Fictional Warships - Novels

[Graham1973]

Thomas Page, SIGMET Active, 1978

USS Adair (DDG-???)
Guided Missile Destroyer. Class not specified.
Details as given for armament/equipment seem to fit both the Charles F. Adams and Farragut Classes
Crew: 250
Speed: 40 knots
Has a helipad aft.

Armament has been modified as follows the forward gun mount has been replaced by an experimental laser cannon powered by a solar boiler that makes use of a parabolic mirror mounted behind the fire control position and forward of the stack. The weapon is capable of making a 2km diameter hole in the Ozone layer, which the author claims would allow unshielded UV, Gamma and X-Radiation through to the Earths surface (He's only right about the first...)


USS McCluskey (CV-??, CVS-??, CVN-??)
Aircraft Carrier, class not specified.
Aircraft aboard include F-14s, F-4s and AV8s

Plot Summary: As with the Godzilla Movies, playing with superweapons unleashes a supermonster, this time in the form of a thunderstorm system that hunts it's vicitms across the world.

 

[PMN1]

I seem to recall reading back in the 80s a novel about the RN in a WW3 North Atlantic battle with a fleet based around two fictional carriers. Thet were a Hermes VSTOL type and were called HM Ships Furious and Glorious (?). The books POV was the CO of a Leander class frigate with a suitability classical but fictional name (which I can't remember). I do recall the book being in the Tom Clancy vane but more technically realistic but bleaker. Can't recall the title.

I used to own a novel called Submarine by John Wingate, which formed part of a WWIII series he had written. My copy disappeared in a move and I've never found another. A quick check of Amazon shows that he's not made it to Kindle yet. The book you remember might have been part of that series.

Frigate, Carrier and Submarine IIRC.

 

[Graham1973]

Brian Callison, The Judas Ship, 1978

Seepanther

German Commerce Raider (Armed merchant ship)

6 x single 5.9inch guns (3 a side)
Up to 4 torpedo tubes (minimum 2)
Twin screws

No other details provided.

Plot Summary: The year is 1941 and the crew of the freighter Maya Star find themselves in a game of cat and mouse with the crew of a German Raider off the coast of Brazil.

Later:Attached is a scan of the front cover of my copy of the book. The image is uncredited and I think depicts the German Raider.

 

[Graham1973]

John McLaren, Blind Eye, 2004

HMS Indomitable
Invincible Class Carrier

Details as per the real ships. Name is that originally given to the third Invincible which was renamed Ark Royal prior to completion. As the Ark Royal is mentioned as a separate ship during the course of the novel this is clearly an additional member to the class.

HMS Tenacious
Trafalgar Class Submarine

Details as per the real ships.

HMS Chatsworth
Type 23 Class Frigate

Details as per the real ships.

Plot Summary: As an African nation spirals into chaos the captain of a Royal Navy carrier is faced with an agonising dilemma...

 

[GTX]

Invasion by Eric L. Harry: 300-plane, 500,000t Chinese Super Carriers based upon converted keels meant for supertankers.

 

[Graham1973]

Invasion by Eric L. Harry: 300-plane, 500,000t Chinese Super Carriers based upon converted keels meant for supertankers.

What was it called?

 

[GTX]

No name provided

 

[Hobbes]

Another puzzle:

a novel about submarine warfare, including a Russian Alfa class sub being hunted through the Mediterranean by (iirc) both Russian and American forces. None of the books in this thread ring a bell, and haven't been able to find anything elsewhere either...

 

[Graham1973]

No name provided

Thanks,

I've added covers of the paperback editions to the entries for A Frenzy of Merchantmen and The Judas Ship. I really wish that the artists who did the naval action novels had gotten as much attention as the artists who did the Sci-Fi novels in the 1970s/80s.

 

[Graham1973]

After an unplanned delay, I've got a little bit of a backlog, Hood, hope this one is not too much.

Edwyn Gray: Fighting Submarine, 1978

United Kingdom

HMS Redoubtable
Battlcruiser
Class not specified
Member of the Fourth Battlecruiser squadron, sunk at Jutland, 1916
Name that of a Pre-Drednought battleship (Former HMS Revenge) scrapped in 1919.

HMS Leviathan
Admiral Class Battlecruiser(?)
Authors limited description suggests that he had HMS Hood in mind.

