Fictional Warships - Novels

[Graham1973]

Nelson Blish, The Taking Of The King, 2006

United States

USS Martin Luther King (SSGN-) or (SSN-)
Centurian Class Submarine (Fictional Class)
48 Cruise missiles (Type not specified, but dialog implies they are vertically launched Harpoons (tactical) rather than Tomahawks (strategic).)
Unspecified number of torpedo tubes
Length: 380ft (115.8m)
Crew 102 (Note: Like a Ballistic missile submarine members of this class use the Blue/Gold crew rotation system.)
Unspecified (surface)/50(+) knots (submerged)
Submarine is highly automated, capable of maintaining a fixed depth/course without crew intervention.
Stated to be at least as quiet as an Ohio Class Submarine.
Note: Seawolf Class is mentioned separately. May be a lengthened derivative of that class with other modifications. One of which is a boundary layer control system (A form of supercavitation) to enable the high underwater speed.

Russia

Rostov
Nuclear Submarine, class not specified
Only information provided is that it is "...large..."

Plot summary: Even with the fall of the Soviet Union, the old games still go on. In this case the Russians try to steal the United States latest submarine.

 

[Graham1973]

Benjamin E. Miller, Silent Assault, 2005

United States

USS Vermont (SSBN-781)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Has had an active sonar system (type not specified) retrofitted in addition to the classes standard outfit of passive sonars.
Note: Pennant number clashes with the Virginia class submarine USS California (SSN-781) launched in 2010 after having being contracted to build in 2003.

China

Shanxi
Type 093 Class Submarine (Nuclear)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Have not located a source with naming details if any. Submarine is stated to be one of four launched by the date of the story, which is assumed to be 2005 or shortly thereafter.

Guizhou
Kilo Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Actual Chinese Kilos use names of the format 'Yuan Zheng ?? Hao' where the '??' is a two digit number.

Unnamed
The following submarines in addition to the ones named: 1 x Type 093, 2 x Kilo & 1 x Type 091

Indonesia

Unnamed
Two Frigates.
No other details provided.

And one non-military unit.

United Kingdom

Merganser
'Research Submarine'
No other details provided.
Note: I don't think the name of the submarine which plays a key role in the plot being almost the same as one of the warships in the original version of 'Moonraker' is a co-incidence.

Plot summary: As relations with Iran hit an all time low, a mysterious illness breaks out aboard an American Ohio Class Submarine, are the two events related...?

 

[Graham1973]

Another obscure technothriller...

Dan Shelton, Assault on the Venture, 1996

United States

USS Venture (CVN-??)
Third Enterprise Class Carrier (See note)
Details as per the real ship.
Note: Actually like JAGs USS Seahawk (CVN-65) this is a straight substitution for the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). If you count Seahawk & Enterprise as separate ships then this is the third. The author never mentions the ships pennant number.

All other ships in the novel are unnamed.

Plot summary: In the aftermath of Desert Storm the United States prepares to send three nuclear powered warships around the world, at the same time evidence surfaces of a terrorist plot aimed at one of the three ships, can the National Security Councils Crisis Interevention Team (CIT) figure out the plot in time to foil the culprits...

 

[Graham1973]

A return to a bleak place...

David Mace, Fire Lance, 1986

United States

USS Vindicator (NMSS-3)
Nemesis Class Battleship
56,000 tons
Length: 280m (918.6ft)
Beam: 35m (114.8ft)
Draft: 10m (32.8ft)
Twin reactor powerplant
Four shafts, inner shafts are in tunnels to reduce sonar signature when running on two shafts.
Three rudders
35 knots
Flightdeck aft on the superstructure (Hangar beneath the flightdeck reached by twin elevators)
Air compliment is 10 F-28 Skycat VTOL Fighters, 12 Wolfmarine ASW helicopters.
Theater range radar is extended by drones called Skyhook.
Crew: 414

Armament
2 x Mk56 155mm (6.1 inch) gun (Automated), 1 forward, 1 aft
4 x 20mm Skyfire CIWS (Gatling guns)
Arrowflash point defence missiles.
Seastrike Missles (Area defence Air/Surface) (4 tube VLS, box mounted external to hull fore and aft)
Rayflex-2 Missles (Anti-ballistic weapons) (VLS, box mounted external to hull)
Fire Lance Cruise Missiles (2x Magazine fed tube launchers, four tubes per launcher, 400 cruise missiles in total. Described as a successor to Tomahawk, has multiple warhead options.)
Mk 72 ASW torpedoes (Launchers have four tubes)
Non-strategic Weapons can be controlled automatically by a system called the Surface and Air Defence Integrated System (SADIS).
Note: Ship is described as a strategic nuclear misslie armed battleship. The real world pennant number would most likely have been BBGN-03 or BCGN-03. The superstructure itself is described as being streamlined to protect against nuclear explosions. All antennas can be lowered inside the hull for protection.

USS Protector (NMSS-?)
Nemesis Class Battleship
Details as above.
Sunk prior to start of the novel.

USS Consolidator (NMSS-?)
Nemesis Class Battleship
Details as above.
Sunk prior to start of novel.

USS Defender (NMSS-4)
Nemesis Class Battleship
Details as above.
Destroyed incomplete on the slips.

USS Peacemaker (NMSS-5)
Nemesis Class Battleship
Details as above.
Destroyed incomplete on the slips.

Russia

Unnamed
Chenin Class Destroyer (Fictional)
Double box superstructure.
Gun armament of unspecified caliber forward.
Gatling type CIWS of unspecified caliber.
VLS launcher forward
Missile Armament: (Unspecified number) SA-N-60 (Area Defence Air/Surface), (16) SS-N-100 'Skimmer Pole' Cruise missiles, 450km range
Has the capability to carry 2 Yak-236 'Fanner' VTOL Fighters, but normally carries 2 helicopters of an unspecified type
'Hanging Basket' AEW Radar, mounted on a 'Fat Fly' RPV helicopter (Alternate carrier is an undetailed RPV designated 'Red Balloon'.)
'Bugeye Pair' Air surveillance radar (Range: 55km)
Crew: 200(+)
No other details provided

Unnamed
Various submarines

Plot summary: It is the 'Day after Tomorrow'. World War III has reached it's final stages, the only objective for the remaining forces on both sides, as the rest of the world struggles to prepare for an oncoming Nuclear Ice Age, is to make sure the enemy dies before they do...

Note: This novel is not set in the same 'universe' as the authors earlier novel DEMON-4. The cover of the novel is by Chris Foss rather than Tony Roberts, unlike the cover for the earlier novel what is depicted on it has little (or no) resemblance to what the author describes in the book. The author does not specify just how far into the future from 1986 the story is set, but it is clearly far enough into the future for Sea King & Chinook Helicopters to be considered museum pieces.

Later:I have located a copy of the cover, without the titling information online. Research I've made shows that this was the only cover used for the novel, both in the UK and the US which is unusual in my experience.

