Form Line of Battle! is the tenth volume in the Richard Bolitho saga. Alexander Kent now places Bolitho back into the thick of sea warfare, right where we want him. The year is 1793 and the revolutionary fervor sweeping France threatens to infect all of Europe. To protect her own interests, the British crown has embarked upon a tactic of containment that they hope will keep the radical anti-monarchist sentiments from contaminating the minds of the English. This is a tactic not favored by the new French Republic, and war is declared.

In June Captain Richard Bolitho takes command of the Hyperion, a seventy-four-gun ship of the line in Gibraltar. With him is his friend and coxswain, John Allday. Bolitho is eager to get back to duty against Revolutionary France. He sails to join Lord Hood in the occupation of Toulon. Beneath the Mediterranean sun, and often in sight of the enemy coast, Bolitho and his tired old ship face one conflict after another. When at last the ill-fated campaign in Toulon collapses, the Hyperion, outgunned and outnumbered, takes her rightful place in the line of battle.

It’s all here; cutting out actions, land assaults, night actions, fire ships, nasty sword play and ships of the line delivering thundering broadsides. Form Line of Battle is a classic action romance. The battle scenes are very exciting but also violent and realistic. Men die horribly or are mutilated painfully and Kent doesn’t hide it. He does not glorify the war or its deeds.

Form Line of Battle is one of the best of the books in the Richard Bolitho series. It full of fast paced action, and very interesting to read. The fleet action is splendidly described. An excellent nautical fiction novel!

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The ninth novel in Patrick O’Brian’s Maturin/Aubrey saga is set in Malta following the events in The Ionian Mission. Captain Aubrey’s favorite ship, HMS Surprise, is undergoing repairs. However, Malta is swarming with Napoleonic agents, so that Stephen Maturin is kept very busy. And to a large extent Treason’s Harbour is a spy novel, even though there is lots of other action as well.

French agents have identified Stephen Maturin as a British intelligence agent, and try to use the wife of a captured officer in the Royal Navy, Laura Fielding, to set a trap for Maturin. Laura Fielding is an Italian beauty, and Stephen Maturin is very attracted to her, but he senses that something is not right and is able to befriend her. From this position he is able to play the French agents instead of being subjected to their game. Now he is the one setting the traps!

However, there is more to the novel then the intricate maneuverings of spies. In the midst of it all, Jack Aubrey, assisted by Stephen, carries out missions in Egypt and Algeria. The mission in Egypt involves a hunt for a French ship laden with silver. As well, in their usual fashion Jack Aubrey and his crew capture several French prizes.

Treason’s Harbour, in my opinion, is not among the very best books in the series, but even so it plays an important role in it. There is somewhat less classic naval action in the book than is normal, and even though there is some adventuring, less of that too. However, as the other books in the series, Treason’s Harbour is very enjoyable, well written, and full of irony and humor. Great nautical fiction!

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Perhaps The Boat is the best historical fiction novel about submarines ever written. It is hard to say – there are several that are excellent. Run Silent, Run Deep is excellent, and so is The Hunt for Red October. Personally, I also like Bacalao by J. T. McDaniel and Kilo Class by Patrick Robinson a lot. And U-859 by Arthur Baudzus, Crimson Tide by Richard P. Henrick, and Attack of the Seawolf by Michael DiMercurio are very good too. And I am sure there are many more that I don’t know about. Even so, it is probably fair to say that Das Boot, which is the name this novel and the movie is mostly known under, a k a The Boat (in English), is a at least one of the very best in this genre.

Das Boot was written by an actual survivor of Germany’s U-boat fleet. Lothar-Gunther Buchheim was born in 1918 and grew up in Saxony. When the war broke out he joined the navy and served on mine-sweepers, destroyers and submarines, and on the last as an official navy correspondent. Das Boot is a fictionalized autobiographical account, narrated by a “Leutnant Werner”. It is the best-selling German account of the Second World War, and was quickly translated into English.

The tale in Das Boot is amazing. It is the story of a patrol mission by a German submarine, U-96, into the Atlantic Ocean to attack Allied convoys.