HMS Arrogant
Battleship, class not specified

HMS Audacious
Battleship, class not specified
Name that of a King George V Class (WWI) Battleship sunk in 1914

HMS Argonaut
Aircraft carrier(?), class not specified

HMS Surge
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Name is that of a member of the class ordered in 1943 and cancelled at the end of WWII, had it been built the hull number would have been P279.

HMS Serendipity
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Rapier
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

HMS H-79
H Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships, scrapped pre WWII(?)

HMS H-86
H Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships, still in service 1940(?)

HMS L-76
L Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships, scrapped pre WWII(?)

HMS L-86
L Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships. Scrapped pre WWII(?)


Germany

Koenig
Deutschland Class Panzerschiffe
Details same as the real ships. Scuttled late 1939/early 1940.

Hans Ludemann
Destroyer, class not specified

Ernst Heinemann
Destroyer, class not specified

Plot Summary: The captain of an English submarine finds himself caught up in intrigue that stretches back to a pre-war vist to Germany. Novel takes place 1938 - 1939, possibly early 1940.

 

[Graham1973]

Continuing to clear up the backlog.

Philip McCutchan, An Act of War (Originally): Lieutenant Cameron RNVR), 1981

United Kingdom

HMS Northumberland
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Name is that of a real ship of that class whose construction was cancelled in 1930.

Unnamed
Town Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

France (Vichy)

Unnamed
Destroyer, class not specified

Germany

Oberhausen
Hipper class cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Helmut Genscher
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
6 5.9 inch guns (three a side)
4 21 in torpedo tubes
Unspecified anti-aircraft guns
Carries two H-114 flying boats.
No other details provided

Bottrop
Armed Merchant Ship (Supply Ship)
2 4 inch guns (Both mounted forward one on the port side the other on the starboard.)
Unspecified number of machine guns
Twin Screw
No other details provided.

Talca
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
4 5.9 inch guns (two a side)
1 60mm gun
1 twin 37mm gun
4 20mm guns
2 21 inch torpedo tubes
No other details provided.

Plot summary: The survivors of a British cruiser sunk by torpedos while hunting merchant raiders in 1940 try to complete their mission by overthrowing the crew of the raiders supply ship.

Note: This book is the third in a series, all of the ships save the unnamed Town Class cruiser are sunk during the course of the novel.

 

[Graham1973]

G. Ernest Smith, Deadly Apparition, 2014

USS Kansas (SSN-849)
Virginia Class
Built as a 'trials ship' declared operational following budget cuts.

Plot Summary: The year is 2014, the USS Kansas has just 'disappeared' during trials of an experimental 'forcefield'.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Hunted (Originally): Cameron's Chase), 1986

United Kingdom

HMS Glenfinnan
G Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships. Lead ship of the 24th Destroyer Flotilla.

HMS Glenshiel
G Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships, retains full pre-war armament, has been fitted with radar. Part of the 24th Destroyer Flotilla

HMS Glenorchy
G Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships. Part of the 24th Destroyer Flotilla

HMS Glenaffric
G Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships. Part of the 24th Destroyer Flotilla

HMS Monmouth
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships, lead ship of the 27th Cruiser Squadron.

HMS Stafford
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships, part of the 27th Cruiser Squadron.

HMS Leicester
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships, part of the 27th Cruiser Squadron.


Germany

Attila
Battleship, class not stated
9 16 inch guns (A,B & Y triple turrets)
12 5.9 inch guns (mixture of double and single turrets)
'Numerous' AA weapons, calibers not specified probably a mix of 4.1 inch, 37mm and 20mm weapons.
Torpedo armament not specified
Speed: "...close on..." 30 knots
Weight: 45,000 tons (Not stated if this is long tons or full load)

Darmstadt
Hipper class cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Recklinghausen
Hipper class cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: Germanies latest battleship has taken to the seas in an attempt to raid the convoys carrying troops from America to the United Kingdom. There is no specified period for the story, but 1942/43 would seem to be the best fit.

Note: From what little information the author provides it's pretty clear that the Attila is essentially a Super-Scharnhorst, this is another one that should be fairly easy for a creative illustrator to do, a picture of this alongside a Bismark class battleship (or two...) would be something I'd love to see.

 

[Graham1973]

Now a quick break from the novels, with a short story.

H. O. Arnold-Foster, In A Conning Tower, 1891

HMS Majestic
Victoria Class Ironclad Battleship
Details as per the real ships, save that the 12 6 inch BL guns have been upgraded to 6 inch Quick Firers.

Plot summary: A hypothetical naval engagement between two ironclads, one British, the other probably French (and too vaguely described to identify)... everybody knows the Germans can't sail worth a damn...

