Fictional Warships - Novels

David E. Meadows, Echo Class, 2009

United States

USS Dale (DDG-???)
Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Name clashes with a Leahy Class FFG (later redesignated CG) launched in 1962

USS Coghlan (DDG-???)
Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: The year is 1967 and the Soviet Navy has decided to demonstrate just what their latest submarines are capable of...

Note: All other ships featured in this novel are real.
 
Richard Hough, Buller's Victory, 1984

United Kingdom

HMS Incomparable
7th Canopus-class Battleship (Pre-Dreadnought)
Details as per the real ships
Launched 1900
Sunk 18th of March 1915.

HMS Duchess of Marlborough
Q-Ship
3,248 tons
(As converted) 2 x 12pdrs, 1 Maxim Gun, 2 Lewis guns, bomb throwers
(As updated) 1 x 4 inch (fwd), 1 x 12pdr, 1 x 2 pdr, 1 Maxim Gun, 2 Lewis guns, bomb throwers
No other details provided

HMS Arrow
Acorn (H) or Acheron (I) Class Destroyer
2 x 4 inch, 2 x 12pdrs, 21 inch TTs
Name clashes with that of a Ant Class gunboat in service between 1871 - 1922
Note: Armament fits one of two possible British destroyer classes, insufficient details provided to determine just which one.

HMS Mason
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

HMS Thistle
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided
Name clashes with that of a Bramble Class gunboat in service between 1901 - 1926

Germany

U-623
U-Boat, class not specified
75mm gun
Other armament not mentioned, but probably similar to other U-Boats of it's era.

Plot summary: Follows the successes and failures of the Buller family during the First World war from the Battle of Coronel to the Battle of Jutland.

Note: Third volume in a trilogy (Buller's Guns/Buller's Battleship/Buller's Victory).
 
Lincoln Child, Deep Storm, 2007

United States

USS Specter (SSN-??? or SS-???)
Nuclear? Submarine, class not specified
No other details provided.

Plot summary: An ex-Navy Doctor is assigned to a Top Secret underwater excavation project in the North Sea to investigate a mysterious outbreak of insanity.

Note: The USS Specter is part of the POV characters backstory, it does not appear in the novel itself. At one point mention is made of the characters service in "...stealth submarines and carriers.", so presumably the Specter is a 'stealth submarine', whatever that means.
 
Alexander Fullerton, All The Drowning Seas, 1981

United Kingdom

HMS Defiant (Java Sea)
D Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships.
Completed 1922? (Stated to be "...twenty years old..." in 1942.)

HMS Ainsty (Mediterranean)
Hunt Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Jouster (Mediterranean)
J Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships

United States

USS Sloan (DD-???) (Java Sea)
Porter Class Destroyer (Referred to as Selfridge Class in novel.)
Details as per the real ships
Launched "...around 1935..."

Plot Summary: The year is 1942 and members of the Everard family face danger, one in command of a cruiser at the Battle of the Java Sea and the desperate struggle to escape the Japanese that follows. At the same time another member of the family finds himself a passenger aboard a merchant ship traveling to Malta aboard a heavily attacked convoy (The author states that this is fictional version of Operation Pedestal, moved from August '42 to February '42.).

Note: This book is the sixth in a series known as the Everard Chronicle, the first three books cover the First World War from Jutland to Armistice Day. The remaining six books cover the Second World War until late 1943.

Later: The attached images are the cover by Michael Turner for the 1981 hardback edtion, by Steve Crisp for the 1982 paperback edition, and the bizarre cover created for the 2017 ebook release of the novel which seems to depict a United States nuclear powered cruiser (Either Virginia Class or California Class) sinking after being attacked by planes of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the foreground with a British Type 42 Destroyer in the background and is a perfect example of the problems with CGI covers.
 

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Alistair MacLean, Night Without End, 1959

United Kingdom

HMS Triton
Aircraft Carrier, class not specified
Carries Supermarine Scimitar Fighters
No other details provided

HMS Wykenham
Destroyer, class not specified
No other details provided

Plot summary: It is late 1957, an airliner has crashed in Greenland not far from a four month old IGY station. As the researchers try to get the survivors to the coast and rescue, they find that there is a murderer amongst their ranks.
 
J. E. MacDonnell, A Council of Captains, 1974

Australia

HMAS Tempest
Crown Colony/Fiji Class Cruiser
Details as per real ships.

HMAS Jackal
Battle Class Destroyer
Details as per real ships.
38 knots
Note: There was a J Class destroyer named HMS Jackal that was sunk in May of 1942. A reasonable assumption is that this ships name has been changed from a 'Battle' name in honor of the ship sunk. However a reference in this book suggests that in the authors 'universe' there may have been an earlier 'HMAS Jackal' that this ship was named after. It is also implied that she is the first member of the class in theater rather than HMS Barfleur.

HMAS Mackay
Bathurst Class Corvette
Details as per the real ships.

HMAS Wind Rode
J, K & N Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Also appears in several other of the authors many novels.
Lead ship of the RAN Fifth Destroyer Flotilla

HMAS Swift
J, K & N Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Author explicitly states that this ship is a member of the same class as HMAS Wind Rode.
Member of the RAN Fifth Destroyer Flotilla

HMAS Sabre
Destroyer, class not specified
6 x 4.7 inch guns (A, B, & X twin mounts)
Note: Name clash with HMS Saber, a WWI S Class Destroyer that was scrapped in 1946.
Member of the RAN Fifth Destroyer Flotilla

HMAS Whelp
Destroyer, class not specified
6 x 4.7 inch guns (A, B, & X twin mounts)
Note: Name clash with HMS Whelp, a W Class destroyer launched in 1943, which was later transferred to South Africa and scrapped in 1976.
Member of the RAN Fifth Destroyer Flotilla
Sunk during course of novel.

HMAS Witch
Destroyer, class not specified
6 x 4.7 inch guns (A, B, & X twin mounts
Member of the RAN Fifth Destroyer Flotilla

Japan

Unnamed
Several Destroyers

Unnamed
5 Heavy Cruisers (Myoko/Mogami Classes)

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified.

United States

Unnamed
PT Boats

Plot summary: In this episodic novel, the captain of HMAS Jackal finds himself pitted against a Japanese submarine commander who knows almost all the tricks while defending a convoy in the Arafura Sea. The RAN Fifth Destroyer Flotilla finds itself under heavy air attack traveling to Manus Island and loses a ship. In the climax Tempest, Jackal and the surviving members of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla are ordered to provide a diversion for an attack by MacArthur by bombarding Japanese positions in the Schouten Islands.

Note: This novel, like the later 'Breaking Point' appears to be set in 1944. It also takes place sometime before the landings on Biak (27 May 1944), when discussing the diversionary action that makes up the final portion of the novel it is specifically stated that "...you will readily appreciate that MacArthur is not intending to take Biak, at least not yet." which implies a date in the early part of 1944 (Fighting on Manaus lasted between 29 February - 18 May 1944). As the title suggests, this book is a meeting between several of the authors regular series characters. Interestingly it is revealed that HMAS Jackal is an 'independent command' based out of Darwin rather than being attached to a specific force.
 
Now for a big one...

Alexander Fullerton, The Gatecrashers, 1984

United Kingdom

HMS Nottingham
Cruiser
Flagship of the 39th Cruiser Squadron

HMS Minotaur
Cruiser
Part of the 39th Cruiser Squadron
Real ship, transferred to Canada after launch.