Lother-Günter Buchheim

It is a tale full of nerve-wracking tension and suspense, where the difficult conditions and pressures of life in a submarine are described is great detail. During the missions the boat patrolled without finding anything for a long time. When they finally did, it was a well-protected convoy. Very soon the hunter – the submarine – became the target, and a long lasting, complicated game of cat and mouse began. Time over and time again the submarine was nearly wrecked by depth charges. The submarine tries everything – runs, hides at depths far beyond what it is constructed for, twists and turns. But always the destroyers – using ASDIC -finds them, and more charges follow.

The German submarine manages to get away. They even manage to find another convoy and sink a few ships, but again have to pay by suffering though hours of nightmarish depth charges down in the deep, dark ocean. The authors describes the fears of the crew, the effects of the depth charges, their hopes when they think the bombardment is over, and their disappointment when the ASDIC pings again and a new attack starts on the surface.

However, instead of returning to France after a very tough patrol, the U-96 received new orders to go through Gibraltar to the new submarine base at La Spezia in Italy. Thus starts an even more nerve-wrecking journey for an already battered ship and crew. In the straight the ship is damaged and they start to sink. As the depth indicator shows them descending far deeper than they have ever been, the Captain miraculously manages to set the ship down on the sand bottom deep down. But the submarine is severely damaged; it is leaking, most of the vital systems are damaged, the batteries are leaking fluid, and their oxygen is running low. Can they somehow bring the battered hull up to the surface? And if they can – what will meet them there?

The story in Das Boot, about U-96 is supremely gripping – it is a mercilessly intense story, written in a way that makes you feel and almost sense the claustrophobic and scary conditions inside the boat. The depiction of what it’s like to be locked away in the stinky metal tube they live in for weeks on end is extremely vivid and realistic. So too are the author’s descriptions of the boredom during the long intervals when nothing happens during the patrol – when the crew talk about sex, their tempers flare and morale starts to slump.

Das Boot (The Boat) is a rough and grueling read, but also very fascinating. It is excellently written, at times very suspenseful, and is without doubt one of the very finest submarine novels ever written. It is a classic of nautical fiction. (See also review of the Oscar winning movie based on this novel – Das Boot (DVD).)

Links to Das Boot (a k a The Boat) and Lothar-Günther Buchheim at Amazon US and Amazon UK.

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After a spell on dry land, Lord Ramage and HMS Calypso are ordered by Admiral Lord Nelson to join his fleet at Cadiz in Spain. Ramage joins the fleet after a speedy journey from England (however, Nelson’s journey was even faster). His first mission there is to communicate with a spy on shore. He carries out his mission, and reports his findings.

Dudley Pope

Then it is back to fleet duty – watching the Franco-Spanish fleet and relaying signals to Nelson’s fleet. That is the role of frigates in major ship of the line action. But the routine is suddenly broken when a large Spanish 74 gun ship of the line comes steaming after the Calypso in hot pursuit. The Calypso cannot out sail the Spaniard, and things look very bad. But, as usual, Captain Ramage has a card up in his sleeve. Just a small one, but even so one that gives Calypso a chance.

Finally the whole Franco-Spanish combined fleet breaks out of harbor with the English fleet following them and watch their every move. Admiral Nelson is severely outnumbered, but thinks he has a good chance to beat them even so. He has devised a new naval tactic for the occasion that he has strong faith in. Overall, the reasons why Nelson is Britain’s greatest hero are made very clear in this book.

From the point where the action starts, this book is a nautical thriller. The battle is very tough, as we know from history, and it is excellently describes by Dudley Pope. And even though Ramage’s role – with a frigate in a major naval battle – is minor, he still manages to distinguish himself. This book, especially the last half of it, is a treat. The climax is grand, and – as well – Ramage at Trafalgar has a wonderfully sad ending as Ramage appears headed for another court-martial due to yet another of his valiant actions in breach of his orders. An excellent nautical fiction book in an interesting and entertaining series!