Fire Lance: Front Cover

 

[Graham1973]

J. E. MacDonnell, Operation Jackal, 1969

Australia

HMAS Jackal
Battle Class Destroyer (1943)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name may commemorate sunken HMS Jackal. See the entries in this thread for the novels 'Breaking Point', 'A Council of Captains','The Shadow' & 'Approved to Scrap' for further notes & comments on this fictional ship.

United States

Unnamed
Several PT-Boats

Unnamed
Buckley Class Escort

Japan

I-64
Submarine, class not specified.
Note: There was a real Kaidai IV Class submarine designated I-64, but it was renumbered I-164 in 1942.

Simakaze
Simakaze Class Destroyer (Fictional)
6 x 5 inch guns. (A, B & X twin turrets)
15 x 24 inch TT.
34 knots
Fitted with radar.
Almost the same dimensions as a Battle Class Destroyer.
No other details provided

Akigumo
Simakaze Class Destroyer (Fictional)
6 x 5 inch guns. (A, B & X twin turrets)
15 x 24 inch TT.
34 knots
Fitted with radar.
Almost the same dimensions as a Battle Class Destroyer.
No other details provided

Note: The stats provided are identical to those of the 'one off' Japanese destroyer Shimakaze in regards to the armament, it is possible that these are the same hull form/general appearance but without the experimental power-plant.

Kaigun
Submarine, class not specified.
8 x 21 inch? TT
1 x 4.7 inch gun
20 knots (surfaced)/10 knots (submerged)
No other details provided

Plot summary: It is some time in 1945, the Japanese High Command, has noted one ship and one captain seem to be involved in a high proportion of their defeats at the small unit level, perhaps a special task force is in order...

 

[Graham1973]

Another 'Self-published on Amazon' thriller...

Herzel Frankel, The Chase, 2014

Russia

Slavianka
Whiskey Class Submarine
Details as per the Project 640 Whiskey Canvas Bag subtype.
Fitted out for ELINT.

Israel

INS Ashdod
'Missile boat'
No details are provided about the armament, however the limited description provided suggests that she may be a Sa'ar 4.5 class FAC.

Plot summary: An expatriate Israeli yachtsman's sail around the Aegean turns into a mess of intrigue after his boat hits something at sea.

Note: Dating this one is hard, there is little dating information to go on, but at a rough estimate the story takes place somewhere between 1980-89.

 

[royabulgaf]

Whoever did that Fire Lance cover has some sexual adequacy problems.

 

[Graham1973]

F. Robert Baker, Warhead, 2011

United States

USS Montana (SSBN-???)
Ohio Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

USS Tacoma (SSN-???)
Los Angeles Class Submarine?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Class determination based on name only. Author only refers to this ship as an 'attack submarine'. Name clashes with USS Tacoma (PGM-95) an Asheville Class Gunboat that was transferred to Columbia in 1995 (Eg. After the fictional date of the novel.).

USS Cyrus A. Woods (AS-??)
Submarine Tender, class not specified.
No other details provided.

USS Clifford C. Howel (AS-??)
Submarine Tender, class not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: The ship name above appears only in a chapter heading, all the text in the chapter refers to the ship as being the Cyrus A. Woods.

USS Hawaii (CG-??)
Ticonderoga Class Cruiser?
Details as per the real ships
Has received the ABM upgrade.
Note: Author simply describes this ship as an 'Aegis Cruiser'.

USS Potter (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author simply describes this ship as an 'Aegis Destroyer'.

USS Gates (DDG-???)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author simply describes this ship as an 'Aegis Destroyer'.

USS Veracruz (LHD-?)
Wasp Class Amphibious Assault Ship
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class assignment based on Marine Compliment and the year the novel is set.

USS Rodgers T. Humphrey (CV-?? or CVN-??)
Aircraft carrier, class not specified.
Carries F/A-18s
No other details provided.
Note: At the only point were the carriers name is given in full there appears to be a misprint in the text, the name is given in the form "...Rodgerst Humphrey..." I have employed editorial discretion in this case. Author simply describes the ship as a 'strike carrier'.

United Kingdom

HMS Reward
Frigate, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Norham
Frigate, class not specified
No other details provided.

Russia

Riga
Kuznetsov Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per class.
Note: Real ship, the first Kuznetzov Class was named Riga while under construction and before finally being named the Admiral Kuznetsov, was also called the Leonid Brezhnev & the Tiblisi. Is described in the novel as being the Russians only aircraft carrier.

Admiral Arbatov
Kresta II Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Author refers to this ship as being both a Kresta Class and a Kresta II Class, given when the novel is set (1992) I have assumed it to be the latter.

Rossiya
Kashin Class Destroyer
No other details provided

Unnamed
Two Kashin Class Destroyers

Plot summary: The year is 1992, terrorists associated with Osama Bin Laden have grabbed an American airliner, flown it to a Russian controlled airport in Eritrea and made the usual '...do what we want or we will kill the hostages...' demands. Some of the passengers are dependents of the crew of a ballistic missile submarine who decide to apply their own pressure to the situation...

Note: At the start of the book there is a note that the book is the 'Second, revised edition', however it is very sloppily edited. The plot itself has some very unpleasant elements, most notably the whole idea of a ballistic missile submarine crew deciding to mutiny to force the hand of their government and not get punished for it. Finally I get the feeling that the book may have been written much earlier than the publication date (e.g. Before 2001) and then been updated to reflect current terrorism fears.

 

[Graham1973]

Noel B. Gerson, Warhead, 1970

United States

USS Hawk (SSN-2207)
Hawk Class Submarine (Fictitious)
16 x Poseidon
Other armament simply described as 'torpedoes', exact number/size of tubes not mentioned, probably four 21 inch tubes.
136 Crew
9,600 tons
Length: 960ft (292.6m)

USS Falcon (SSN-2208)
Hawk Class Submarine (Fictitious)
Details as above

Unnamed
Four additional members of the Hawk Class to be built after the novels conclusion.

Note: This fictitious class is intended to combine the functions of the SSBN and SSN into a single submarine. Pennant numbers in the novel are in the format SS(N)-XXXX.

Plot summary: The first member of a revolutionary new class of submarine has gone missing, can her successor find the cause...

Note: The probable fictional dating for this story would be between 1972 (When Poseidon entered service) - and 1979 (When the Trident I entered service.) .

 

[Graham1973]

Craig DiLouie, Battle Stations, 2016

United States

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

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

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

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

Japan

Roiyaru Maru
3rd Terukuni Maru Class Ocean Liner
Converted into a military transport
Armed, but no specific details are given.
Otherwise details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Various warships and supply vessels

Plot summary: Following his successful cruise in command of the USS Sabertooth the series hero finds himself re-assigned to act as executive officer on another submarine, part of a group sent to hit Japanese targets in the Sea of Japan as part of Operation Payback.