 

[Graham1973]

Douglas Reeman, HMS Saracen, 1965

United Kingdom

HMS Saracen
3rd Erebus Class Monitor
Details as per the real ships
Disposed of as missile target 1964

HMS Aureus
Leander Class Cruiser(?)
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Brigadier
B Class Destroyer? (1920s, not the pre-WWI class)
Details as per the real ships
Sunk 1941

HMRT Goliath
Admiralty Tugboat
Details as per the real ships.


Italy

Unnamed
Littorio Class Battleship
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
Cruiser, class not specified

Unnamed
Cruiser, class not specified

Unnamed
Minelayer, class not specified

Plot summary:The career of a Royal Navy monitor, from the Gallipoli landings to the early Atomic age.

Note: I've just added two scans, one is the 1998 cover by Geoffrey Huband, which appears to depict HMS Saracen in Tobruk harbour just before she opens fire on the beseiging Afrika Korps. The other is the cover for the novels third printing in 1971.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Against All Odds (Originally): Cameron's Raid), 1986

United Kingdom

HMS Palatine
P Class Destroyer (Apparently a fictional class...)
4 4 inch guns (A, B, X & Y)
1 'high angle' gun either 20mm or 76mm (not specified in text)
40mm 'pom pom' gun mounted fwd of the searchlight
20m guns mounted near the forebridge
Depth charges
No other details provided

HMS Probity
P Class Destroyer
Armament same as HMS Palatine
Adds 6 21 inch torpedo tubes, port/starboard triple mounts
No other details provided

HMS Panoply
P Class Destroyer
Armament same as HMS Palatine
No other details provided

HMS Glamorgan
Cruiser, class not specified
Main armament 6 inch guns
No other details provided

Germany

Unnamed
Destroyer, class not specifed

Unnamed
Frigate, class not specified

Unnamed
Frigate, class not specified

Plot summary: Following the disaster of Dieppe, the British try to repeat the success of St Nazaire by raiding the U-Boat pens at Brest in an operation codenamed Scatter.

Notes:As with all the 'Cameron' novels providing a precise date for this one is not possible, however since one of the characters specifically mentions the Dieppe raid in the past tense it cannot take place any earlier than September 1942. I've so far not been able to identfy a specific model for the 'P Class Destroyers' in the book, the only clues is that they are older than the V & W Class but newer than the 50 destroyers the US gave to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease.

 

[Hood]

New listings split by era (1890-1945 & 1945-2020) can be found here: http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5756&start=30

 

[Graham1973]

Dudley Pope, Convoy, 1979

United Kingdom

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

HMS Echo
Frigate, class not specified
No details provided
Name conflicts with the E Class Destroyer HMS Echo

HMS Argo
Frigate, class not specified
No details provided

Poland

ORP Orzel
Destroyer, class not specified
Name conflicts with a Polish submarine of the same name that was lost in 1940.

Germany

Unnamed
U-Boat Type VII?

Plot summary: The time is early 1942 and the Germans have found a way to get a U-Boat inside a convoy without the escort knowing it is there until too late...

 

[Graham1973]

Nigel Kneale, Quatermass, 1979

United Kingdom

HMS Arbalest
Missile Frigate, class not specified
No other details provided
Moored in front of the House of Commons, referred to as 'Old'.

Plot summary: It is the 'Day after Tomorrow', the world is falling to pieces and then comes the harvest...

Later: To give a bit more context, here is the quote in which the HMS Arbalest makes her appearance, the viewpoint is located in a building in the same approximate location as Portcullis House:

From his room Quatermass could look down on the Embankment. From here it had a spurious normality. A few trucks and cars could be seen on the move and there were people on the pavements, clerks and the like with some apparent purpose. One or two stopped on a corner where a barrowman was selling nuts. Beyond the bridge he could make out part of the superstructure of HMS Arbalest, the old missile frigate moored protectively alongside the terrace of the House of Commons. Above everything loomed the burned-out tower of Big Ben...

Nigel Kneale, Quatermass, 1979, pg 180

 

[Graham1973]

Jacob Hay & John M. Keshishian (MD), Death of a Cosmonaut, 1969

United States

USS John Berryton (DD-??)
Destroyer, class not specified.
Launched 1942
Sunk 1944
No other details provided

USS Millard Fillmore (SSN-??? or SSBN-???)
Nuclear submarine, class not specified
No other details provided

Russia

Evgeny Plyanskov
'Trawler' (eg Spy Ship)
Fitted out for ELINT
No other details provided.

