Historic Naval Fiction

[bfisher]

I finished P.T.Deutermann's Ghosts of Bungo Suido. It is an excellent read for anyone interested in the USN submarine campaign against Japan, although I think Run Silent, Run Deep (non-fic) is still tops in that respect. I have Richard O'Kanes Clear The Bridge (non-fic) on my TBR, so that could change. O"Kane was one of the legendary commanders.

I am halfway through Away All Boats by Kenneth Dodson. It was as good as I remember. Barely fiction though, as most of the action in the book parallels Dodson's war record - probably more of a memoir. Unfortunately, this book doesn't seem to have made it to ebook; I was lucky to have my old paperback still around. I am pondering having it scanned.

I was planning to re-read The Cruel Sea, since I got the ebook recently. I remember how impressed I was reading that book when I was 14; I can still remember parts of it vividly. I recently came across Monsarrat's Three Corvettes, an omnibus of three short works that he wrote and published during the war. I can see some of the details that showed up later in The Cruel Sea. I plan to finish Three Corvettes before re-reading The Cruel Sea.

Three Corvettes doesn't seem to be available as an ebook at amazon.com or amazon.ca although it is available at amazon.uk. Kobo has a free version of H.M. Corvette, which is the first of the three pieces.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Corvet.../dp/B00946TPDO

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/h-m-corvette

I'm starting to read C. Northcote Parkinson's Richard Delancey novels, set during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Parkinson (of Parkinson's Law fame) was a professional naval historian, and an excellent writer, so I am enjoying Devil To Pay, the first in the series (but not the first chronologically). It tastes like the Hornblower novels. Parkinson did write a fictional biography of Hornblower - The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower, which I read decades ago, but now recall no details of.

Oddly, the Richard Delancey novels are readily available as ebooks in Canada, but their availability as ebooks seems to be spotty elsewhere. That is the reverse of my usual experience.

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by avantman42

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy is excellent, but may be too modern.

Clancy's The Hunt for Red October is about submarine warfare; I don't recall how much if any naval content was in Red Storm Rising. It's been many years since I've read either book, but I remember the latter book as something about a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

[bfisher]

There was quite a lot of coverage in Red Storm Rising of the on-going battle that would have had to be fought in the North Atlantic to get the resupply convoys through a Soviet submarine and aerial blockade - it was one of the major aspects of the novel.

[rkomar]

Since we're bringing up modern "historic" naval books, did anyone mention "H.M.S. Ulysses" by Alistair MacLean? It's a WWII adventure/suspense novel set on a light cruiser doing the Murmansk run. It's one of my favourite MacLean books.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Since we're bringing up modern "historic" naval books, did anyone mention "H.M.S. Ulysses" by Alistair MacLean? It's a WWII adventure/suspense novel set on a light cruiser doing the Murmansk run. It's one of my favourite MacLean books.

I have it on my TBR to re-read. I read it about 40 years ago when on a Maclean spree, and remember it as being quite good. Wasn't it about an escort for convoy PQ-17?

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I have it on my TBR to re-read. I read it about 40 years ago when on a Maclean spree, and remember it as being quite good. Wasn't it about an escort for convoy PQ-17?

The numbers of the missions don't mean anything to me. In the prelude, it's mentioned that PQ-17, FR 71 and 74 were the three last major convoys, and that the next one was FR 77. I had no idea whether the numbers were made up or not.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

Clancy's The Hunt for Red October is about submarine warfare; I don't recall how much if any naval content was in Red Storm Rising. It's been many years since I've read either book, but I remember the latter book as something about a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

Originally Posted by bfisher

There was quite a lot of coverage in Red Storm Rising of the on-going battle that would have had to be fought in the North Atlantic to get the resupply convoys through a Soviet submarine and aerial blockade - it was one of the major aspects of the novel.

I suspect I was thinking of The Hunt For Red October As bfisher says, there are several naval actions in Red Storm Rising, though it's certainly not just about naval warfare.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by rkomar

The numbers of the missions don't mean anything to me. In the prelude, it's mentioned that PQ-17, FR 71 and 74 were the three last major convoys, and that the next one was FR 77. I had no idea whether the numbers were made up or not.

PQ-17 was notorious for the losses. It was Archangel-bound in June 1942. It was under repeated attack by U-boats and land-based aircraft, and there was the threat of surface attacks by Turpitz, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper. After the Admiralty ordered the convoy to scatter, the merchant ships were unprotected, which was when most of the losses happened. Out of 35 ships, 23 were sunk - a 65 % loss rate.

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by avantman42

I suspect I was thinking of The Hunt For Red October As bfisher says, there are several naval actions in Red Storm Rising, though it's certainly not just about naval warfare.

My mistake. For some reason I was thinking mostly about tanks in that book.

[bfisher]

I finished C. Northcote Parkinson's first Richard Delancey novel Devil To Pay. Initially I found it quite enjoyable, but there were some implausible events at the end that spoiled it a bit. I'll try either the successive novel The Fireship (the Spithead and Nore Mutinies and the Battle of Camperdown) or Delancey's back story The Guernseyman (a Midshipman during the American Revolutionary War)

I started reading another series by Robert N. Macomber about Peter Wake, an officer in the U.S. Navy between the American Civil War and 1900.

The first novel At the Edge of Honor introduces Wake, an ex-merchant sailor commanding a sloop gunboat of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. It describes blockading activity in the Florida Keys and South-West Florida in 1863-64 as well as riverine warfare on the Peace and Caloosahatchee rivers.

Enjoyable enough that I am reading the second novel Point of Honor, where Wake has been promoted to command of a schooner.

[jgaiser]

A writer that I just discovered is Frederick Marryat

Captian Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) first attempted to run away to sea at fourteen. His father, a member of Parliament, helped him secure a midshipman's berth on a frigate commanded by the daring Thomas Cochrane. Frederick would go on to serve in the British Royal Navy for over twenty years, serving in the Battle of Aix Roads and the War of 1812. When he turned his pen to naval life, he became the preeminent chronicler of British naval seamen in the great Age of Nelson.

A large number of his books are available online. I picked up "Peter Simple" on a recommendation and so far it's pretty good.

[bfisher]

I read Marryat's Snarleyyow a long time ago. Although much of the action was ashore, I did think him a good writer, and meant to read more of his work. What do you like about Peter Simple?

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I read Marryat's Snarleyyow a long time ago. Although much of the action was ashore, I did think him a good writer, and meant to read more of his work. What do you like about Peter Simple?

Only a couple chapters in. Peter hasn't yet gotten aboard ship, but there are enjoyable characters, humor and an easy to read look at early 19th century England. I imagine I'm going to enjoy and finish this. The person I got the recommendation from said that Peter Simple or Percival Keen were an easy starting point.

[bfisher]

Thanks for the recommendation. I've put Peter Simple on my TBR.

[Teknikal]

Not sure if this really fit's here most likely not but the only thing I've read I'd class as naval fiction is the Kirov Saga I'd say it's more sci-fi/alternative history though, it's about an advanced russian missile cruiser that suddenly finds itself accidently travelling through time to the second world war.