 

[Graham1973]

This entry is made with thanks to Rhinocrates for reminding me of this book shortly after the thread was started.

Marc Hammond, Fathom, 1978

France

Green Dolphin/la Delfine Verte
UUV
Radio-Thermal Generator (RTG). Referred to in the novel as an "...Isotope Decay Engine...".
The propulsion system is entirely closed within the body of the vessel and comprises a 30cm (11.8in) diameter tube at the front end of which is a self cleaning grill. Inside the tube is a propeller made of carbon fiber, however the author also mentions 'turbine blades' without clarifying their relationship to the propeller. Top speed is not mentioned in the novel. The fastest speed mentioned is 10 knots.
Maximum depth it can be submerged to is not mentioned in the novel.
Control is via three fins, whose specific location is not mentioned, but presumably are aft of the center line.
Automated, can follow a pre-programmed heading/depth or home in on heat,light or sonic targets.
Length: 9m (29.5ft)
Diameter: 2m (6.6ft)
Entirely covered with a rubber or rubberized sound absorbing coating, which has a feel described by one character in the novel as being "...like dipping his hands into raw meat."
Capable of carrying one person for an extended period of time, life support system extracts oxygen from seawater. Access to the crew compartment is via a 5ft (1.5m) long by 3ft (0.9m) wide hatch located towards the tail end of the vessel.
Undetectable by sonar. For testing a retractable sonar reflective sheet is fitted.
The vehicle is unarmed. In the course of the novel a nuclear device of unspecified yield is attached to the vessel inside the sonar reflective coating.

United States

USS Cambridge (AS-??)
Salvage & Repair ship, class not specified.
2 x 100 ton cranes.
Full diving facilities
Extensive workshop facilities.
Equipped with sonar.
Armament not specified.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: A network of Palestinian long-term sleeper agents steal an experimental French mini-sub and a British nuclear device and make a simple demand, "All Jews out of the territory falsely called Israel, or else..."

Note: While no specific year is mentioned various details (A reference to the film Jaws (1976) to the fact that the USS Albany (CG-10) is Sixth Fleet Flagship.) suggest a time-frame between 1977 - 1980, with the most likely time-frame being 1979-80.

 

[Graham1973]

Back to WWII and some unfinished business...

Philip McCutchan, Storm of War (Originally): Cameron In The Gap, 1992

United Kingdom

HMS Burnside
Destroyer, class not specified.
Only armament details provided that the aft mount is twin 4.7inch guns. This presumably holds true for the forward mounts.
No other details provided.

HMS Burgoyne
Destroyer, class not specified.
No other details provided.

HMS Brahmin
Destroyer, class not specified.
No other details provided.

Note: The author never states that Brahmin & Burgoyne are the same class as HMS Burnside.

HMS Argyll
Cruiser, class not specified
12 x 6 inch guns (Quadruple mounts A,B,X & Y), 8 x 4 inch guns (twin mounts)
9400 tons
Other armament not specified
4 propeller shafts
No other details provided
Note: Armament fits both the Fiji sub-class of the Crown Colony class of cruisers and the first batch of Town Class Cruisers. As does the number of shafts.

HMS Auckland
Cruiser
No other details provided.

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified
No other details provided.


Germany

Solingen
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Italy

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified.
No other details provided.

Unnamed
Several MAS Boats

Plot Summary: It is 1942 and a convoy makes its way to Malta, one ship, an oil tanker loaded with aviation fuel has to be got through at all costs.

Note: This novel appears to be (very) loosely based on Operation Pedestal. The only clue as to dating is a reference to the Dido Class Cruiser HMS Charybidis (88), which left the Mediterranean theater in September 1942, as forming part of the convoy escort.

 

[Hood]

Some ships I unearthed while rummaging around some Australian ebook sites.

The Raid of Le Vengeur, George Griffith, 1901
France
Le Vengeur (plus twenty unnamed sisterships) – submarine; armed with one torpedo (magnetic clamps to attach to the target hull, remotely detonated)

Great Britain
HMS Scorcher – destroyer; armed with 12pdr and 3pdr QF guns, torpedoes and four Brennan torpedoes stowed in davits, also fitted with four “water-rays” which can illuminate submerged objects
HMS Phyllis – 1st Class cruiser, unknown class
HMS Venus – 3rd Class cruiser, unknown class
Thirty unnamed submarines – larger copies of Le Vengeur

Plot: Captain Leon Flaubert seeks to destroy the Royal Navy and sinks HMS Phyllis in a demonstration, only to be hunted down by HMS Scorcher and Flaubert captured.


One Blow for Russia, Edgar Wallace, 1905
Imperial Russia
Petroski – torpedo boat
Riga – destroyer; armed with at least one torpedo tube, has three funnels

Plot: a revolutionary, but brilliant, naval officer is allowed to return to Russia and is given command of a destroyer during the Russo-Japanese War. Told to do his duty he sails forth to engage the Japanese fleet, his ship is sunk and he is killed but the battleship he just engaged is the Russian relief fleet!


The Secret Service Submarine, Edgar Wallace, 1918
Great Britain
HMS Kallimachus (B 9714) – destroyer, unknown class
Z1 – submarine; armed with ? x torpedo tubes and 2x guns (QF?), resembles a German U-Boat, sunk by U78

Germany
Geier, Seeadler and Falke – Busssard Class unprotected cruisers, real ships; used as minelayers
Sperber and Schwalbe Schwalbe Class cruisers, real ships; used as minelayers
Gefion – third class cruiser, real ship; used as minelayer
Greif – aviso, real ship hulked from 1915; used as minelayer
Nautilus – Nautilus Class minelayer, real ship
U78 – submarine, real U78 was Type UE I Class launched 1916

Plot: the tale of British spy John Dudley Frazer and his exploits using the Z1 to foil a German invasion of Britain and other adventures during 1918


The U-Beast, Edgar Wallace, 1919
Germany
U904 – submarine, no real submarine pennant had such a high number

United States
USS Dade – destroyer, unknown class. Real USS Dade (APA-99) was a Bayfield Class attack transport of 1944.
USS Floss – destroyer, unknown class

Plot: during April 1918 a dangerous and skilled U-boat commander, Kapitän-Leutnant Scholtz, is sunk but puts his surrender down to an encounter with a sea serpent!


Chubb of the “Slipper”, Edgar Wallace, 1934
Great Britain
HMS Slipper – cruiser; armed with at least 8x1 4.2in guns, 1x bow torpedo tube, 28kts

Netherlands
Studgardt – cruiser
Altona – cruiser

Plot: humours short story of a tale of the skipper of the Slipper who is escorting the liner S.S. Germanie to America

The Yellow Moth, Fred M. White, 1898
United States
USS Maryland – battleship; predates the real Pennsylvania Class armoured cruiser USS Maryland (ACR-8) completed in 1905

Plot: A mysterious tale set during the American-Spanish War of 1898.