Plot summary: After two astronauts successfully rendezvous with a Voskhod the race is on to find out just what they discovered about the fate of the crew.

 

[Graham1973]

Douglas Reeman, A Ship Must Die, 1979

Australia

HMAS Devonport
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships
Sunk shortly prior to the start of the novel.

HMAS Fremantle
Fourth York Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

United Kingdom

HMS Andromeda
Modified Leander Class Cruiser
Launched 1936
Details as per the real ships

HMS Paradox
O & P Class destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Sunk prior to the start of the novel.

Germany

Bremse
Armed Merchant Ship (Supply Ship)
1 'Popgun' (Probably 4in)
Machine guns, type unspecified
Other details not provided

Salamander
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
8 5.9 inch guns (Four a side)
6 'Cannon' type unspecified
Torpedoes
Mines
Carries 2 Arado Ar-196 seaplanes
8,000 tons
No other details provided

Wölfchen
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
Armament identical to Salamanders
Lacks seaplanes
8,000 tons
No other details provided

Plot summary: The year is 1944, increasing ship losses suggest that a commerce raider is loose in the Indian Ocean, but with few ships available, can it be caught before it returns to Germany.

I've attached a scan of the cover of the hardback edition by artist Chris Mayger, which appears to be depicting the beginning of the novels climactic battle.

 

[Graham1973]

Douglas Reeman, Go In and Sink!, 1973

United Kingdom

HMS Tristram
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tryphon
T Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Guernsey
Submarine Depot ship - ex cruise liner (pre WWI?)
No other details provided
Name matches that of a cancelled G Class destroyer

HMS Lima
Armed Yacht
No other details provided

HMS Dundee
Destroyer, class not specified.
No details provided.
Sunk by Fritz-X guided bomb sometime prior to Operation Husky.
Name matches that of a Sloop sunk in 1940

Ex U-192
U-Boat, class not specified in novel.
Number matches a Type IXC/40 U-Boat sunk in May 1943.
In the novel U-192 is captured by the British in February 1943.

Germany

U-154
U-Boat, type not specified
Sunk 1943.
The real U-154, a Type IXC was sunk in July of 1944.

Italy

Unnamed
Armed Yacht
No other details provided

Plot Summary: Having obtained an intact U-Boat, the Royal Navy decides to exploit it for covert operations, culminating in a strike against the Fritz-X gliding bomb in the lead up to Operation Husky.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, In Command (Originally): Cameron In Command, 1983 (First published 1986)

United Kingdom

HMS Briar
Flower Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships

RFA Garsdale
Refueling tanker
No other details provided

Japan

Ichikawa
Cruiser, class not specifed
8 6.1 inch guns (A, B, X, Y twin turrets)
"...plus ack-ack and torpedoes, the usual stuff."

Hakodate
Cruiser, class not specified
Armament implied to be same as Ichikawa
Same fictional class?

Sasebo
Cruiser, class not specified
Only detail provided is that ship is "...little bigger than a destroyer..."
Probably not the same class as Hakodate & Ichikawa

Oishi
'Corvette' (Kaibōkan, Eng: Sea Defense Ship)
About the size of a Flower Class Corvette
No other details provided

Unnamed
Aircraft Carrier, class not specified

Unnamed
Several Troop Transports

Plot summary: Year is unspecified, but probably prior to the Battle of Midway (eg 1942). The Japanese have manage to sneak a force into the South Pacfic and aim to pass through the Straits of Magellan and take the Falkland islands by surprise....

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, On Land And Sea (Originally): Cameron and the Kaiserhof, 1984

Germany

Kaiserhof
Submarine Depot Ship
Converted 20,000 ton liner
Three Island Design
2 5.9 inch (Fore and Aft)
Carries 50 minisubs launched via a modified stern.

Unnamed
Mini-sub
Four man crew
Looks like a minature U-boat
Diesel/electric propulsion
Armament 21in Torpedo, number carried not specified.

United States

USS John J. Rimmer (DD-??)
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

USS Dennison (DD-??)
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: Set shortly after the events of 'In Command'. A daring plan codenamed Highwayman is put in motion to seize a German submarine depot-ship from a Spanish port before it can unleash a swarm of mini-subs into the path of the United States navy.