HMS X-11
X Class Minisub
Details as per the real ships

HMS X-12
X Class Minisub
Details as per the real ships

HMS Scourge
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.
Name clash with S Class Destroyer in launched in December 1942 and in service from July 1943 to February 1946. Another S Class submarine of this name appears in the novels 'The Bonny Boy' & 'See You At The Bar' (Both published in 2019) by author David Black.

HMS Setter
S Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Ultra
U Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

HMS Calliope
Dido Class Cruiser
Details as per the real ships

HMS Moloch
M Class? Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Laureate
L Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Leopard
L Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Legend
L Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Lyric
L Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Berkeley
'Anti Aircraft Ship'
No other details provided
Name clash with a Hunt Class destroyer sunk in August '42

HMS Harpy
H Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Foremost
F Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships

HMS Radcar
Minesweeper
No other details provided

HMS Radstock
Minesweeper
No other details provided

HMS Rochedale
Minesweeper
No other details provided

HMS Rattray
Minesweeper
No other details provided

HMT Arctic Prince
Armed trawler
No other details provided

HMT Northern Glow
Armed trawler
No other details provided

RFA Bayleaf
Fleet Oiler
Launched 1917
Note: There were ships named RFA Bayleaf in WWI and post WWII however this name was not used during the war.

Russia

Sovetskaya Slava
Oiler (Converted tanker?)
No other details provided

Germany

Unnamed
Oiler
15,000 tons
"...deep laden, and quite modern."

Unnamed
Several 'Narvik Class' destroyers

Plot summary: In the conclusion to the Everard Chronicles father and son face the Germans in northern waters, the father commanding the escort for an Arctic convoy while the son pilots an X-Craft against the Tirpitz.
 

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William M. Hardy, Wolf-Pack, 1960

United States

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

USS Lamprey (SS-372)
Balao Class Submarine, Real ship, launched June '44, in service November '44 - August '60
Sunk during the course of the novel.

USS Remora (SS-487)
Trench Class Submarine, Real ship, launched July '45, in service January '46 - October '73.

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

USS Newt (SS-???)
Submarine, class not specified
Sunk prior to start of novel.

Japan

Tamanami
2,700 ton Destroyer
Real ship, Yugumo Class Destroyer, sunk 7th of July 1944

Asanagi
1,900 ton Destroyer
Real ship, Kamikaze Class destroyer, sunk 22nd of May 1944

Unnamed
1,900 ton Destroyer (Kamikaze Class?)

Unnamed
5 Kaikoban
Armament details only provided, no names.

Plot summary: A fictitious US Submarine attack on a Japanese convoy. Novel begins shortly before the 25th of June, 1944.

Note: The author 'brings forward' the construction of two submarines and altered the sinking dates of two Japanese destroyers. Other submarines named are not given sufficient details to determine class.
 

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J. E. MacDonnell, Hunter-Killer, 1968

Australia

HMAS Wind Rode
J, K & N Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships
Note: Also appears in several other of the authors many novels.

Unnamed
4 x Destroyers

Note: Probably this is the RAN 5th Destroyer Flotilla (See A Council of Captains, Operational Immediate for the pre-May '44 composition.)

United States

USS Bonita (SS-165)
Barracuda Class Submarine, Real Ship, launched June '25, in service May '26 - March '45
Note: In real life this submarines war service was spent on the US East Coast apart from a period off Pacific side of the Panama canal in November '40 - October '42. Armament details given in novel do not quite fit the actual Barracuda class, possibly a fictional member of a later class rather than the real ship.
Sunk during the course of the novel.

USS Dunlap (DD-384)
Mahan Class Destroyer, Real Ship, launched April '36, in service June '37 - December '45

Japan

Inaduma (I-400)
I-400 Class Submarine (Fictional version)
3,405 tons
396 feet (Length)
Twin diesel engines (9000 horsepower total)
25kts (Surfaced)/18 kts (submerged)
3 x 5.5 inch guns
AA armament not mentioned, presumably same as real ships.
10 21inch TT (6 forward/4 aft)
2 Seaplanes (Aichi M6A) (hangar aft of conning tower)
Range 18,000 miles

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified

Plot summary: It is late 1944, Japanese submarine attacks on Allied convoys heading to the Philippines are becoming increasingly effective, have the Japanese adopted Wolf-pack tactics or is something else going on...?

Notes: Novel appears to take place after the events of 'Breaking Point' eg. October/November or December 1944.
 
Ian Fleming, Moonraker, 1955

United Kingdom

HMS Merganzer
'Patrol Ship', Destroyer?, Frigate?
No other details provided.

Russia

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified
30 knots (Surfaced)
Larger than anything Britain had in 1955.

Plot summary: Why would a media darling Industrialist (For a modern equivalent, think Sir Richard Branson...) risk public humiliation by cheating the members of London's most exclusive private gambling club...?
 
J. E. MacDonnell, Subsmash, 1960

Australia

HMAS Scourge
Destroyer, class not specified
Described as "...a young cruiser...", Daring Class?

HMAS Lockyer
Destroyer?, class not specified
Daring Class?

United Kingdom

HMS Diana
Submarine, class not specified (either Oberon or Porpoise Class, details fit either)
2000 tons
8 TT (6 forward/2 aft)
18 kts (surface)
Name clash with Daring Class Destroyer.

Plot summary: The year is 1959, a routine joint British/Australian anti-submarine training exercise has gone badly wrong.

Note: This is first time I've encountered one of this authors books published by anyone other than Horwitz. The novel is apparently the third in a series with 'Gimme The Boats' and 'Jim Brady, Leading Seaman' being the other two books. The cover by Gino d'Achille is a good action scene, but it's the wrong era and what is depicted is definitely not what happens in the book.
 

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Noel B. Gerson (Pen name: Samuel Edwards), Neptune, 1976

Russia

Zolóto (14-2967)
Zolóto Class Submarine (Fictional Class)
slightly more than 6000 tons (Submerged?)
8 Ballistic missiles
No other details provided, armament presumably also includes torpedos.

Sunk "...about two years..." prior to start of novel (Assumed to be set in 1976.)

United States

USS New Haven
Warship, class not specified
No details provided

Unnamed
Cruiser, no other details provided.

USS Neptune (SSN-???)
Length: 660 yards (603.5 meters)
Weight (gross): 23,000 tons (20865.249 metric tonnes)
Conning tower of a unique profile, described as follows: "Looks a bit like a whales mouth, doesn't it? Big enough to open up and gobble up almost anything, even a smaller submarine."
Profile aft of the conning tower is "...unique..."
Fake submarine created to deceive Soviets and Chinese as to the real nature of US objectives.

Plot summary: The United States has located a sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine somewhere in the South China Sea. As preparations are made to raise the submarine, efforts to keep the communists from finding out what is planned are stepped up.

Note: This is only the second 1970s novel I've seen inspired by Operation Jennifer (Project Azorian).
 

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J. E. MacDonnell, The Kill, 1974

Australia

HMAS Pelican
Experimental Destroyer, class not specified
4 x 4 inch guns (Two twin turrets, A & X), 6 TT (Three twin mounts), Depth charges (Port Starboard launchers on the quarterdeck, rails aft) 1 QF 2-pounder MkVIII (Four barrelled 'Pom-Pom' Gun).
AA augmented with 'scrounged' MGs, 6 x Bren Guns (Mounted three a side midships), Browning mounted on motor boats forward davit.
Launched 1918
1300 tons
300ft long
Single funnel
30knots
Fitted with radar and sonar.
Note: Part of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, which incorporated the original 'Scrap Iron Flotilla'.