The Grey Raider, Fred M. White, 1919
Australia
SS Sardonyx – armed tramp steamer; 2x1 4in guns

Germany
Deutschland – blockade-runner cargo submarine; 600ft long, armed with at least one gun (105mm?), used a support submarine refuelling other U-Boats. The author clearly based the submarine on the real Deutschland (later U-155) but has exaggerated the size, the U-151 Class having an overall length of 213ft 3in (65m).

Plot: some buccaneers are invited to help catch and destroy a German submarine, thought sunk, that is secretly refuelling U-boats in the Bay of Bengal.


Made in England, Fred M. White, 1920
Japan
Fan Tan – gunboat; illustration shows a two-funnelled light-cruiser style ship with superfiring single shielded guns forward (5.5in?)

Plot: Captain Andrew Nulty of the Bonny Lomond (aka Robbie Burns), a turbine-powered Clyde-built steamer connives to get a cargo of pearls to Hong Kong


The Secret of the Magnifique, E. Phillips Oppenhiem, 1912
France
Magnifique – battleship

Plot: France and Germany are attempting to gain the secrets of a revolutionary torpedo with 5 miles range and 600mph speed that can accurately hit a small target.


The Dumb Gods Speak, E. Phillips Oppenhiem, 1936
United States
USS City of Washington – battleship

Plot: A scientist invents a powerful weapon, following the defeat of an attempted Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1947 a shadowy International Bureau seeks to build world peace.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Convoy North, 1987

United Kingdom

HMS Nottingham
'Heavy Cruiser', class not specified
8 inch Guns

HMS Neath
'Heavy Cruiser', class not specified.
8 inch Guns
No other details provided
Note: Neath is both the name of a town in the United Kingdom and the river that flows through it. This could mean that HMS Neath is a York Class Cruiser.

HMS Portree
Destroyer, class not specified
4.7 inch guns
No other details provided

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified.
No other details provided.


Germany

Admiral Scheer (Real Ship)
Deutschland Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ship.

Regensburg
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Gottingen
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Koblenz
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
Two Destroyers, class not specified.

Unnamed
Several U-Boats

Plot summary: It is December 1941 and a convoy is making its way from Britain to a Russia that desperately needs outside help.

Note: This one is easily dateable, mention is made of the attack on Pearl Harbor shortly after the convoy leaves Britain.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Cold War (Orignally): Cameron's Convoy, 1982

United Kingdom

HMS Sprinter
Frigate, class not specified
2 x 4 inch guns
4 x 2 pdrs (Exact mount type not specified (Eg Single, double, quadruple.)
6 x 20mm
Depth Charges
114 crew
1,435 tons
20 knots
Sonar and Radar fitted.

HMS Durham
County Class Cruiser (Kent Sub-class)
Details as per the real ships.
Specifically described in the book as being a sister ship to HMS Cumberland.

HMS Belfast (C35)
Town Class Cruiser (Edinburgh Sub-class)
Real Ship, served throughout WWII, currently a museum ship on the Thames.


Germany

Hohenzollern
Bismark Class Battleshp
Details as per the real ships.
Author makes a direct comparison between this ship and the Bismark at one point in the novel.

Köln
'Heavy Cruiser'
Note: this is probably another of the authors 'Town Named' Hipper Class Cruisers. The name clashes with the third Königsberg Class Cruiser, which served throughout WWII.

Muhldorf
Hipper Class Cruiser?
Author simply states that this ship is a 'Heavy cruiser' without giving any further details, but given his habit of giving Hipper Class Cruisers 'Town Names' I think this is a safe assumption.

Unnamed
Scharnhorst Class Battlecruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
Several U-Boats

Plot summary: As a convoy makes it's way from England to Russia, one ship is detached for a special mission.

Note: Not possible to date this one. No specific reference is made to wartime events. The best that can be done since the author refers to the convoy as being in the PQ/QP series is to state that it takes place between June 1941 - November 1942 (Which is when the last PQ/QP coded convoys sailed.).

 

[Graham1973]

Richard Freeman, First Command, 2014

United Kingdom

HMS Defiant
Hunt III Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Tremendous
'Escort Destroyer'
No other details provided.

HMS Keswick
'Corvette'
No other details provided.

HMS Arundel
'Patrol Ship'
No other details provided.
Note: I suspect that 'Patrol Ship' is the ships role, not it's type.

Germany

Unnamed
Several S-Boats.

Plot summary: A newly promoted officer causes waves aboard his new command due to his inexperience and determination to get to grips with the enemy.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Convoy South, 1988

Australia

HMAS Ayres
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

HMAS Bass
Destroyer, class not specified
Main armament layout implied to be twin mounts A, X & Y
No other details provided.
Note: The above details suggest that the ship (Had it existed), might have a general resemblance to the ship in the foreground of the cover to 'The Shadow' by J. E. MacDonnell.

HMAS Timor
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided
Note: Unlikely name, Timor was not under Australian control.

Note: Not enough details given to tell if all three ships above are the same class.

United Kingdom

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

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

HMS Nassau
Crown Colony Class
Details as per the real ships.

HMS Rhondda
Modified Leander Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The author directly states that this ship is identical to HMAS Sydney (II), which he mistakenly says was a County Class Cruiser (Actually she was a Modified Leander).

HMS Leyburn
L Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class determined solely by name.

HMS Meriden
M Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class determined solely by name.

HMS Melton
M Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class determined solely by name.

HMS Newbury
N Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Class determined solely by name.

RFA Coverdale
Dale Class Tanker
Details as per the real ships.
2 x 3 Inch guns (Single gun mounts forward and aft)

Germany

Kormoran (II)
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce raider)
Details presumably identical to the original Kormoran.
Note: Explicitly stated to be a replacement for the original ship.

Gerhard Abusch
Armed Merchant Ship (Supply ship)
Armament: "...3-pounders plus ack-ack"
3500 tons
No other details provided.

Unnamed
Several U-Boats

Plot summary: It is early 1942 and a vital troop convoy makes it's way north from Australia.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Convoy East, 1989 & Convoy of Fear, 1990

United Kingdom

HMS Derbyshire
Cruiser, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: County Class? Name clashes with an Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Derbyshire (F78) which was returned to merchant service in February 1942. The author however makes it clear that this is a purpose built warship.

HMS Glamorgan
Cruiser, class not specified.
6 inch Guns
Note: A cruiser of the same name appears in the novel 'Against All Odds' by the same Author, it is not clear if this is the same ship though.

HMS Belize
Cruiser, class not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: A Crown Colony Class Cruiser of the same name appears in the novel 'Prisoner of War' by the same Author, it is not clear if this is the same ship though.

HMS Guiana
Cruiser, class not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: A Crown Colony Class Cruiser of the same name appears in the novel 'Prisoner of War' by the same Author, it is not clear if this is the same ship though.