 

[Graham1973]

Douglas Reeman, The Iron Pirate, 1986

United Kingdom

HMS Wiltshire
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

HMS Rhodesia
Crown Colony Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tasmania
Armed Merchant Cruiser
8 x 8 inch guns (Four a side)
28 knots

New Zealand

HMNZS Pallas
Leander Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Germany

Prinz Luitpold
Hipper Class Cruiser
35kts

Lübek
Third Leipzig Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Hans Arnim
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

Unnamed
Type XIV U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Type XIV U-Boat
Details as per the real ships.

United States

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: The year is 1944 (Aparently a different 'universe' from 'A Ship Must Die'.). The Germans have attempted to repeat the successes of the early war by dispatching one of their last heavy cruisers on a raiding mission into the South Atlantic ocean.

The cover used on the earliest paperback edition is by Brian Sweet and depicts the Prinz Luitpold in the company of several destroyers (See the linked full cover below.) in action against off scene forces.

The Iron Pirate: Full Cover

The Iron Pirate: Full (1987) Cover

 

[Tzoli]

Ichikawa and Hakodate sounds like the Agano-Kai class but with 15,5cm guns instead of 15cm ones

 

[Graham1973]

Ichikawa and Hakodate sounds like the Agano-Kai class but with 15,5cm guns instead of 15cm ones

I have no idea what the author was thinking of when he wrote the book (Sometimes it can be pretty clear.), but a longer Agano class, because of the extra turret aft might be as good a visual image as you can get.

 

[Graham1973]

Another split-era novel

Geoffrey Jenkins, A Bridge of Magpies, 1974

Fictional Warships (WWII)

South Africa

HMSAS Gousblom
Flower Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships.
Referred to as a 'Frigate' in the novel.
Sunk 7th of July, 1943

HMSAS Vygie
Corvette, class not specified
No other details provided

HMSAS Aandblom
Corvette, class not specified
No other details provided

Germany

U-160
U-Boat, type IXC
Details as per the real ships.
Disappeared 7th of July, 1943
The real U-160 was sunk off the coast of the Azores on the 29th of June, 1943.

Fictional Warships (1974)

South Africa

SAS Fairest Cape
Frigate
No other details provided

Russia

Sang A
'Salvage Ship' (eg Spy Ship)
Hull identical to that of a Kashin class destroyer
2 KPV 14.5mm machine guns (single twin mount near the bow concealed under a tarpaulin.)
18 knots
Owned by a bogus South Korean company.

Upper works described as follows in the novel:

The vessel was too far away for me to make out her name but my glasses showed a low black hull with a whaleback fo'c'sle a straight up-and-down outmoded cutwater, and a single high, old-fashioned stack with a white band painted round it. Two very tall ventilators towered almost as high as the marking. She had a very square bridge and a box like structure in the stern which on a warship would have been the radio or radar shack...

Her masts were squat and sturdy, with heavy booms out of keeping to her size.

A Bridge of Magpies by Geoffrey Jenkins, pg 108

Plot summary: An ex-South African Navy captain is asked to investigate rumours of a lost city found in what is now Namibia, what he finds is a deeper mystery, one connected to a missing U-Boat and a secret that links the battles of Tsushima and Pearl Harbour...

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Convoy of War (Originally): The Convoy Commodore, 1986

United Kingdom

RFA Wensleydale
Dale Class refueling tanker
Built before the war.
No other details.
Name conflicts with HMS Wensleydale a Hunt II class destroyer launched in 1942.

Plot summary: A fictional convoy from Britain to Canada at the same time as Churchill is heading to Canada to meet Roosevelt for the first time, eg before the 14th of August 1941. The ship above is the only one of the convoys escort named.

 

[Graham1973]

An updated version of something I originally posted to the Warship Projects 3.0 forums version of the list. This one might make for an interesting scenario using Harpoon or a similar game of modern naval combat.

Anthony Fox, Threat Warning Red, 1979

United States

USS Fermenger (FF-10??)
Knox Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Has enhanced accomodations to act as a flagship for an officer up to the rank of admiral (Currently carrying a commodore)
Flagship of the Composite NATO Squadron (Designated STANAVFORLANT (eg Standing Naval Force Atlantic))

Canada

HMCS Winnipeg
Warship, class not specified
Carries a Sea King Helicopter
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

United Kingdom

HMS Devon
County Class Destroyer (Ninth member of class overall, fifth member of the Batch 2 subclass.)
Details as per the real ships
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron
Note: This ship is described as having been fitted with Exocet, only the members of the Batch 2 subclass were so fitted, this makes this ship a member of Batch 2.