Takes over the helm from Hornblower. — Daily Mirror

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There are many historical novels about submarines during World War II, and several which are excellent. Run Silent, Run Deep, written by Edward Latimer Beach, Jr., who was a highly-decorated United States Navy submarine officer, is one of the best ever written. This book, which was also filmed, has been referred to by some as “the Holy Grail of submarine novels”, “an American equivalent of Das Boot” and “a landmark novel”.

The book was written by Beach while he served as Naval Aide to President Eisenhower, and first published in 1955. It quickly became a bestseller. The current edition of this book, which includes an interesting introduction by Edward P. Stafford, is published by the Naval Institute Press as part of the Classics of Naval Literature series.

The story begins shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. An American submarine captain, Edward “Rich” Richardson is given a new boat – Walrus – with orders to destroy Japanese shipping in the Pacific. His executive officer and his former best friend, Jim Bledsoe, is resentful because Richardson had felt it necessary to fail him after Bledsoe acted in a reckless manner during his test for qualification for command, after he had made several mistakes and nearly sunk their boat.

Walrus’s first patrol is tough. Just outside of “Area Seven” (the Bungo Suido), Walrus has its first encounter with “Bungo Pete,” an elusive Japanese destroyer commander, Captain Tateo Nakame, who is responsible for a series of sinkings of American submarines and who seems to know the names of his victims. After a severe depth charge attack, Richardson is forced to abort to Midway.

After a patrol near the Aleutian Islands, Richardson learns that “Bungo Pete” has claimed three more American submarines. Walrus returns to the Bungo Suido, and conducts an amazing surface attack on a Japanese convoy during nighttime. As before, Bungo Pete arrives on the scene with his guns blazing, and Richardson is wounded and nearly killed by Japanese shellfire.

Richardson is forced to stay ashore to rehabilitate, and convinces his superiors that Jim Bledsoe now is ready for command. Accordingly, Jim is promoted to Captain of the Walrus, and goes on to become one of the most successful captains of the war.

Edward L. Beach Jr.

While rehabilitating for several months in Pearl Harbor, Richardson played a major part in an effort to correct severe reliability problems in the Mk 14 torpedo’s exploder.

In the meantime, Bungo Pete is still on the loose, and has sunk more submarines, including Jim Bledsoe’s and Richardson’s Walrus. Richardson begs to be given command and sent to Area Seven to take care of Bungo Pete. He wants revenge, and he feels that he knows Bungo Pete well enough to be able to deal with him. He is given command of the Eel, one of the most modern submarines in the US Navy, and returns to Area Seven. The battle that ensues between the Eel and Bungo Pete’s special anti-submarine warfare group is epic.

Naval fiction about submarines can hardly get better than this. It has excellent descriptions of equipment, life onboard, tactics and so forth. The characters are interesting too, and the writing is to the point and good. Run Silent, Run Deep is a very compelling and believable book, and the writing takes the reader into the minds, souls, and terror of the crew of a submarine at war. Run Silent, Run Deep really is a landmark novel, and also very entertaining and suspenseful. I loved it!

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©2010 Navy Fiction. All Rights Reserved.

It’s now 1803 and Thomas Kydd, who started his career as a pressed man, now commands a brig-sloop, HMS Teazer. This is an unrated vessel too small to have a place in the line of battle. For Kydd it even so represents a giant step forward.
His duty in this book is to patrol the southern coast of England and watch for incursions by French ships and privateers.

He is also tasked with assisting in the government’s never-ending campaign to suppress smuggling. Kydd is about to discover that the most dangerous waters can be closest to home. Privateers, smugglers, perilous storms and a treacherous coastline all threaten to overcome HMS Teazer. We follow his pursuit of and repeated encounters with a privateer and its extremely skilled captain and his initially fumbling attempts to catch the Cornish smugglers in the act. Smugglers, perilous storms and a treacherous coastline all threaten to overcome HMS Teazer as her men fight to gain control of the seas around Cornwall and Devon.

However, The Admiral’s Daughter is not only a book about Thomas Kydd’s sea adventures – it is even more a book about Kydd’s first steps into “higher society”. As a commander, he starts to get invitations to social events – parties, balls – and now he must learn the social graces required of a man of his new standing. Having been promoted from the ranks for his abilities and bravery, Thomas Kydd is not, as many of his fellow officers in the Royal Navy, a noble or a man of higher learning.