HMS Guernsey
Destroyer?, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Hindu
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Pindari
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: Name would fit a member of the Tribal Class of destroyers.

HMS Probity
Destroyer, class not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: A destroyer of the same name appears in the novel 'Against All Odds' by the same Author, it is not clear if this is the same ship though.

HMS Burgoyne
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided.
Note: A destroyer of the same name appears in the novel 'Storm of War' by the same Author, it is not clear if this is the same ship though.

Germany

Admiral Richter
Deutschland Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

Neuss
Armed Merchant Ship (Commerce Raider)
4 x 6 inch guns (Two a side?)
Unspecified Anti aircraft weapons
2 x 21 inch torpedo tubes
19 knots (max)/14 knots (cruise)

Unnamed
Several U-Boats

Italy

Unnamed
Cruiser, class not specified

Japan

Unnamed
'Takatsuki' Class Submarine
No other details provided

Plot summary: The two novels cover a single convoy that travels from England to Ceylon some time between Montgomery's arrival in the North African theater (August 1942) and the Second Battle of El-Alamain (23rd October 1942) threatened not only by enemy action but by storm and disease.

Note: The first book, has the highest number of 'repeat' names I've seen in a book by this author. There is however no specific evidence that the 'Kemp Series' of novels (All centered on convoys.) and the 'Cameron Series' are set in the same universe.

 

[Graham1973]

Philip McCutchan, Convoy Homeward, 1992

United Kingdom

HMS Ramses
Escort Carrier, class not specified
Air Group includes Fairy Barracudas.
No other details provided.

HMS Vindictive
'Heavy Cruiser' (York Class?)
10,000 tons
Stated to be "...one of the last of the heavy cruisers..." (Given that the York Class were the last heavy cruisers built pre-war she is probably a member of that class.)
No other details provided
Note: Name clash with a Hawkins Class cruiser that had been converted to a fleet repair ship during the interwar period. More famously this is the name of the cruiser that took part in the Zeebrugge Raid.

HMS Lincolnshire
County Class Cruiser?
No other details provided.
Note: Class assignment is based only on the ships name.

Note: The cruisers below are most likely Light Cruisers.

HMS Bodmin
'Cruiser'
No other details provided.

HMS Lydford
'Cruiser'
No other details provided.

HMS Marazion
'Cruiser'
No other details provided.
Note: Name was used for a pre-war Hunt Class Minsweeper (WWI) that was scrapped in 1933.

HMS Oakhampton
'Cruiser'
No other details provided.

HMS Swansea
'Cruiser'
No other details provided.

United States

USS North Dakota
Battleship
No other details provided.
Note: Name was used pre-war for a Delaware Class Battleship that was scrapped in 1931 and post war for a Virginia Class Submarine.

Germany

Unnamed
Several U-boats

Gruppe Stuttgart

Stuttgart
Hipper Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.

Unnamed
4 Destroyers
No other details provided.

Plot summary: A vital convoy carrying troops and German prisoners makes it's way back from the Far East to England.

Note: This story takes place after the events of 'Convoy East' & 'Convoy of Fear' however it is not clear from the text just how far apart in time the events described in the novel are from the two that preceded it.

 

[Graham1973]

Another short story, this time a classic, I actually saw the film version of this before I was even aware of the original literary version.

Nicholas Monsarrat, The Ship That Died Of Shame, 1952

United Kingdom

MGB-1087
Fairmile D Motor Gun Boat
2 x 6 pdrs
6 x 20mm Oerlikons
8 x 'machine guns', type not specified (Probably .303 Vickers K's)
"...a few depth-charges..."
Other details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: A proud ship, betrayed by those who crewed her in war, takes a terrible revenge.

 

[Graham1973]

Wirt Williams, The Enemy, 1951

United States

Task Unit 21.13.9

Unnamed
Bogue Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Implied to be an actual member of the Bogue Class, USS Card (CVE-11).

USS Dee (DD-???)
Clemson Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Novel is dedicated to a Clemson Class Destroyer USS Decatur (DD-341), so it is safe to assume this ship is of the same class.

USS Hilliard (DD-???)
Clemson Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Simply referred to as a 'Four Stacker' in the novel.

USS Donahue (DD-???)
Clemson Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Simply referred to as a 'Four Stacker' in the novel.

Germany

Unnamed
Several U-boats

Plot summary: It is late 1943 (The novel starts around the 16th of November 1943) and a United States Navy Hunter-Killer group begins another long patrol of the North Atlantic.

 

[Graham1973]

Edward L. Beach, Cold is the Sea, 1978

United States

USS William B. Cushing (SSBN-???)
George Washington Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Has been modified for under ice work.
Note: The submarine is described as being newly commissioned, but the lack of a specific month (The last George Washington Class submarine was commissioned in March of 1961, while the name boat (And first completed) of the Ethan Allen Class was commissioned in August of 1961.) made class determination tricky. However a reference to the events as taking place in Spring 1961 (Eg during the months of March, April and May) strongly suggest that the William B. Cushing is a member of the George Washington Class.

USS Manta (SSN-???)
Skate Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The authors description of the submarines armament makes it impossible to be any other class.

Russia

Novosibirski Komosomol
November Class
Details as per the real ships.
Has been fitted with a device that disables the motors of electrically driven torpedoes.
Has also had the bow rebuilt so that it can be used for ramming.

And one very interesting non-ship item

First Soviet Arctic Free Missile Base
4 x Ballistic Missile Silos (R-13 Missiles?)
Depth Charges
Torpedoes (Type unspecified)
Anti Aircraft Guns
Hangars & other support facilities (Including a submarine dock.) built around a natural hole in the ice pack.

Plot summary: It is 1961. A United States Navy submarine sent to test out modifications designed to allow it to operate under the North Pole has got into trouble and a rescue must be mounted.

 

[Graham1973]

Another "Self-published on Amazon" thriller, this time from Canada.

James Karch, Silent Tomb, 2016

Kallinik
Krela Class Submarine (Fictional)
Upperworks designed to be mistaken for a fishing vessel of the types typically used in the Pacific Northwest.
Overall hull form is pre-Albacore in shape.
Diesel-Electric propulsion.
Hull is sheathed in wood to reduce the acoustic signature.
Precise dimensions are not given, but can probably be estimated from the average dimensions of Pacific Northwest fishing boats.
Carries one 'Nuclear bomb', type unspecified, but carried inside the hull which suggests it's a man-portable limpet mine The real world equivalent would be a RA-115-01.
Note: One of a class of two submarines (The second is unnamed in the novel.) designed in 1978 to 'blend in' among the fishing craft of the Pacific Northwest for the purpose of spying.

Plot summary: In 1985 the Soviets lose a spy submarine carrying a nuclear bomb off the Canadian coast, some time after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Chinese learn of this and launch an operation to salvage the bomb and sell it to one Saddam Hussein, who has his own ideas about what to do with it...