RFA White Rover
Rover Class Tanker
Details as per the real ships
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

RFA Tideway
Tide Class Tanker
Details as per the real ships
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

Germany

Baden
Hamburg Class Destroyer (Fifth member of class.)
As per the real ships prior to modernization (eg retains full gun armament)
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

Netherlands

HNLMS Marnix
Van Speijk class frigate (Dutch version of the Leander class frigate)
Details as per the real ships.
Not stated if vessel has been modernized as the real ships were from December 1976
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

Portugal

NRP Alvarez Pereira
João Belo class frigate
Details as per the real ships
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

Denmark

HDMS Jylland
Peder Skram Class Frigate?
Details as per the real ships
Part of the Composite NATO Squadron

France

Courbet
Suffren Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Referred to as a 'Cruiser' in the novel
Flagship of the French Squadron

Saint Croix
T-47 (Surcouf) class destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Armament modernised to include "...Exocet missiles and Lynx helicopters."
Part of the French Squadron

Jean Bart
T-47 (Surcouf) class destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Armament modernised to include "...Exocet missiles and Lynx helicopters."
Part of the French Squadron

Russia

Task Force 'A'

Unnamed
Tanker, class not specified

Unnamed
2 Kashin class destroyers
Details as per the real ships

Task Force 'B'

Unnamed
Kara class cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
2 Krivak class frigates
Details as per the real ships

Task Force 'C'

Unnamed
2 Kresta Class cruisers (Not specified if Kresta I or Kresta II class in novel.)
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
6 Skoryy class destroyers
Details as per the real ships

Unattached ships

Unnamed
Mayak Class AGI
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
Primorye Class AGI
Details as per the real ships

Plot summary: The Soviet Union declares a large area of the Atlantic to be a 'special exercise' zone and demands the West stay out of it. All that stands in the way of the powerful forces marshalled by the Soviets (Warships, 'Useful Idiots', etc) is a composite squadron of NATO ships.

Note: This is one of those novels which has the feel of a politico-military wargame scenario that has been converted into fiction. There is a note at the front which mentions that the paperback edition had been rushed out to take advantage of recent events (The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the unrest in Poland that picked up following the ascent of Pope John Paul II.) and apologises for the novel not mentioning them and specifically states that the novel should be read as taking place in 1979 rather than the near future (eg 1982).

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Prisoner of War (Originally): Cameron's Troop Lift, 1987

United Kingdom

HMS Caithness
Ca Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Guiana
Crown Colony Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

HMS Brunei
Crown Colony Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Japan

Oita
Warship, no class specified
Called a "...flotilla leader..."
No other details provided.

Tamara Maru
Troop Ship
No other details provided

Yokosuka Maru
Troop Ship (ex-Liner)
2 6 inch guns (Bow and Stern)
No other details provided

Plot summary: The time is November(?) 1944, a British destroyer discovers that the Japanese are transferring British prisoners-of-war to Burma as slaves.

 

[Graham1973]

Antony Trew, The Zhukov Briefing, 1975

Russia

Zhukov
Delta II Class Submarine (Fictional version)
16 SS-N-9 (Mk II) MARV nuclear missiles (Fictional type, real SS-N-9 was a cruise missile)
20 Cruise Missiles, type not stated. Powered by solid fuel, speed Mach 4, can be used against surface or air targets, range 250 miles (402.34km).
2 Nuclear drones, length 12.5m, diameter 2.75m, propulsion hydrojets, speed 35knots, armament a single nuclear bomb (Yield not mentioned.), range of control 35 miles (56.33km) using sonar, 150 miles (241.4km) using radio. In addition to being used as a weapon the drone can be used either as a decoy or as a means to scout ahead of the submarine.
Torpedo armament mentioned but not specified in detail.

Timoshenko
Delta II Class Submarine (Fictional version)
To be launched November 1974
Details same as Zhukov

Volga
Nepa Class Submarine Salvage Ship
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
Nepa Class Submarine Salvage Ship
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
Three Oktober Class Salvage Tugs (Fictional Class?)
No other details provided

United Kingdom

HMS Aries
Leander Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships

HMS Bluewhale
Ninth Porpoise Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Belligerent
Fearless Class Assault Ship?
Details as per the real ships

RFA Fleetwave
Supply ship.
No other details provided

United States

USS Rockfish (SSN-???)
Skipjack Class
Details as per the real ships

Norway

Unnamed
'Gunboat'
No other details provided.

Plot summary: It is October 1974 and the Soviet Unions latest Ballistic Missile submarine has run aground on a Norwegian island...