HMAS Jason
J-Class Destroyer
Details as per the ships in service.
Note: Part of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, which incorporated the original 'Scrap Iron Flotilla'.

Italy

Unnamed
Battleship, class not specified

Unnamed
Cruiser, class not specified

Plot summary: Two members of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla are sent on a critical scouting mission.

Note: This one is hard to date, however a reference to General Montgomery suggests it takes place between August '42 (When he arrived in theater.) and November '42 (2nd El-Alamein). Also, the author does not refer to ships as being 'HM' or 'HMA' during this novel, which required a close reading of the text to sort out if the Jason was attached to the RAN or RN. The key line was on page 37, and read "You had her (eg. Jason's) captain aboard, sir, and as she's an Australian ship..."
 
I've been investigating the Victorian and Edwardian theme of invasion scare and future war stories and have found a rich vein of such works at: http://www.theriddleofthesands.com/

Most of the naval related stories seem to use real ships in the storyline, probably because the Royal Navy and the French, German and Russian navies, were well endowed with large fleets and many ships having well-known historical names. Below are the most interesting of the fictional vessels encountered. The books are in publication date order.


Anonymous (translated by Charles James Cook), The "Russia's Hope" or, How Britannia No Longer Rules the Waves Showing how he Muscovite Bear got at the British Whale, 1888

Russia
Russia's Hope, cruiser; 300ft long, 45ft beam; 2x1 8in, 8x1 6in, 4x Nordenfeldt, 2x TT (UE), 4x TT (AW); 2-3in deck armour; 6,500ihp for 16.5kts; range 8,000nm at 10kts

Little Son, captured British steamer SS Moor. The Admiralty planned to arm her as an auxiliary cruiser with 2x1 6in and 4x Nordenfeldt and the crew of the Russia's Hope find the armament in her hold and two small torpedo boats being delivered to Simonstown, the Russians then complete the arming and use her as another commerce raider.


The Earl of Mayo, The War Cruise of the Aries, 1894

Great Britain
HMS Aries, a semi-submerged Ram, has a turtledeck and a small conning tower and funnel, twin propellers.


J. Eastwick, The New Centurion, 1895

Great Britain
HMS Centurion is the real battleship completed in 1894 but reconstructed with new boilers and engines to reach 19kts, her 12in main and 4in upper belts are replaced with a uniform 8in belt of Harvey steel and a new curved armoured deck is fitted. The armament is changed to four new "46 ton" guns (which I presume to be 12in guns) which have automatic loading equipment enabling a rate of fire of 4-5rpm. The secondary battery is replaced by a mix of 12pdr, 3pdr and Maxim guns, all without shields. Two light masts are fitted and each foretop has 3x Maxims.


W. Laird Clowes, The Captain of the Mary Rose: a Tale of Tomorrow, 1898

Mainly features real vessels, one strange idea being many are fitted with lighthouse-type searchlights on the foretops to illuminate the sea around them.

Great Britain
Mary Rose (not a Royal Navy ship but a privateer) ex-Valdavia, an Elswick cruiser for an undefined South American nation acquired on completion.
6,900 tons; 328ft long, 60ft 8in beam, 21ft 10in draught; 4x1 9.2in guns mounted on open barbettes (2 on centreline, 2 on beam), 4x2 4.7in in turrets on the side ends, 14x1 6pdr, 6x1 5-barrelled Nordenfelt, 12x Maxim MGs, 6x TT (at least 2 underwater in bow and stern); 11in belt, 2in deck and 4in redoubt armour; 12,000ihp for 17kts (unforced draught); range 7000nm at 12kts. Described as an improved Captain Prat as built for Chile (which of course was not an Elswick product but was built by La Seyne)


S. Waterloo, Armageddon, 1898

Russia
Czar, battleship, no description

United States
USS Alaska, battleship, no description


F.R. Stockton, The Great War Syndicate, 1899

Great Britain
HMS Adamant, ironclad, an illustration shows Adamant to be very similar to the Conqueror Class turret ironclads.

HMS Scarabaeus, battleship, no description

HMS Dog Star, cruiser, no description

United States
USS Lennehaha, cruiser or gunboat, no description

USS Lenox, cruiser, no description

USS Stockbridge, cruiser, no description

The Syndicate (fighting the war on behalf of the USA)
Crabs, ten/twelve semi-submerged low-freeboard armoured vessels with a steel turtledeck, armed with pincers to rip off sternposts and propellers of enemy ships, powered by electric motors.

Repellers, ten steamers acquired and rebuilt with a curved steel deck, additional "elastic" armour comprising spring-tempered steel plates backed with air buffers fitted over the iron hull and armed with a single large calibre gun in the bows, the mount having a bomb-proof canopy. The gun fires an shell described as an Instantaneous-Motor which in effect is an early sci-fi concept of a nuclear weapon.


J. Barnes, The Unpardonable War, 1904

Great Britain
HMS Cumberland, battleship; probably not the real Monmouth Class armoured cruiser launched in 1902.

HMS Cornwallis, battleship; possibly the real Duncan Class battleship launched in 1901.

HMS Polyphemus, battleship and flagship of the British fleet.

HMS Carnation, cruiser, no description

United States
USS Arizona, battleship, armament of 12in, 8in and 5in guns.

USS Nebraska, battleship, the real ship of the Virginia Class launched in 1904 but refitted with oil-fired boilers. Also fitted with two electrical devices; the Ewart Locator, a kind of electromagnetic ship detector, and the Westland Obliterator, a kind of EMP device which shorts out dynamos and electrical equipment. Sunk by HMS Cumberland.

USS Monticello, cruiser, no description

USS Adder, Moccasin, Plunger, Shark, Narwhale and Garfish, submarines, no description


W. Wood, Submarined, 1905

Great Britain
HMS Samson, a first-class battleship


George Griffith, The World Peril of 1910, 1907

Germany
Twenty Flying Fish, flying submarines with a fish-shaped hull; 150ft long, 20ft beam, 25ft deep; constructed from a "newly-discovered compound, something like papier-maché, as hard and rigid as steel"; 16 cylinders fuelled by two liquids which, "produced a gas of enormously expansive power, more than a hundred times that of steam" driving nine propellers (three four-bladed 6ft dia for airborne use with two fold-out 20ft span fins); speed 100mph in air; armament of four torpedo tubes, each small torpedo containing 20lb of a powerful explosive which could, "overcame the chemical forces by which the substance was held together and reduced them to gas and powder."


Great Britain
HMS Ithuriel, semi-submerged ram; 300ft long, 50ft beam, 30ft draught, when submerged only 10ft freeboard; armoured ram and 5x1 guns firing special explosive shells; 12in armour below waterline, 10in above, engines use a mixture of petrol, pulverised coal and liquid oxygen(!) driving four propellers, speed 45kts forwards and 35kts astern.

HMS Britain, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, battleships, armament of 12x 14in, 10x 9.2in and 12pdrs and Nordenfelt/Maxims, 11in belt armour

HMS Henry the Fourth, Warwick, Edward the Third, Cromwell, armoured cruisers, 13,000tons, 22kts. In the book they are listed after the Duke of Edinburgh Class ships which were brand new when the book was written so I presume these are a succeeding class, the stats quoted are very similar to the Duke of Edinburgh Class.