Note: In the authors introduction he states that he started working on this story in 1999, revised it in 2003 and again before publication in 2016, given just who is involved in the plot, this story takes place somewhere between the years 1991 and 1999. As thrillers go, it's not bad, although the writing is a bit 'flat'. However the author seems to have avoided the 'word substitution' errors that come from proofreading by spell check and this one does not have any formatting glitches.

 

[Graham1973]

Mark Smith, The Investigative Rivals, 2016

United Kingdom

HMS Cambridge
Frigate, class not specified
No other details provided.
Name clash with the RN Gunnery School which was closed in 2001.

Plot Summary: A murder investigation that involves both the Portsmouth Police and Royal Navy special investigators uncovers a disturbing secret about soft drink vending machines...

 

[Graham1973]

My last post for 2016...

Mark Smith, The Valiant, 2016

United Kingdom

HMS Valiant
Vanguard Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Launched 1991
Note: Name clash with the lead ship of the Valiant Class of submarines which was in service 1963-1994, a fact which the author acknowledges in his introduction.

HMS Devonshire
Type 23 Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships.
Note: This is the name of the Type 23 Class Frigate sunk during the course of the James Bond film 'Tomorrow Never Dies', which the author does not mention in his introduction, but does reference the film during the story.

Russia

Unnamed
Akula Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: Someone is murdered aboard a British nuclear submarine, operational reasons preclude her returning to port so the investigators have to come to her.

Note: Not a bad idea for a plot, but the author goes off into baroque conspiracy land towards the end.

 

[Graham1973]

To start off 2017, some Gung-Ho nonsense...

Duncan Long, Sea Wolf, 1991

United States

USS Montana (BB-68)
Iowa Class Battleship.
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name clash with un-built lead ship of the Montana Class Battleships. Pennant number clashes with the un-built Montana Class Battleship USS Ohio.

United Kingdom

HMS Fox (F92)
Type 22 Frigate (Batch 2)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Details provided in novel did not fit the third batch of Type 22s. Name clashes with a Bulldog Class Survey Ship retired in 1989. Pennant number clashes with the Type 22 Frigate HMS Boxer.

Cuba

Leona
Pauk Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships.
Note: I have not been able to locate a source for the names of Cuban Naval Vessels. So this may be the existing member of the class in Cuban service.

Columbian Cartels

Ramera
Armed Yacht
4 x .50 inch Browning Machine Guns
RPG-16s (Exact number not specified)
Armored against small arms fire.
No other details provided.

Plot summary: As the United States navy gears up to join with the United States Army in a series of strikes targeting drug smugglers, ships, including a Royal Navy Frigate go missing, the cause when found turns out not to be the Bermuda Triangle, but something much more unbelievable.

Note: I first encountered this book over a decade ago on a remaindered book rack. I was not impressed even then, the author quite simply does not know his ships, for example he has a Type 22 Frigate fire off six Exocets during the course of the novel, however Type 22s only carried four... For those who are interested, this is another novel from that late 80s/early 90s timeframe that builds it's plot around unleashing the US military on the drug cartels, other books like it on this list are 'Clear and Present Danger' and 'Hammerheads'.

 

[Graham1973]

Some more Gung-Ho nonsense...

Duncan Long, Avenging Storm, 1992

United States

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)
Kitty Hawk Class Carrier
Real Ship.

Unnamed
Coast Guard Cutter, class not specified.
220 ft (67.1m)
1 x 5 inch gun
2 x .50 inch Browning machine guns
Helipad Aft
No other details.
Note: Author gives this cutter the pennant number of USCGC Dauntless (WMEC-624), which is presumably the ship he based her off. If anyone wants to try and illustrate this one a slightly lengthened version of the Reliance Class Cutter would be the best bet.

Plot summary: It is the mid to late 1990s. US relief efforts in the Philippines following a typhoon are complicated by a strange distress call from an American flagged cruise liner and the discovery that for some WWII never ended....

Notes: I had originally assumed that this was set the same year it came out. However a brief reference to an F-22 (The prototype for which flew in 1991.) suggests that it takes place a few years after the year of publication.

 

[Graham1973]

Back to the pulp fiction...

Clive Cussler, Flood Tide, 1997

United States

USCGC Weehawken
Coast Guard Cutter, class not specified.
Bow mounted 76mm gun (OTO-Melara Mk.75, same type as used on Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigates.)
Helipad aft
No other details provided.
Note: Name class with a Natick Class Tugboat scrapped in 2001.

USS Dean Hawes
Salvage Ship, class not specified.
Launched 1998
Specially equipped for deep water salvage work.
No other details provided.

China

Chengdo (116)
Type 052 Luhu Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Have not been able to find a good source with Chinese pennant numbers so I cannot confirm if the pennant number in the novel clashes with that of a real ship.

Non-State

Oregon
Armed Merchant Ship
All-aft design.
Length: 300ft (91.4m)
Beam: 45ft (13.7m)
Twin Diesels
40 knots
Harpoon missiles (single four tube launcher?)
Mk 46 torpedoes (Two tubes?)
One twin 30mm Oerlikon mount
Vessel is a ex-Pacific Northwest Coast Lumber Carrier launched prior to 1950, the exact year is not given but is implied be some time in the early 20th C. Has been extensively rebuilt for its current role.
Note: Mercenary ship, owned by the 'Cabrillo Corporation'. Registered in Iran (Carries flags for every maritime nation.) Performs intelligence gathering on behalf of the United States Government. Ship is retired after it's appearance in this novel. A new 'Oregon' appears in a subsequent series centered around the characters introduced in Flood Tide.

Plot summary: The year is 2000. An attempt to satisfy curiosity about an overly security conscious neighbor leads to the discovery of a people smuggling racket that is as deadly to those it transports as to those who try to uncover it's secrets and with, for it's owner, who plans to redraw the map of the United States after purchasing the Government with his pocket change, very good reasons...

Note: This is another 'Yellow Peril' novel, but with the Japanese having slipped out of the running the focus now shifts to China.

 

[Hood]

A set of children's books from the Second World War, the Dave Dawson series has a couple of fictional ships within them. Several of these books were written by R. Sidney Bowen and published in America from 1941 onwards, all featuring the exploits of Pilot Officers Dave Dawson and Freddy Farmer across the world during the war and uncovering German and Japanese spies and generally foiling all kinds of plots.

Dave Dawson in Libya, 1941

Great Britain
HMS Victory - aircraft carrier, air group includes Blackburn Skua fighters

Dave Dawson with the Pacific Fleet, 1942

United States
USS Indian - aircraft carrier, air group includes Douglas Devastator torpedo-bombers

Dave Dawson with the Flying Tigers, 1943

United States
USS Tempest - aircraft carrier, the plot involves a B-25 bombing raid, no doubt inspired by the Doolittle raid.