Note: The novel is not inspired by the famous 'Whisky on the Rocks' incident. This did not occur until October 1981 some six years after the novel came out. Wikipedia

 

[Graham1973]

Antony Trew, Kleber's Convoy, 1973

United Kingdom

HMS Fidelix
Escort Carrier, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Northampton
Cruiser
Described as a "...heavy cruiser..." no other details provided.

HMS Nottingham
Town Class Cruiser?
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Vengeful
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Name of a V & W Class Destroyer cancelled on the slips in 1918

HMS Vectis
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Name of a V & W Class Destroyer that was scrapped in 1936

HMS Violent
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Vallance
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Vigorous
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Name of a V & W Class Destroyer cancelled on the slips in 1918

HMS Whippet
V & W Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Name of a V & W Class Destroyer cancelled on the slips in 1918

HMS Mainwaring
L & M Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Bluebird
Kingfisher Class Sloop?
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Chaffinch
Kingfisher Class Sloop?
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Peaflower
Flower Class Corvette?
Details as per the real ships

HMS Camden Castle
Castle Class Corvette?
Details as per the real ships

HMS Grant Castle
Castle Class Corvette?
Details as per the real ships

HMS Isis
Warship, class not mentioned

Germany

U-0117
U-Boat, class not specified

U-0153
U-Boat, class not specified

Plot summary: It is late 1944 and another Arctic Convoy makes it's dangerous way to Russia.

Note: In the authors introduction it is stated that all warship names used are ficticious, which is quite refreshing really. Sadly, he was not always clear just what types of warships he was describing.

 

[Graham1973]

Continuing my survey of WWII set fiction...

Craig DiLouie, Crash Dive, 2015

United States

S-55 (SS-???)
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Launched 1922, Sunk 1942

S-56 (SS-???)
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Sunk during the retreat from the Phillipines, 1941? 1942? (Novel does not give a specific date for this incident.)

S-57 (SS-???)
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

USS Sabertooth (SS-???)
Tambor Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

USS Kennedy (DD-306)
Clemson class destroyer
In real life this ship was scrapped in 1931, in the novel it is still in service as of 1942.

Japan

Mizukaze
Sixteenth Minekaze Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Sunk 1942

Plot summary: Set during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the story involves an ex-destroyer officer who, eager to get into the fighting transferrs to the submarines and finds himself caught up in a captains quest to avenge himself on the Japanese destroyer that sank his last command.

Note: S-51 the last S Class Submarine completed had hull number SS-162, which would normally give S-55, 56, 57 the hull numbers of SS-166, 167, 168. However in this case the United States Navy recycled the hull numbers for later builds, specifically USS Argonaut (SS-166), Narwhal (SS-167) and Nautilus (SS-168).

 

[Graham1973]

Craig DiLouie, Silent Running, 2016

United States

USS Sabertooth (SS-???)
Tambor Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

USS Scissortail (SS-???)
Submarine, class not specified

Japan

Yosai
Soryu Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Stated to be part of the Pearl Harbour task force meaning that in this universe it was a 7 carrier attack.
Also stated to have survived damage at the Battle of Midway.
Sunk by USS Sabertooth 21st December, 1942

Pachinko
Zuiho Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name is what I would term 'dubious' Pachinko is the Japanese version of Pinball...

Hanma
Myoko Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: Immediately following the events of Crash Dive the hero of that novel is assigned to a new submarine and finds himself taking part in a risky mission to contact gurillas in the Philipines.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Ship of Fate (Originally): Orders for Cameron, 1983

United Kingdom

HMS Wiltshire
County Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Mars
Destroyer Depot Ship
17,000tons
No other details provided

HMS Oleander
Flower Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Forsythia
Flower Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Halberdier
H Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships

Plot summary: This is first 'Cameron' novel I've read where a definite date can be provided, the story begins on 2 November 1942 and features a fictional version of Operation Reservist (8 November 1942). Anyway, the series Hero recives orders to take out a facility the Germans have constructed in French North Africa, one dedicated to the production of weaponized anthrax.