Also, Kydd falls in love in this book, not once but twice, with two different women. And, as he will find out, at the wrong time and in the wrong order. High society can be just as treacherous as the high seas, it seems to Kydd.

The Admiral’s Daughter is a little too much concerned with matters ashore and has too little naval action for my taste. It is, of course, well written and nicely plotted, but it is not among the best books in the Thomas Kydd series. I recommend it primarily to followers of the series.

Links to Julian Stockwin’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

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This is the sixth novel of C. Northcote Parkinson’s renowned nautical fiction series about Richard Delancey, but actually the first in terms of the chronology of the series. The Guernseyman introduces the main character and tells the strange tale of his rise from volunteer to lieutenant.

Here, Richard Delancey, the future naval hero, leaves his home in the Channel Islands. He sets out for Liverpool, where he has relatives that can give him a position in their business. The action in this book takes place in the years 1775-1777.

However, things turn out differently for young Delancey. He inadvertently becomes embroiled in labor riots in Liverpool and avoids punishment by “volunteering” for the Royal Navy. Due to his manners and education, he is promoted to clerk, and eventually he becomes a midshipman. His ship sails for New York. There he meets his American family and gets entangled in a love affair with his attractive cousin Charlotte. But this is not to be, and he is sent him back across the sea.

Back home, Delancey is instrumental in defending the Isle of Jersey against a foolish French attempt to seize the island. Then he reenters a ship, and soon finds himself in Gibraltar, where once again he takes part in defensive action, this time against a combined French/Spanish attack. We follow Delancey’s intriguing boat attack against the monstrous floating batteries that the Spanish built, as well as some other action. He displays considerable wits and courage, and is well liked. And in the end, he does achieve the King’s commission that he had been hoping for.

Even though this surely is a naval fiction book, and even a good one, most of the action takes place on land, and the focus is more military than naval. The story is very good, and certainly held my interest. It is an interesting book, a well written. And even though it is not among the best in the series, it gives background about the hero which is good to know, and is quite entertaining.

Links to C. Northcote Parkinson’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

©2010 Navy Fiction. All Rights Reserved.

Flying Colours is another wonderful tale of nautical fiction in the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester. In the sequence, it comes after Ship of the Line.

Flying Colours tells the tale of Horatio Hornblower’s imprisonment in France, and his adventurous escape. It is one of the most endearing and interesting novels in the Hornblower saga. The book follows the action in Ship of the Line, where Hornblower in the end was forced to surrender following the death of three-quarters of his crew after a heroic battle. This is the seventh book in the Hornblower series.

Hornblower is now a prisoner of the French and is soon to face trial in Paris, where he will be tried on false charges of violating the laws of war, and is likely to be executed as part of Napoleon’s attempt to rally the empire behind him. As he, his coxswain Brown, and his trusted first mate lieutenant Bush are transported through France, they manage to escape. And the escape is a true adventure. The three escape into a stolen river boat. The water is cold, and several times the boat capsizes from rapids. But when the boat goes over a small waterfall, the boat is lost and the three men almost perish in the freezing water.

Hornblower and his friends manage to recapture an English vessel, Witch of Endor, and fight their way over to the English fleet. However, Hornblower is worried, as he knows that another court-martial awaits him in England, this time for his surrender of a British ship. And while he usually is full of self-doubt, that is perhaps more the case in this book than in others. But it turns out his worries were unnecessary: Hornblower, who was supposed to be dead, is well received, and when he returns to Spithead, he is received as a hero. And his court martial turns out to be a formality. Instead of being condemned, he is presented to the King and Knighted Sir Horatio Hornblower.

In Flying Colors, Hornblower finally manages to capitalize on his achievements and success. Flying Colours has all the qualities that make this series so popular – lots of attention to the background, well drawn characters, exciting and clever action, and the likeable and fragile personality of Hornblower. It is a very good read, even though most of the book takes place on land. It is a well-written and very satisfying tale.

Links to C. S. Forester’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, amazon CAN, and at Bokkilden and Haugenbok.