Dave Dawson on Guadalcanal, 1943

United States
USS Hawk - aircraft carrier
USS Carson - aircraft carrier

Japan
Unnamed - aircraft carrier, airgroup includes fictional Mitsubishi MK-11 Karigane two-seat fighters (1x 800hp radial (stated to be a copy of US model), ?x wing MGs, 2x dorsal MGs)
Three unnamed Kaga Class carriers

Dave Dawson at Truk, 1946

United States
USS Trenton - aircraft carrier
Two unnamed aircraft carriers

 

[Graham1973]

Nice set of finds Hood, now onto another 1990s technothriller...

Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Icefire, 1998

United Kingdom

HMS Illustrious (R06)
Invincible Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service.

United States

USS Dallas (SSN-700)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Seawolf (SSN-21)
Seawolf Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service
Note: Ship and class are repeatedly referred to as "Sea Wolf" class in the text.

USS Connecticut (SSN-22)
Seawolf Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service

China

Long March
Type 092 (Xia) Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Red Dawn
Ballistic Missile Submarine, class not specified.
12 Julang-3 (JL-3) Ballistic missiles (Fictional type)
No other details provided.

Soft Wind
Ballistic Missile Submarine, class not specified.
No other details provided.

Mao Zedong
Ballistic Missile Submarine, Tzu Class (Fictional)
No other details provided

Wu Ch'i
Ballistic Missile Submarine, Tzu Class (Fictional)
No other details provided

Sun Tzu (+ 2 unnamed)
Sun Wukong Class
Height: 13ft (3.96m)
Width: 37ft (11.3m)
10 crew
Constructed entirely of composite materials. Anechoic coating includes a noise cancellation system called DAADY (Dynamic Antinoise/Acoustic Decoupling sYstem)
Propellers are in shafts inside the hull to minimize noise signature.
Speed/Depth stats are not given.
Weapons include torpedos and nuclear missiles (described as "...modified Julangs...".) exact number of either not specified.
Hull form is circular rather than cylindrical. (Eg If you looked down on the submarine from above it would be disk shaped.)
Stated to be undetectable unless it fires.

Plot summary: A cabal in the Chinese military has come up with the perfect way to defeat their enemies without fighting a war.

Note: Allegedly based on actual scientific papers, this is another 'Yellow Peril (China)' novel. Dating this one is tricky as no specific clues are given as to the precise year. The plot opens on Wednesday 24th November. Years in which this happen following the date of publication (Out to 2015) are 1999, 2004 & 2010.

 

[Hood]

Another 1990s technothriller.

Project Cyclops, Thomas Hoover, 1992

United States
USS Glover (Garcia Class) - largely used for various trials during her career, in this story she was been converted for the NSA for missile tracking and communications interception, retaining the bow 5in Mk 30 mount and her helicopter facilities aft.

Plot: Arab terrorists steal an Iranian Hind-D, use it to destroy the Glover as the first stage in their plan to take over the launch facility for a novel spacecraft and use it as a ballistic missile with a stolen nuclear warhead.


Going back in time, a first wold war era novel.

The Lost Naval Papers, Bennet Copplestone, 1917

Great Britain
HMS Rampagious - battleship, completed1916, described as a fast battleship so probably not an R Class
HMS Malplaquet - battleship, completed 1916
HMS Intrepid - battlecruiser, possibly intended to be an Indefatigable class
HMS Terrific - battlecruiser, 1914
HMS Tremendous - battlecruiser, same class as Terrific
HMS Antinous - fast cruiser, armed with 8 guns (6?), has geared turbines, probably based on the Weymouth/Chatham classes
HMS Antigone - fast cruiser, same class as Antinous

Plot: the book is a series of detective stories based on sabotage and deception ploys in shipyards, especially Portsmouth; the plans of Rampagious are stolen, the two cruisers are sabotaged while undergoing repairs and three steamers fitted as dummy battlecruisers limping into Portsmouth with mine damage fool conceal the Intrepid, Terrific and Tremendous heading to the Southern Seas to win a victory paralleling the real Battle of the Falklands.

 

[Graham1973]

Another 1990s technothriller.

Project Cyclops, Thomas Hoover, 1992

Good catch, I'd dismissed that one based on the blurb.

 

[Graham1973]

Clive & Dirk Cussler, Arctic Drift, 2008

United States

USS Santa Fe (SSN-763)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

USCGC Polar Dawn
Polar Class Icebreaker?
Details as per the real ships.

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

Canada

HMCS Manitoba
'Cruiser'
Specifically built for duty in the Arctic
No other details.
Note: Name clash with a member of the unbuilt Canada Class of Submarines.

Plot summary: The year is 2011. A series of deaths related to research into how to deal with the effects of global warming, causes Canada and the United States to come to the brink of war.

Note: This novel seriously retcons the events of two earlier novels 'Night Probe!' & 'Deep Six' in which Canada becomes part of the United States.

 

[Graham1973]

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

David Tindell, The White Vixen, 2012

United Kingdom

HMS Cambridge
Destroyer, class not specified
1 x 4.5 inch gun fwd.
Sea Wolf GWS-25 missiles
Goalkeeper CIWS
Name clash with the RN Gunnery School which was closed in 2001.
Note: This does not fit the armament of any actual destroyer in service in 1981. The British did not purchase Goalkeeper until after the Falklands War (April - June 1982)

HMS Cumberland
Frigate, class not specified.
No other details mentioned.
Name clashes with a Type 22 Batch III Class frigate launched in 1986.

HMS Fort Austin
Frigate, class not specified.
No other details provided.
Note: Name clash with RFA Fort Austin (A386), a Fort Rosalie Class Supply Ship that served in the Falkands War and is still in service.

HMS Reliant
Submarine, class not specified
No other details provided.

HMS Vanguard
Churchill Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name clash with the later name ship of the Vanguard Class Ballistic Missile Submarines launched in 1993.

Chile

San Miguel
Frigate, class not specified.
No other details provided.

Russia

K-251
Victor III Class Submarine
Real ship, details as in service.

Plot summary: The novel takes place in both 1981 & 1982. A group of men who 'didn't believe in no surrender' at the end of WWII and who have been ruling Argentina from the shadows ever since, take the first steps in a plan whose ultimate goal is nothing less than the restoration of the Third Reich...

Note: This is essentially a fantastical account of events leading up to the opening phases of the Falklands War in which a USAF Special Operations Force member (and Martial arts expert) of mixed American/Korean descent plays a key role. The cover is a particularly bad example of what you can do with computer photo-manipulation these days, I don't know what type of ship is depicted on the cover, but it is definitely not a British design.

 

[Graham1973]

Another in the irregular 'non-state' actor series and it's a doozy...

