Fictional Warships - Novels

[F.L.]

Henri Vernes & Wiliam Vance, Bob Morane : L'archipel de la terreur - The Archipelago of Terror / 1969

France

Fulgur
"Escorteur d'escadre"

 

[F.L.]

Hergé, Le Manitoba ne répond plus - "Manitoba is not responding" / 1936
Plot : An ocean liner named "Manitoba" was sailing from New York to Liverpool, when it suddenly experienced engine failure in the middle of the ocean and for some time all passengers and crew members were unconscious. When they woke up, they found that many jewellery and valuables had disappeared without a trace. Jo, Zette and Joko got involved in this adventure by accident when they were boating on the beach and they discovered that there was a hidden underwater station led by a genius professor who created many strange things.

USA

USS Eagle
New York-class battleship, used for escorting the "Washington", a civil ship.

 

[F.L.]

Felicísimo Coria & Henri Vernes, Les Dents du Tigre - "Tiger's teeth" / 2010
Plot : Bob Morane, Bill Ballatine and Frank Reeves set off on an archaeological expedition to the Himalayas in search of the mythical city of the Lungs. There they discover that the Lungs do exist and that they are preparing to conquer Asia.

USA

USS Omaha (CVN-??)
Nimitz-class (?) aircraft carrier, with F/A-18 air group.

 

[Graham1973]

A small update, and an interesting one. In 2022 Piccadilly Publishing, an ebook publisher specializing in action/adventure novels got the rights to re-issue J. E. MacDonnell's naval fiction.

As of January 2024, 18 of the authors novels have been re-issued. I've updated two entries for J. E. MacDonnell novels ('The Surgeon' (1959) & 'Command' (1958)) to show the covers that have been created for these reprints.

 

[Graham1973]

The true class identity of another J. E. MacDonnell warship has been located and can be found in the updated entries for 'The Gunner' (1959) & 'Close and Investigate' (1965)

 

[Graham1973]

Dominic Teague, Dawn of the Gorgons, published as Commando Comics Nº. 5689 (2023)

United Kingdom

HMS Wyndham
Centaur Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Ship is explicitly identified as being of this class when it is introduced. It's serving as a 'Commando Carrier' for Operation Musketeer, the abortive Anglo-French invasion of Egypt in 1956. Name does not fit the class.

Plot Summary: As the RN concentrates prior to the first landings in Egypt one ship stumbles across a freighter acting oddly. The boarding party finds the cargo to be highly detailed statues some bearing expressions of shock and terror, but who, or what created them...

Note: This the sequel to October 2022's 'Night of the Gorgons' published as Commando Comics Nº. 5589 by the same author, a WWII set story that has no naval content. Certain events in this story suggest that a sequel is in the works for October 2024.

 

[F.L.]

Alber Weinberg, F-111 en péril - "F-111 in peril" / 1981
Plot : An F-111 mysteriously disappears.

URSS

Admiral Akirov (271)
Kara-class cruiser.

 

[Dilandu]

Akirov (271)
Kirov-class (?) cruiser.

Erm? It's quite well-drawn Project 1134-A "Berkut-A" class large anti-submarine ship (NATO "Kara"-class)



Since the 1134-A series ships were named after famous admirals, I assume it is supposed to be "Admiral Akirov" (not the most common, but perfectly possible Tatar surname)

 

[F.L.]

Thanks, @Dilandu !!!
Corrected.

 

[Dilandu]

Thanks, @Dilandu !!!

You are welcome)

 

[PMN1]

Dominic Teague, Dawn of the Gorgons, published as Commando Comics Nº. 5689 (2023)

United Kingdom

HMS Wyndham
Centaur Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Ship is explicitly identified as being of this class when it is introduced. It's serving as a 'Commando Carrier' for Operation Musketeer, the abortive Anglo-French invasion of Egypt in 1956. Name does not fit the class.

Plot Summary: As the RN concentrates prior to the first landings in Egypt one ship stumbles across a freighter acting oddly. The boarding party finds the cargo to be highly detailed statues some bearing expressions of shock and terror, but who, or what created them...

Note: This the sequel to October 2022's 'Night of the Gorgons' published as Commando Comics Nº. 5589 by the same author, a WWII set story that has no naval content. Certain events in this story suggest that a sequel is in the works for October 2024.

Don't blink..........

 

[Graham1973]

Don't blink..........

Don't look, full stop...

 

[Graham1973]

Nicolas Harvey, Twelve Mile Bank (AJ Bailey: 1), 2017

Germany (WWII)

U-1026
Type VIIC/41 U-Boat
Commissioned: May 1944
Sunk: May 1945
Details as per the real ships.
Note: The pennant number is that of a Type VII/C U-Boat that was launched in May 1944, but never comissioned and scuttled in an incomplete state in May 1945. In the novel the submarine is scuttled off the Cayman Islands by the crew during their third war patrol.

The author specifically states in their after story notes that they were aware of the real life submarine, probably through the website uboat.net, which I use as a source to vet U-Boat pennant numbers when I come across them in fiction.

Plot summary: A chance find while clearing out a fishing boat prior to it being offered for sale, leads a diveboat operator and her friends into a race to find a treasure lost in the dying days of the Second World War.

Note: This is the first in a series of action/adventure novels based around a diveboat operator and her friends. The backstory to the treasure is same idea used by author Patrick O'Hara as the basis of 1978 novel 'The Wohldorf Shipment' which has been covered earlier in the thread, namely that the submarine was being used to ship valuables stolen by the Nazi's to South America.