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In this salty nautical fiction novel from the romantic Age of Sail, Margaret Muir introduces Captain Oliver Quintrell, a man with an intruiging background, extensive nautical skills and a very good head on his shoulders. As we meet him, he is ashore, having been wounded and recently released from Greenwich Hosital and then stranded ashore due to the unexpected outbreak of the Peace of Amiens in 1802. He is a salty dog who has lost most of his fingers on one hand, an injury related to “direct contact with a four pound cannon ball.” Along with scores of other post-captains he finds life ashore somewhat difficult – his marriage is not nearly what it once was – and eagerly awaits a new command and new orders.

Floating Gold is a nautical thriller that involves a well-plotted treasure hunt. Other nautical heroes too have been chasing treasures on the high seas and in excotic locations, most often Spanish galleons loaded with gold, but none of them – to my knowledge – have ever been chasing a treasure like the one that is featured in this book. It is an innovative and entertaining tale, rich on detail about England and life at sea, and a tale that is very well told.

Captain Oliver Quintrell had expected to be commissioned to a Royal Navy sixty-four gun ship-of-the-line or perhaps even a larger ship, but is instead given command of HMS Elusive, a frigate on a secret mission with sealed orders. As there is peace and ships are being decommissioned every day, he accepts the commissions even though he is disappointed.

The mission turns out to be very difficult. The Elusive encounters storms, treason, murder, and sabotage until they finally arrive at their ultimate goal – a treacherous island close to the Antarctic. And hidden on this desolate, dangerous island is a vast, very mysterious treasure of unknown origins that Captain Quintrell, his officers and crew must find and carry back to England. Can Captain Quintrell retrieve the cargo he has been sent to find and return with it safely to England?

The story is entertaining and excellently told. The book felt very authentic – Margaret Muir knows life at sea and has visited the mysterious and dangerous island in the story. Her background and travels show in her writing and gives a sense of reality to the fantastic scenes she describes. However, I felt it took a little too long before the action started, but when it did I liked the book a lot. There was also too little naval action in the book, I felt – but I tend to be a tad “bloodthirsty” when I read nautical novels. I also liked the hero – Captain Oliver Quintrell – and found him intriguing, but while I am quite convinced he has an excellent head on his shoulders, I am not as yet equally convinced that he has the balls to become a beloved nautical hero.

Floating Gold is an excellent nautical fiction debut by Margaret Muir. I hope she continues to write about Quintrell –a character that I feel has a lot of potential.

If you like historical fiction, salty sea tales or clever adventures, Floating Gold is a book you should get hold of – it is very entertaining, well written and intelligently plotted!

Praise:

“Extremely satisfying” — The Historical Novels Review

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Richard Woodman’s series of books featuring Nathaniel Drinkwater is among the very best nautical fiction series ever written. This adventure of Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater confronts him with some of the toughest challenges so far. It is now 1807, and while Napoleon is mobilizing in Europe, the British have also noticed that the Russians are seeking to expand their interests on the Pacific coast of Northern America. Drinkwater is sent out with his ship, H.M.S. Patrician, to sail around the Horn to protect British interests and put a stop to Russian expansion.

However, the mission does not get off to a good start. Drinkwater’s first task, before they leave England, is to hang a deserter. Next, Patrician has a very rough time getting through the Straits of Magellan. Bad sentiments are brewing among the crew, and they are on the brink of mutiny. Then, having cleared the Cape and at last northbound, the Patrician succeeds in sinking a Spanish frigate. They rescue and capture most of its crew.

The crew and its Captain are later released on parole in San Francisco. But the Spanish captain is not a man of honor, by means of treachery he obtains vital information about Patrician, and engages in a cutting out operation, and captures Patrician. Drinkwater is imprisoned and Patrician handed over to the Russians.

Once more, however, the bold Captain has fortune on his side. He experiences one of the most extraordinary twists of fortune in his life. I can not reveal more; only add that this really is a book full of very exciting nautical action, treachery, desertion, challenges and changes of fortune. In Distant Waters tells great tale, and it is very well told by Richard Woodman, so this is absolutely a book I strongly recommend.

Links to Richard Woodman’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

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