Oshikawa, The Submarine Battleship (Kaitei Gunkan), 1908

Japan
Denkopan, a submersible 'battleship' armed with "futuristic torpedoes" and a drill-like ram.
 
J. E. MacDonnell, The Shadow, 1977

Australia

HMAS Jackal
Battle Class Destroyer
Details as per real ships.
38 knots
Note: There was a J Class destroyer named HMS Jackal that was sunk in May of 1942. A reasonable assumption is that this ships name has been changed from a 'Battle' name in honor of the ship sunk. However a reference in this book suggests that in the authors 'universe' there may have been an earlier 'HMAS Jackal' that this ship was named after. It is also implied that she is the first member of the class in theater rather than HMS Barfleur. The authors description of HMAS Jackal implies that she is from the March '43 batch of Battle Class Destroyers (or at least is to the same design as that set of ships) being fitted with what he terms "...stag guns..." (eg Bofors guns in STAAG mountings...).

Britain

Unnamed
Armed Merchant Cruiser
Ex-Liner
6 inch guns
No other details provided.

Unnamed
Battleship
'Old'
No other details provided

Unnamed
Several cruisers

Germany

Wolfe
Deutschland Class Cruiser (Modified)
6 x 11 inch guns (Triple turrets, fore and aft)
10 x 6 inch guns (Single turrets? five a side)
Unspecified AA and TT armament, probably no different from unmodified Deutschland Class
Steam Turbines producing 100,000 horsepower. Four shafts.
30 knots (Max), 25 knots (Cruise)
No other details provided.
Launched 1943?
Note: German for Wolf is Wulf. Wolfe is a surname derived from that word.

Unnamed
Several supply ships

Unnamed
Armed Merchant Cruiser (Commerce Raider)
2 x 4 inch guns (twin mounts fwd)
Mines
4,700 tons
Three funnels, two masts, foremast has a tripod base

Plot summary: Another German raider has slipped into the oceans shipping lanes, can she be stopped. A chance encounter may give the chance to do so.

Note: This one is trickier to date than most. References within imply that this takes place before the German collapse in North Africa (13 May 1943), however the description of HMAS Jackal would imply a later date. The cover is an interesting one, the ship in the background more or less resembles a Deutschland Class Cruiser, the destroyer in the foreground on the other hand does not appear to match the Battle Class or any other extant British destroyer class.
 

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J. Bradford Olesker, Siege of Superport, 1978

United States

USCGC Nelson
Coast Guard Cutter
3 inch gun (fwd)
No other details provided.

Germany (Third Reich)

U-376
Type VIIc U-Boat
Details as per the real ships, save that the 88mm deck gun has been removed.
In real life the ship 'disappeared' in April of 1943. In the novel the ship survived to the end of the war and was taken by her crew to South America rather than surrender.

Plot summary: A Neo-Nazi, some hired thugs and people who 'didn't believe in no surrender' back in 1945 come together to take over a large offshore platform designed to allow supertankers to offload without coming into port and make the traditional "Do what we want or we set off this 55 gallon drum of nitro-glycerine..." demands.

Note: This one really reads like a film script that was turned into a novel when it didn't sell. Probably the most interesting feature is that the author never identifies just which coast of the United States it takes place off. Quite literally it could be set off any major coastal US city. While the cover is a depiction of the novels climactic scene, the uncredited artist gets the U-boat slightly wrong, as noted above, she no longer has her deck gun. An excerpt from the back cover has been included as the artist depicts the Coast Guard Cutter that also features in the novel.
 

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Bart Davis, Destroy the Kentucky, 1992

United States

USS Kentucky
Minisub
1 21 inch TT (2 Mk-48 ADCAP)
4 tube launched Tomahawk missiles
Length: 40ft (12.2m)
Beam: 12ft (3.7m)
3 crew (Highly automated)
Teardrop shaped, coated with sound absorbing tiles
Midships area contains a bathyscaphic sphere and a manipulator arm.
MHD propulsion. Maximum speed not stated, undetectable below 20 knots
Can dive as deep as 5000ft (1524m)
Note: Both the Mk-48 and Tomahawk missiles (The Tomahawk's are stated to be 8ft (2.44m) long rather than 18ft (5.5m) long. Not stated if a booster is fitted.) are modified designs customized for use by the USS Kentucky.

USS Farley (SSN-???)
Submarine, class not specified

Russia

Riga
Victor II Class Submarine
Details as per real ships, save that she is fitted with an experimental sonar system sensitive enough to detect the USS Kentucky.

Lenin
Sierra Class Submarine
Details as per real ships

Vice-Admiral Sulakov
Udaloy Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: There is a Udaloy Class Destroyer named Vice-Admiral Kulakov, it is possible that the name given in the novel is a mispelling unique to my copy of the book.

Plot summary: A Turkmenistan independence group steals the United States latest experimental submarine and threatens to use it against the Soviet Union. The Russians have a sub currently testing a sonar capable of detecting it, but they want the US Navy's best captain to be in control of it.

Note: This novel is set in the same 'universe' as 'Full Fathom Five' & 'Raise the Red Dawn'. The novel notes that the propulsion system used by the USS Kentucky is based on the system the Soviets were testing in 'Raise the Red Dawn' and that the Soviet submarine named Akula in that novel was an Akula Class Submarine. Several other real ships including the Los Angeles Class submarines USS Phoenix (SSN-702) & USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) and also the following Kresta-II Class cruisers Vasily Chapaev & Marshal Timoshenko also appear in the novel.
 
Clive Cussler, Treasure, 1988

United States

USS Polar Explorer
Icebreaker
Engines produce 80,000 horsepower, number of shafts not specified
Can break ice up to 5ft (1.5m) thick
Superstructure is box like, described as resembling a "...five-storey office building..."
Helipad aft
No other details provided

Russia

Unnamed
Alfa Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships.

Plot summary: The year is 1991 and a covert hunt for a sunken Russian submarine leads to an unexpected discovery and the uncovering of a conspiracy.
 
J. E. MacDonnell, Gimme the boats!, 1953

Australia

HMAS Swordsman
S Class Destroyer (WWI)
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Completed for the RN in 1919, transferred to the RAN in 1920, placed in reserve in 1929 and scrapped in 1937. Presumably in the authors 'universe' it survived in reserve until the start of WWII and was re-commissioned.

HMAS Scourge
J, K or N Class Destroyer?
Details as per the real ships.
Name clash with S Class Destroyer (WWII) in launched in December 1942 and in service from July 1943 to February 1946.

Unnamed
Corvette, class not specified
No other details provided

United States

Unnamed
Battleships & Cruisers

United Kingdom

Unnamed
Battleships, cruisers & carriers.

HMS Searcher
Destroyer, class not specified
Name clash with an Ruler Class Escort Carrier in service April '43 - January '45.

HMS Pathfinder (G10)
P Class Destroyer (WWII)
Real ship, details as in service (April'42 - February '45, scrapped November '48)

HMS Crecy
Destroyer, class not specified
No details provided (Name would fit a Battle Class Destroyer...)

France

Richelieu
Richelieu Class Battleship
Real ship, details as in service.

Japan

Various unnamed warships.