Clive Cussler, Vixen 03, 1978

African Army of Revolution

ex-USS Iowa (BB-61)
Iowa Class Battleship (Monitor conversion)
Details as per the real ship in regards hull and propulsion
Armament has been extensively modified. A & Y turrets have been removed and replaced with plywood dummies. All 5 inch guns have been removed and at least some of the armor has been removed as well along with part of the superstructure (Which has also been replaced with plywood dummies). Sufficient weight has been removed to reduce the draft to 22 ft (6.7m).
The shells carried aboard the Ex-USS Iowa are mostly standard 16 inch rounds. However some are not, these blunt tipped rounds are in fact biological dispersal rounds containing an organism of extreme lethality codenamed 'QD', one which renders a region un-enterable for a period of 300 years.

The special rounds are the same dimensions as standard 16 inch rounds, but as noted above have blunt tips. Inside is a generator that is activated/powered by the centrifugal forces generated on firing. This provides power to a radar altimeter and the fusing system. Upon reaching the apex of the trajectory a parachute is deployed and upon reaching the preset detonation altitude the shell releases bomblets containing the QD agent.

United States

Unnamed
Ballistic Missile Submarine
No other details provided.

Plot Summary: The year is 1988. Certain individuals associated with the Apartheid Regime in South Africa have come up with a most cunning plan to destroy the African organization that has proven to be a persistent thorn in the governments side, trick them into sailing a converted battleship up the Potomac and bombard Washington DC, provoking a US response that will cripple them. Unfortunately a mistake by the supplier of their shells could have results even more devastating than those intended.

Note: In the authors fictional 1988 none of the Iowas have been reactivated. USS Wisconsin is described as being scrapped in 1984 and USS Iowa is about to share the same fate when the South Africans launch Operation: Wild Rose.

Also of note is the appearance of a fictional fighter aircraft the F-120 'Spectre' which is described as being armed with Copperhead missiles (Air-to-Air?) and Satan Air-to-Ground missiles, the latter appear to be 'smart weapons' (Eg they can be guided with designators.) with the capapility of penetrating 3 yards (2.7 meters) of concrete. Sadly the author provides no other clues to what the aircraft looks like.

 

[Graham1973]

Now for something a little unusual...

Sheila Burnford, Bel Ria, 1978

United Kingdom

HMS Tertian
Destroyer, class not specified.
No details provided.

Plot summary: An RN medical officer saves a small dog from the beaches of Dunkirk during the evacuation, a decision that changes his life, and many others in unexpected ways.

Note: This novel is by the author of 'The Incredible Journey' is not a standard war story and runs from 1940 to shortly before the war ends.

 

[Graham1973]

Alfred Draper, The Raging Of The Deep, 1985

United Kingdom

HMS Grey Seal
Armed Trawler
1 x 12pdr (fwd)
20mm Oerlikons
Lewis guns (twin mounts)
Depth charges
600 tons
10 knots (+)
No other details provided.

Plot summary: After the fall of Crete, a plan is put in motion to harass the Germans.

Note: The novel covers the lead up to and the beginning of the German occupation of Crete and appears to be entirely set in 1941. The novel is part of a series, with an earlier novel being titled 'The Restless Waves'. The uncredited cover depicts the Grey Seal during the evacuation of Crete.

 

[Graham1973]

A return to pulp fiction...

Clive & Dirk Cussler, Black Wind, 2004

WWII (January 1945)

Japan

I-403
I-400 Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Only the following members of the I-400 class were completed, I-400 I-401 & I-402.

I-411
I-400 Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Only the following members of the I-400 class were completed, I-400 I-401 & I-402.

United States

USS Theodore Knight (DD-???)
Farragut Class Destroyer
Launched 1931
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The launch date in the novel is actually one year before the first member of the class was laid down.

Modern Day (2007)

United States

USCGC Narwhal (WPB-87335)
Marine Protector Class Cutter (Referred to in the novel as being a Barracuda Class Cutter.)
Real ship, details as in service.

USCGC Halibut (WPB-87340)
Marine Protector Class Cutter (Referred to in the novel as being a Barracuda Class Cutter.)
Real ship, details as in service.

USS Benfold (DDG-65)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service

Unnamed
Frigate
No other details provided.

Non-State

Kang Enterprises

Koguryo (ex-Baekje)
Armed merchantman (Cable layer converted to a Command ship for use with the Sea Launch platform Odyssey)
Length: 436ft (133m)
Beam: 133ft (40.5m)
C-801 Surface to Surface anti-ship missiles. (Referred to as CSS-N-4 in novel. Concealed launchers, exact number/location not specified)
HQ-7 Surface to air missiles. (Referred to as CSA-4 in novel. Concealed launcher(s), exact number/location not specified.)
Note: South Korean owned and operated, at one point flies a Japanese flag as a disguise.

Plot summary: Mysterious wildlife deaths off Alaska, a series of assassinations and bombings in Japan and a horrific murder in South Korea are all linked in a cunning plot.

 

[Hood]

The Boy Inventors’ Diving Torpedo Boat, by Richard Bonner, 1912

White Shark – submersible torpedo boat, 70ft long, 1x TT (compressed-air launching and each torpedo is powered by compressed air), 1x ‘submarine gun’ (0.5 mile range, uses steam propellant made from electricity heating a small amount of water behind the shell), 2x 1,500hp electric motors, 1x propeller, 25-30mph (surf), 20mph (sub), can accommodate a crew of 7, made out of Monel metal (fictional alloy, shiny like nickel but lighter and stronger than aluminium, the control planes are made from aluminium)

United States
USS Manhattan Island – battleship
USS San Francisco – battleship
USS Dixie – cruiser

Plot: a book in the American Boy inventors’ series. Inventor Daniel Dancer develops a submarine torpedo boat but needs the lads’ help to control the diving and rising of the vessel. Tests complete, they set sail for Cuba to assist the rescue of American nationals during a revolution in one of its provinces. Along the way they nearly get rammed and sunk by the USS San Francisco while rescuing a sailor from the USS Manhattan Island that had fallen overboard.

 

[Graham1973]

Colin Setterfield, Merlin's War, 2016

United States

USS William Taft (SSBN-???)
Modified Ohio Class
Length: 576ft (175.6m)
Beam: 46ft (14m)
Crush Depth: 2,400ft (731.5m)
30 x Trident II missiles
Torpedo armament not specified, probably 21 inch tubes, mention made of aft facing tubes
Active sonar fitted
Highly automated.

USS Universal Conquest (CVN-??)
Aircraft Carrier, class not specified
No other details provided
Name is very dubious.

China

Yangtze
Type 093B Class Submarine (Fictional)
Details probably similar to the Type093 Class

Russia

Admiral Kalnikov
Udaloy III Class Destroyer (Fictional)
152mm guns (Two turrets A & B, if I have read the authors intent correctly, one turret is forward, the other aft.)
RBU-6000 ASW launchers
Carries helicopters
Fitted with a torpedo decoy system called Bell Crown.
Details regarding size/propulsion probably not that much different to the real classes (Udaloy I & II).

Plot summary: A madman's Quantum computer has just taken over the United States Navies newest ballistic missile submarine and intends to use it to bring about the usual deranged revenge.