) and 'Santorini' (1986)

 

[Graham1973]

Richard P. Henrick, Counterforce, 1987

United States

USS Triton
Los Angeles Class Submarine (Flight II)
Details as per the real ships.
Equipment fitted in addition to class standard: 2x ASW/SOW (Prototype long-range Anti-Submarine Weapon), AUSEX (Prototype equiment designed to allow a submarine to detect an aircraft in flight while submerged.)
Note: Explicitly identified as a Los Angeles Class Submarine by the author. Name does not fit class. Described as "One of our newest attack subs".

USS Triggerfish
Thresher Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a Thresher Class Submarine by the author. Several US submarines have been named USS Trigger in honor of the Triggerfish, but none have used this form of the name.

USS Eagle
Spruance Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a Spruance Class Destroyer by the author. Name does not fit the US destroyer class naming scheme.

Russia (Soviet Union)

Cheka
Alfa (Pr.705) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships
Fitted with an acoustic masking device. The formal name of the device is never given, but it's capable of completely masking the acoustic signature of the submarine when activated.
Note: Explicitly identified as an Alfa Class Submarine by the author.

Vulkan
Delta III (Pr.667BDR) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Equipment fitted in place of class standard: 16 x SS-N-18 Mod. 3 (Fictional version) missiles, SIAM (Submarine launched Anti-Aircraft Missile)
Note: Explicitly identified as a Delta III Class Submarine by the author.

Natya
Kresta II (Pr. 1134A) Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author simply identifies the ship as a Kresta Class Cruiser without specifying the sub class. Sub class determined from armament description.

Fictional Naval Equipment

United States

AUSEX (Aircraft Undersea Sound Experiment)

"AUSEX was designed around a neutrally buoyant hydrophone tube that was released on a cable and floated up toward the surface. This allowed any nearby aircraft to be sonically monitored and analyzed."

ASW/SOW (Anti Submarine Weapon/Stand Off Weapon)

Summary: Tomahawk derived weapon. Launched from the submarines torpedo tubes and comprises a carrier and a torpedo. The carrier flies to co-ordinates determined by the launching sub. Once reaching the target area the Remotely-Guided Autonomous Lightweight (REGAL) torpedo is dropped into the water by parachute. Also released into the water is an 'acoustic array' described as a "...small computer and a sonar transmitter...". The torpedo once in the water initiates a standard slow search pattern and waits for the 'acoustic array' to pinpoint the target before beginning the attack run. While not stated in the novel explicitly the torpedo is probably capable of picking up the target on its own. No specifics for the torpedo are provided in the novel. Maximum range for the weapon is 300 miles from the launching submarine.

Russia (Soviet Union)

SS-N-18 Mod. 3 (Fictional version)
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile
Warhead: 7 x MIRV warheads.
Range: 8000miles (12874.75km).

Note: The real world version of this missile has a 9000mile range and only carries two warheads.
Later: Dilandu has indicated that in fact this weapon is an accurate description of the SS-N-18 Mod. 3 (aka R-29L)

SIAM (Self-Initiated Anti-aircraft Missile)

Torpedo tube launched Anti-Aircraft Missile. Length: 12m, Diameter 553mm, 30kg warhead. Active radar guidance.
Weapon is launched encapsulated and breaks out of the capsule before reaching the surface.

Plot summary: Certain elements in the Soviet Government take steps to derail the reformists in Russia once and for all...

Note: For the authors history, see the entry for 'The Phoenix Odyssey' (1986).

 

[Dilandu]

Note: The real world version of this missile has a 9000mile range and only carries two warheads.

Er... no. The SS-N-18 Mod.3 (actually R-29RL) carried seven 100-kt warheads on the 6500 miles range. So, this weapon is not fictional.

SIAM (Self-Initiated Anti-aircraft Missile)

Torpedo tube launched Anti-Aircraft Missile. Length: 12m, Diameter 553mm, 30kg warhead. Active radar guidance.
Weapon is launched encapsulated and breaks out of the capsule before reaching the surface.

Hm! Quite interesting, because this weapon is real too. Albeit the actual version (tested, but cancelled) was IR-guided.

 

[Graham1973]

Note: The real world version of this missile has a 9000mile range and only carries two warheads.

Er... no. The SS-N-18 Mod.3 (actually R-29RL) carried seven 100-kt warheads on the 6500 miles range. So, this weapon is not fictional.

SIAM (Self-Initiated Anti-aircraft Missile)

Torpedo tube launched Anti-Aircraft Missile. Length: 12m, Diameter 553mm, 30kg warhead. Active radar guidance.
Weapon is launched encapsulated and breaks out of the capsule before reaching the surface.

Hm! Quite interesting, because this weapon is real too. Albeit the actual version (tested, but cancelled) was IR-guided.

Thanks for the corrections.

 

[Graham1973]

Something a little unusual...

Frances B. Berres, James C. Coleman, William S. Briscoe & Frank M. Hewett, Submarine Rescue, 1959

United States

USS Sunfin
'Fleet Submarine' (SS), class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: A fictionalized version of the USS Squalus sinking set in the post-WWII United States.

Note: This novel was intended for use in schools as a reading comprehension piece. The four authors credited were all from the University of California, Los Angeles.