Plot summary: Novel follows the crew of HMAS Scourge throughout the latter half of WWII, starting with her first captains arrest for being 'drunk-in-charge' until her replacement captain is promoted to the command of a flotilla.

Note: Very hard to date this one however the mention of the French Battleship Richelieu suggests that the latter part of the novel takes place sometime after April of 1944. Another reference suggests that the time span of the novel as a whole is mid 1943 - mid 1944. The novel is the second(?) in a series of three books which concludes with Subsmash.

Later: As with Subsmash, this novel was reprinted by Corgi, while the artist is not credited on the back cover it appears to also be by Gino D'Achille, an artist more well known for his science fiction cover artwork and the artist responsible for the Subsmash cover.
 

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This is first post in an irregular series covering armed ships operated by 'Non-state actors'. Going back to one of my guilty pleasures.

Clive Cussler, Deep Six, 1984

Bougainville Maritime Inc.

MS Buras
Armed Freighter
2 x 20 mm Oerlikon cannon mounts (1 mount on foredeck, other at stern, mounts concealed under canvas, not specified if single, double or quadruple mount.)
No other details provided

Civil War Re-enactors (Confederate)

PS Stonewall Jackson
Mississippi Sidewheel paddle steamer
Twin funnels (Steam propulsion, four high-pressure boilers)
Launched 1915
Diameter of paddle wheels 30ft (9.1m)
Length: 270ft (82.3m)
Beam: 44ft (13.4m)
Draft: 32in (81.3cm)
Speed (Rated): 15 mph (24.1kph/13 knots)
Speed (Achieved in novel): 20mph (32.2mph/17.4 knots)
Armament: 2 x 12pdr muzzle loading cannon ('Napoleons') firing improvised grapeshot (Ball-bearings) + 40 rifled muskets (Springfield)
Armour: Cotton Bales.

Plot summary: The year is 1989, a mysterious toxic spill off the coast of Alaska leads to the discovery of a criminal conspiracy that tries to put the US Presidency up for auction, with the Soviets and crooked politicians bidding for the prize can their plans be foiled...

Note: I covered the warships mentioned in this novel in an earlier post. This one gets pretty wild, I wish Hollywood had adapted this novel instead of 'Sahara' (Though I do have a soft spot for that film as well, the soundtrack is great...). Whenever I read the climactic river/sea chase sequence I keep hearing Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Proud Mary' mixed with the authors suggestions ('Dixie' & 'The Yellow Rose of Texas' played on a steam calliope). The uncredited cover depicts the moment that the conspirators set off a bomb on a Soviet Cruise Liner.
 

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Nevil Shute, Landfall, 1940

United Kingdom

HMS Caranx
Submarine, class not specified
Referred to as a "...submarine of the 1933 class..."
No other details provided

Unnamed
3 Destroyers

Unnamed
Cruiser

Unnamed
Battleship

Germany

Unnamed
U-Boat, class not specified

Plot summary: A pilot under a cloud after sinking a submarine that was later identified as British is assigned to help in the calibration of a new weapons system.

Note: I am not sure what the author meant by "...the 1933 class..." however, the name of the submarine is that of a genus of tropical fishes which might suggest that she is a Grampus Class Submarine (The prototype was built in 1932, the rest between 1935 and 1937.), however no details are provided in the book to confirm this.
 

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This is another of the ones I posted to the old Warships 3.0 board. This time I think I've done the novel justice.

Peter Shepherd, The Saturn Experiment, 1988

United Kingdom

HMS Saturn
Swiftsure Class Submarine (Modified)
Laid down: May '85
Launched: October '88
Commissioned: January "...this year..." (Either 1989, 1990 or 1991, based on actual Swiftsure class commissioning times.)
Armament probably identical to actual ships with the addition of a mast mounted (e.g. An extendable mast mounted inside the conning tower.) Surface-to-Surface/Surface-to-Air Missile system called 'Stingfish'. The Stingfish missiles are described as follows. Weight: 150pds (68kg) of which 50pds (23kg) is explosive (Amatol G1). Solid fuel propelled. Active radar guidance. Speed is described as "...too fast for decoys and counter-fire."
Length: 335ft (102.11m)
Beam and draft not mentioned.
Weight (Gross): 5500 tons
Displacement: not mentioned
Speed: 32(+) knots (submerged), surfaced speed not mentioned.
Rated Maximum Operating depth: 1,250ft
Maximum depth reached: 3,250ft
Crew: 55
Built at Kendalls (Identified as a "...new yard..." on the Clyde)
Stated to be "...the most expensive 'S' class submarine..." and built at "...something like twice the cost of the others..." (Average price for the 6 Swiftsure class submarines was £55,716,666 suggesting that if HMS Saturn is the 7th Swiftsure her cost was around £111,433,333.)
Stated to be "...remarkably silent..."
Explicitly identified as the "...last in the line of the 'S' series..."

Note: The authors statistics for HMS Saturn make her out to be longer than the actual Swiftsure Class (272ft (82.9m)) or the succeeding Trafalgar Class (280ft (85.4m)) (The author would not have known about the later Astute Class (318ft 3in (97m)).). The very small crew compliment, compared to the actual submarines suggests that she is highly automated. What is not explained in the novel is the eight year gap between the laying down of HMS Splendid, the sixth Swiftsure (1977) and HMS Saturn the fictional seventh Swiftsure (1985) during which the first two members of the succeeding Trafalgar Class had entered service and construction started on three more members of that class.

Russia

Kharkov
Moskva (Pr. 1123) Class Helicopter Carrier
Laid down: 1973
Launched: 1975
Commissioned: 1976
Details regards armament and helicopters same as the real ships.
Propulsion is the same as the real ships. But a gas turbine has been added to power the ships refitted sonar system.

The system, referred to in the novel as an 'Ultra-sonar' is mounted inside a 'canoe shaped' sonar pod (Length: 50ft (15.2m), Width: 20ft (6.1m), depth not mentioned.) mounted beneath the keel on two extendable struts. The ship cannot travel any faster than five knots with the pod extended. The sonar system itself is described as being based on research into whale sonar and can detect objects up to 90 km (56 miles) distant.

Note: As with HMS Saturn the date for the start of construction for Kharkov is again eight years after the last member of the class had been laid down (Leningrad, laid down 1965). Again two members of the succeeding Kiev Class would have been under construction at the same time, with the first member entering service as the Kharkov was launched.

Vladimir
Victor Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Note: At the end of the novel this submarine is being modified to carry the ultra-sonar system.

Voronetz
Victor Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Vitebesk
Victor Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Vologda
Victor Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships

Unnamed
2 x Whiskey Class Submarines

United States

USS Rosemont (SSN-???)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Details as per real ships.

Plot summary: The Soviets have developed a new sonar system. The British government sends their latest submarine to investigate. When the mission is betrayed things come down to the British captains desire to get his ship and crew home and the Soviet commanders desire to inflict a crippling humiliation on the West.

Note: The authors forward states that he was inspired by the events surrounding the Soviet espionage efforts against Norway and Sweden in the early 1980s. It appears that the book was published both in the UK and the US, the UK cover is not worth reproducing. The US cover on the other hand is due to the sheer number of things it gets wrong....
 