 

[GTX]

I don't think this has been posted yet:

World War 2.1: Weapons of Choice (2004) by John Birmingham:

USS Hillary Clinton — George Bush-class supercarrier
USS Kandahar — Baghdad-class littoral assault ship
USS Leyte Gulf — Nemesis-class stealth cruiser
USS Amanda L. Garrett — Cobb-class air warfare destroyer [James H. Cobb]
USS Providence — Harpers Ferry-class amphibious landing dockship
USS Kennebunkport — LPD-12-class landing assault ship
USS Denver — Nuclear-powered attack submarine
USS Chicago — Nuclear Powered Attack Submarine
HMS Trident — Trident-class stealth destroyer (trimaran)
HMS Vanguard — Trident-class stealth destroyer
HMS Fearless — Aden-class helicopter assault ship
HMAS Havoc — Woomera-class attack submarine
HMAS Moreton Bay — Jervis Bay-class troop-carrying catamaran
HMAS Ipswich — Newcastle-class light littoral assault ship
JDS Siranui — Modified Nemesis-class stealth cruiser
KRI Nuku — Parchim-class corvette
KRI Sutanto — Parchim-class corvette
Dessaix — French Sartre-class stealth destroyer

 

[Graham1973]

Welcome to the thread GTX and thanks for the additions, now, back to the Second World War...

Douglas Reeman, The Volunteers, 1985

United Kingdom

HMS Levant
L & M Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Launched 1941

HMS X-19
X Class Minisub
Details as per the real ships
Was to have taken part in Operation Source, but pulled out due to mechanical issues.

Plot summary: Covers the careers to two officers, one Britsh, the other Canadian who transfer to the Special Forces between 1943 and the end of the Second World War.

Note: Added the front cover, by Geoffrey Huband depicting a Motor Gun Boat being attacked by a pair of BF-110s.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Halfhyde Ordered South, 1979

United Kingdom

HMS Meridian
2nd Inflexible Class Ironclad Battleship
Details as per the real ships.
Launched 1877
Modernised 1885 (Sails and rigging replaced with pole masts.)
Stated in the novel to be an 'Improved Inflexible' however the improvement is not specified and the details provided are not in fact different from the actual ship.
Transferred to Chile c. 1895

HMS Biddle
6 gun sloop
Auxilliary steam propulsion
Launched c.1860s
No other details provided

HMS Delia
6 gun sloop
Auxilliary steam propulsion
Launched c.1860s
No other details provided

HMS Venomous
Torpedo Boat Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Vendetta
Torpedo Boat Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Venus
Torpedo Boat Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Vortex
Torpedo Boat Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Halcyon
Cruiser, class not specified
Name is that of a Dryad Class Torpedo Gunboat built in 1894 and scrapped in 1919
No other details provided

HMS Hector
Cruiser, class not specified
Name is that of a Hector Class Ironclad Battleship built in 1861 and scrapped in 1905
No other details provided

HMS Cardiff
Cruiser, class not specified
No other details provied

Germany

SMS Friedrich der Grosse
Battleship, class not specified
Name is that of a Preussen Class Ironclad Frigate built in 1874, placed in reserve in 1894 and finally scrapped in 1920.
No other details provided

SMS Kaiser Wilhelm
Cruiser, class not specified
No other details provided

SMS Nürnberg
Cruiser, class not specified
Name is that of a Königsberg Class Cruiser built in 1905
No other details provided

SMS Königsberg
Cruiser, class not specified
Name is that of a Königsberg Class Cruiser built in 1905
No other details provided


Plot summary: It is "...some ninety years..." after the Battle of Trafalgar. Britannia rules the waves, but those dastardly Germans are up to tricks again in South America, so the Whitehall Mandarins come up with a cunning plan, put their best captain (And the man who's actually responsible for his success.) in charge of the transfer of an old battleship to Chile and let him do his thing.

Notes: Another Philip McCutchan novel that is somewhat hazily located in time. Several of the names he used were, as can be seen above for ships that actually existed at the time frame he provided. The novel is part of a series Victorian era naval action novels he wrote.

 

[Graham1973]

Bart Davis, Raise the Red Dawn, 1991

United States

USS Seawolf (SSN-21)(Real ship)
Seawolf Class
Insufficient details provided to tell how much it differs from what was launched in 1997
In real life the first member of this class was launched in 1997.

Russia

Akula
SSN, class not specified
Described as '...the newest Soviet attack sub..."
No other details provided.
Note: Name of submarine is the name of an acutal Russian submarine class that was produced between 1985 - 2009.

Red Dawn/Krasnaya Zarya
Tango Class Submarine
Armament/dimensions as per real ships.
Fitted with an experimental Magnetohydrodynamic drive in addition to the conventional propulsion system.

Plot summary: The test of an experimental drive system has left a Soviet submarine trapped inside an iceberg.

Note: The author never gives a specific date, but from a remark in the opening of the book it appears to be set in the 1989 - 1991 time period.