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Harry Homewood, Final Harbor, 1980

United States

USS Mako (SS-???)
Submarine, class not specified
2 x 5.25 inch guns, fore and aft of the Conning Tower
1 x 20mm Anti-Aircraft Cannon (twin barrels) mounted on the conning tower (also .5 inch machine guns)
10 x 21 Inch Torpedo Tubes (6 tubes forward/4 aft)
No other details provided.

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

Japan

Unnamed
Kongō Class Battleship
Details as per the real ships
Note: Torpedoed in the novel by USS Mako near the Truck Islands sometime in 1942. Stated that the damage keeps her out of the war for the next two years. As this does not fit any of the actual members of the class this must be a fictional fifth member of the class.

Unnamed
Several destroyers

Plot summary: Novel follows the crew of the submarine USS Mako, from just after the attack on Pearl Harbour until a period shortly after the Battle of Guadalcanal.
 
Harry Homewood, Torpedo!, 1982

United States

USS Sharkfin (SSBN-???)
Class not specified
16 missiles (type not specified) and probably four forward torpedo tubes

USS Saint Louis (SSBN-???)
Class not specified
No other details provided

USS Devilfish (SSN-???)
Class not specified
Same class as USS Orca

USS Stingray (SSN-???)
Class not specified

USS Orca (SSN-???)
Class not specified
Same class as USS Devilfish

USS Medusa
Oceanographic Survey Ship, class not specified
No other details provided.

Russia

Unnamed
SSN, class not specified
No other details provided

Unnamed
SSBN, class not specified
No other details provided

Unnamed
Yankee I Class SSBN
No other details provided

Plot summary: The decision by a faction in the Soviet government to live fire test a new torpedo on an American ballistic missile submarine leads the superpowers to the brink of war.

Note: The novels exact time period can only be narrowed down to between 1965-1973, with certain references suggesting that 1968 -1972 would be the best fit for the time period. The novel is the last of a trilogy that begins with the novel 'Final Harbor'.
 
Another item that was partly posted to the old Warships 3.0 thread. I gave up in annoyance the last time I tried to do this one.

John Watson, The Iron Man, 1998

Russia

Stalin
Super-dreadnought Battleship
Launched: July or August 1945
Armament: 9 x 22 inch guns (Triple turrets A, B & X) (Three types of shell, Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive, Anti-Aircraft (Described as being "...a 'shotgun' projectile that would fragment at a pre-set height and burst into a shower of incendiary splinters.) Magazine has room for 900 rounds (300 rounds per turret).
12 x guns larger than 6 inch but smaller than main armament
16 x 6 inch guns
32 "...twin barrelled anti-aircraft gun..."
8 x 533mm(?) Torpedo Tubes (4 a side) mounted towards the bow
Crew: 2000 (Intended), 400 (Minimum)
8 Parsons Steam Turbines (4 for forward propulsion, four for reverse) 240,000 horsepower.
Four shafts
Weight: 75,000 tons
Length and Beam not given in the book. Though it is stated that the ship is longer than a Kiev Class Aircraft Carrier.
Draft: 32ft
Top of superstructure from waterline: Approximately 170ft (52m)
34,000 tons of armour, maximum depth 2ft (61 cm)
Propellers and rudders protected by "...a unique arrangement of underwater cages as well as hiding the propellers in armoured tunnels under the hull."
Maximum speed (Trials): 35.3 knots

Notes: Intended to be the Soviet response to the Yamato Class Battleships. Anti-aircraft armament is a mix of 40mm & 110mm guns (Neither is a caliber the Soviets actually used...).

United States

USS Jackson (CG-???)
President Class Cruiser (Fictional Class)
Launched 1997(?)
28 (+) knots
Unspecified AAW (Most likely The RIM-66/67 Standard)
Harpoon Missiles
Mark 48 Torpedoes
Mk 8 Nuclear Depth Charges (5kt, 20 warheads). A fictional ASW system. The weapon is fired from the stern and has a 5 mile range.
'402' Armed Drone System. A fictional 'smart weapon'. The 402 Armed Drone is a two-section small missile, the first containing camera, computer and position-sensing device and the second the warhead, target acquired by radar, only first part launched (little bigger than a large seagull) powered by a compressed gas engine, 20 mile range, camera in the nose relays digital colour picture to the operator allowing him to guide the first section to the selected target, the rest of the system is automatic and the second section containing the warhead launches a moment before the first section impacts, following the position information relayed.
Gun armament is not mentioned, but assuming standard US practice probably includes a 5 inch gun and a Phalanx at minimum.
OTH Radar
At least one helicopter, type unspecified.

Note: Described as "A sleek, slim-hulled warship with a huge afterdeck, presumably to take a large helicopter.", "...her main role was as an an anti-submarine ship." and finally as "...the supreme example of the late twentieth-century warship."

Plot summary: The year is 1997. As to the plot, well, shorn of the authors baroque additions, it's "Sink the Bismark" in the Pacific with the USS Missouri playing the role of HMS Hood.

Notes: The author drops a number of 'clangers' in this book starting with this "...on the 20th August, a B-57 called 'Enola Gay' dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima." Aside from the 'Enola Gay' being a B-29, the bombing of Hiroshima took place on the 6th of August.

Later in the novel he has this to say about the naming of tropical storms "In the Caribbean, hurricanes are traditionally given feminine names. In the Pacific, the tradition is for men's names running in strict alphabetical order. The last one ... was Typhoon Charlie. This new storm was ... Typhoon Donald, as a wit in the Hong Kong typhoon centre had already christened it." I sure most readers can spot the mistakes...

As a final example of what I can only class as very poor research on the authors part there is this description of an American warships crew in battle "He grinned widely as the crew of the ship, leaning over the rails, cheered." I sure most readers can spot the mistake here as well...

If anyone wishes to read the rest, this book is available on Kindle, though how someone thought that was a good idea is beyond me. The attached cover image is artists David Scutt's attempt to depict the Stalin
 

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This is an update post. Thanks to some Op-shop discoveries, I've updated the entries for the novels 'Two Hours to Darkness' by Antony Trew and 'Medusa' by Hammond Innes. In the first case I managed to locate a copy of the novel that gave the exact year the story takes place. In the second case there is a now a better scan of the cover and the artist is now credited.

Looking at several novels at this moment. The next update will probably be some time next week.
 
There has been another minor update. The entry for 'The Tiger Cruise', now has additonal details for one of the submarines.
 
A continuation of the irregular series covering 'Non-state actors'.

Dale Brown, Hammerheads, 1990

United States

USCGC Resolute (WMEC-620)
Reliance Class Cutter
Real ship, details as built, save armament has been updated to 1 x 3 inch gun (Same type as used on Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigates?), 6 x .50 inch machine guns, grenade launchers.

Columbian Cartels

Numestra del Oro
Armed Freighter
Length: 180ft (24.4m)
Radar fitted has 10mi (16.1km) range.
Diesel engines, 15 knots
Armament: Hand-held Rocket-Propelled-Grenade type weapons (LAWS, Stinger AAW, 'bazooka') and 'heavy rifle' type weapons.

Notes: Described in the novel as a "...floating smugglers warehouse ..." the ship has extremely poor external appearance, being heavily coated in rust. Cargo consists of Cocaine ('hundreds of pounds'), Heroin ('hundreds of pounds'), Marijuana (At least 100 tons) plus "...tons..." of US currency in various denominations. Registered in Panama.

Plot summary: Increasingly agressive attempts to import drugs into the United States provokes the formation of a new agency with orders to take an agressive approach to dealing with the problem.

Note: This was only one of several novels and films that came out in the late 1980s/early 1990s suggesting that more ruthless tactics should be used against the drug cartels. The most well known of these was 'Clear and Present Danger' (1989) by Tom Clancy.
 
Another in the 'non-state actors' series.

Simon Higgins, Thunderfish, 1999

Beaumont Shipping

Thunderfish
Kilo Class Submarine (Modified)
Details as per hull/propulsion same as real ships.
Torpedo tubes are unchanged, but torpedoes fired use reduced charge warheads, though some full charge weapons are also carried aboard.

Note: Submarine has been highly automated and only needs a crew of ten.

'Pirates'

Unnamed
Komar Class Fast Attack Craft
Details as per the real ships.
Up-rated sonar

United States

USS Stealth Cat One
Low observability catamaran
60kts
Fitted with a "...'magnetic field generator'..." (Implied to be a derivative of the technology tested during the Philadelphia Experiment.) that renders her radar invisible. Ship is also described as being faceted like the F-117.
Also designed to have a low sonar signature.
Highly automated.
Has helipad.
Weapons fit is not well detailed, only specific reference is to "...hundreds of depth charges...", which seems rather old fashioned to me...

Note: Stated to be Australian designed but US built. Probably looks like a much larger version of USS Sea Shadow which made it's public debut in 1993.

Plot summary: It is the early 21stC and a 'poor little rich girl' has decided to get tough on the pirates who've started attacking refugee boats.

Note: This is a book aimed at 'tweenagers' and is fairly simplistic in tone. The story cannot take place any earlier than 2003 (But probably takes place within three to four years of 2002.) as one of the characters has this in their backstory "...distinguished service as a British Royal Marine Officer in Operation Desert Crusade, the first Gulf conflict in 2002...".
 
This is an updating post, the novel "The Iron Pirate' now has a scan of the original hardback/paperback cover by Brian Sweet added. The following is a list of all the novels to which a cover scan has been appended. Criteria for selection being that it was either a good 'action scene' or that the artist had made some effort to depict the ship(s) featured in the novel.

  • David Mace, DEMON-4, 1984

    Douglas Reeman, The Deep Silence, 1967

    Brian Callison, A Frenzy of Merchantmen, 1977

    Hammond Innes, Medusa, 1988

    Antony Trew, Two Hours to Darkness, 1963

    Douglas Reeman, The Greatest Enemy, 1970

    Christopher Nicole, The Ship With No Name, 1987

    Clive Cussler, Pacific Vortex, 1983

    Douglas Reeman, Dive in the Sun, 1961 & Surface with Daring, 1976

    Alistair MacLean, San Andreas, 1984

    Douglas Reeman, Rendezvous-South Atlantic, 1972

    John Winton, HMS Leviathan, 1967

    Douglas Reeman, Path Of The Storm, 1966

    Colin Forbes, Target 5, 1973

    Brian Callison, The Judas Ship, 1978

    Douglas Reeman, HMS Saracen, 1965

    Douglas Reeman, A Ship Must Die, 1979

    Douglas Reeman, The Iron Pirate, 1986

    Douglas Reeman, The Volunteers, 1985

    J. E. MacDonnell, The Coxswain, 1960

    J. E. MacDonnell, Not Under Command, 1963

    J. E. MacDonnell, Operational Immediate, 1975

    J. E. MacDonnell, Fire Storm, 1973

    Brian Callison, A Flock Of Ships, 1970

    William M. Hardy, Wolf-Pack, 1960

    J. E. MacDonnell, Repel Boarders, 1963

    Alexander Fullerton, The Gatecrashers, 1984

    J. E. MacDonnell, Subsmash, 1960

    Noel B. Gerson (Pen name: Samuel Edwards), Neptune, 1976

    J. E. MacDonnell, The Shadow, 1977

    J. Bradford Olesker, Siege of Superport, 1978

    Clive Cussler, Deep Six, 1984

    Nevil Shute, Landfall, 1940

    John Watson, The Iron Man, 1998
 
Jerrard Tickell, Appointment with Venus, 1951

Britain

Unnamed
Submarine, class not specified
No details provided

Unnamed
MTB
No details provided

Germany

Lübek
'Gunboat' (Prototype S-Boat)
Large enough to carry a company of soldiers in addition to the crew of nine, when used as a transport.
Described as "...the fastest gunboat in the German navy."
No other details provided.

Plot summary: It is 1940 and in the abandonment of the Channel Islands to the Germans, the British forgot one thing, a cow of unusually fine pedigree, now they need to get her back...
 
Another in the 'non-state actors' series. This time revisiting a book looked at earlier in this thread.

Geoffrey Jenkins, A Grue of Ice, 1962

Upton Mining

Aurora
Armed Whale Catcher
Details probably identical to the Whale Catcher Southern Actor (Wikipedia), however no specific details other than the draft being 15ft are provided in the novel.
Armament: 1 Twin MG mount (1 x Spandau MG08 (Water cooled) 1 x Hotchkiss MG (Model unspecified, Air cooled)) mounted aft of the bridge.

Description of the mount is as follows:

It was the most sinister piece of improvised ack ack armament I have ever seen. A heavy, slow-firing water-cooled Spandau was mounted side-by-side with an air cooled rapid-firing Hotchkiss. From the base plate to the height of a man's chest was a heavy swivel mounting: screwed into it on a hexagonal plate fore and aft were two Narwhal tusks, forming a bow of about three feet in height at head level. The two weapons swung on a cross-bar about an inch and a half thick. ... There was also a double harness like a car safety belt, for each gun. It was a killer weapon for use by two men.


Plot summary: An amateur ocean scientists attempt to prove the existence of a warm current in the South Atlantic becomes tangled in a madmans attempt to find a long lost island and the mineral wealth it contains.

The attached covers for the 1981 (Chris Foss) and 1990 (Uncredited) paperback releases both depict the shooting down of the Thorshammer's HE-114 seaplane by the Aurora. However the Foss cover more accurately depicts the location of the improvised anti-aircraft mounting on the Aurora, while the uncredited cover places it too far forward. I suspect though the 1990 cover is slightly more accurate as regards the appearance of the ship, even if it does omit the harpoon gun...

If anyone wants to try and do an illustration of the AA mount based on the description feel free.

Note: The entry for 'Two Hours to Darkness' has been updated to include the 1963 hardback cover.
 

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The aircraft on the covers looks more like a floatplane version of the Fairey Albacore. I don't think such a variant existed though.
 
GTX said:
The aircraft on the covers looks more like a floatplane version of the Fairey Albacore. I don't think such a variant existed though.

Accuracy on book covers tends to be a bit variable. Tony Roberts for example clearly read 'DEMON-4' before creating his cover as there is a strong resemblance between what he drew and the authors description of the ship, on the other hand, John Rose, who created the cover for the 1963 hardback edition of 'Two Hours to Darkness was obviously told to draw a nuclear submarine, but for some reason depicted the USS Nautilus on the cover, rather than a George Washington Class submarine, there is a similar mistake on the cover of 'Medusa' where a Type 21 frigate is depicted by artist Kevin Tweddell instead of a Type 12.

Similarly the Gino d'Achille cover for 'Subsmash' is a WWII action scene for a story that takes place about 14 or so years after the war ended.

I agree that the plane in both versions of the 'A Grue of Ice' cover looks a lot like a Fairy Albacore. No idea why that happened, but I would suspect that both artitsts were told to draw 'a seaplane being shot down by a whaling ship, with a dual mount' with the details being left to them. As to what that plane should have looked like, Wikipedia has a picture of an HE-114 (Wikipedia), which also surprisingly shows a slight resemblance to the plane on the cover.
 
Gerry Carroll, North S.A.R, 1991

United States

USS Concord (CVA-58)
Aircraft carrier, class not specified
Name clash with Mars Class Stores Ship, USNS Concord (T-AFS-5) in service Nov '68 to Aug '09.
Pennant number is the one intended for the cancelled USS United States (CV-58)
Flagship Task Force 77

USS Galveston (CLG-3)
Real ship, in service May '58 to May '70, scrapped May '75.

Plot summary: The novel is set between the 11th of July 1972 and the 11th of October 1972 and covers several pilots aboard the USS Concord, most noteably those flying the rescue helicopter missions as the Vietam War during part of the last full year the US were involved in the conflict.

Note: It is not made clear which class of carrier USS Concord is. It is simply stated that she is not a WWII carrier converted to have an angled deck, rather a later build, this means she either looks like the ill fated USS United States or she is a Forrestal Class Carrier.
 
Clive Cussler, Dragon, 1990

United States

USS Tucson (SSN-770)
Los Angeles Class Submarine
Real ship, launched Mar '94, in service Aug '95 to current date.

USS Ralph R. Bennett
Radar Surveillance Ship
"...box shaped phased-array antenna..." around six storeys high mounted aft of the supersctructure.
Helipad aft.
Armament: 30mm Sea Vulcan (Fictionalised naval version of the GAU-8/A) is the only system specifically mentioned.
No other details provided

Note: A turreted weapon called Sea Vulcan based on the 25mm GAU-12/U was tested in the 1980s but did not enter service. The ship itself probably looks a lot like the USNS Observation Island

Plot summary: The year is 1993 (The novel takes place between October & November 1993). A mysterious mid-ocean nuclear explosion leads to the discovery of a plot with horrific consequences should it be allowed to succeed.

Note: This is one of a number of 'Yellow Peril (Japan)' novels that appeared in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
 
Another in the 'non-state actors' series.

Clive Cusser, Mayday! (Also known as (The Mediterranean Caper)), 1973

Minerva Lines

Unnamed
I-400 Class Submarine
Details as per the real ships, not stated if all armament has been removed or not.
Stated to have been sunk off Iwo Jima in 1945 and then salvaged in 1951 and used for drug smuggling amongst other things...

Plot summary: Someone has just attacked a USAF Airbase, with a WWI fighter...

Notes: Providing a year when story is set is tricky. At the start of the novel a USAF Airbase is attacked, among the planes there are C-133 Cargomaster's which went out of service in 1971 implying the novel can take place no later than that year. However, dialog in the novel suggests that it is set 60 years after 1918 (e.g. 1978). Finally other dialog in the novel implies it takes place one year after the events of 'Pacific Vortex!', which if dialog in the novel 'Valhalla Rising' (2003) is taken into account, takes place in 1979 suggesting these events are taking place in 1980!
 
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Harry Homewood, Silent Sea, 1981

United States

USS Eelfish (SS-???)
Submarine, class not specified (Stated to the same class as USS Mako (SS-???) (See: 'Final Harbour'.)
Launched: "late 1942"
Length: 312ft
Beam: 16ft
2 x 5.25 inch deck guns (Fore and aft of the conning tower)
10 x 21 inch torpedo tubes (6 forward/4 aft)
1 Quad 40mm gun (rear of conning tower)
1 Twin 20mm gun (front of conning tower)
4 x 1600 horsepower diesels

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

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

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

USS Pelius (AS-??)
Griffin Class Submarine Tender
Details as per the real ships.
Note: There is a Griffin Class Submarine Tender named USS Pelias (AS-14), it is possible that the name given in the novel is a mispelling unique to my copy of the book.

Germany

U-135
Type VIIC U Boat
In real life sunk in near the West Indies. In novel sunk in the Java Sea by USS Eelfish.

Japan

Various Unnamed warships.

Plot summary: Covers the career of the crew of the submarine USS Eelfish (SS-???) during WWII.

Note: This is the second book in the trilogy Final Harbour/Silent Sea/Torpedo!
 
Jeff Edwards, Sea of Shadows (Originally: Torpedo!), 2004

United States

USS Towers (DDG-103)
Arleigh Burke Flight III Class (Fictional version)
Length: 529 ft (161.24m)
Beam: 66.5ft (20.3m)
Armament/Propulsion details as per the ships of the class being built in 2004?
Stealth design.
Stated to be the "...fourth (and last) ship..." in Flight III.
Pennant number is that of USS Truxtun (DDG-103).

USS Bollinger (DDG-???)
Destroyer, class not specified

USS Fort Pulaski (DDG-???)
Destroyer, class not specified

USS Trippler (FFG-???)
Frigate, class not specified

USS Wallingford (FFG-???)
Frigate, class not specified

Germany

U-304
Type 212b Class Submarine
Fictional version of the Type 212a Class
Details regarding size/propulsion as per the real class
Armament adds 'Dolch' submarine launched Surface-to-Air missiles to existing weapons.

U-305
Type 212b Class Submarine
Fictional version of the Type 212a Class
Details regarding size/propulsion as per the real class
Armament adds 'Dolch' submarine launched Surface-to-Air missiles to existing weapons.

U-306
Type 212b Class Submarine
Fictional version of the Type 212a Class
Details regarding size/propulsion as per the real class
Armament adds 'Dolch' submarine launched Surface-to-Air missiles to existing weapons.

U-307
Type 212b Class Submarine
Fictional version of the Type 212a Class
Details regarding size/propulsion as per the real class
Armament adds 'Dolch' submarine launched Surface-to-Air missiles to existing weapons.

Plot summary: Following a minor nuclear accident in Germany the Green Party comes into power via a brilliant propaganda campaign. They have two main policy objectives one overt, the other covert. They are: (1.) End the use of Nuclear Power in Germany. (2.) End the 'illegitimate' blockade of Siraj (Iraq?) by selling them the latest in weapons... Of course delivering the weapons is the problem.

Note: Year is unspecified, action takes place between May 5 (Saturday) and 22 June (Friday). Years in which this happens (After 2004 when the novel was published.) are 2007, 2012 & 2018.
 
Sea Plunder, H. De Vere Stacpoole, 1916

Germany
Penguin: German cable ship, 10kts, single funnel
Spreewind: German schooner
SMS Blitz: gunboat; possibly the real Blitz Class aviso, but the latter was a tender by 1903 and never served overseas
SMS Homburg: cruiser, four funnels

Great Britain
HMS Minerva: second class cruiser, ?x 6in guns, 25kts; name of real Eclipse Class cruiser of same vintage but that class was only capable of 18.5kts

Plot: Set at the time of the Agadir Crisis in 1911, the Irish Captain of a German registered cable ship based in San Francisco mistakenly believes rumours that war has broken out between Britain and Germany. He takes control of the ship as a British privateer and begins plundering German ships and trading posts, only to learn that there is no war and his crew must escape the South Pacific via the Straits of Magellan to safety, avoiding the Royal Navy and German ships hunting them.
 

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