Military Sea Fiction

A Navy captain near the end of a decorated career, Stephen Rensselaer is disciplined, intelligent, and determined always to do what’s right. In defending the development of a new variant of warship, he makes an enemy of the president of the United States, who assigns him to command the doomed line’s only prototype­—Athena, Patrol Coastal 15­­—with the intent to humiliate a man who should have been an admiral. Rather than resign, Rensselaer takes the new assignment in stride.

With his first historical high-seas adventure chronicling the exploits of Naval Commander Charles Edgemont, Jay Worrall sets sail in the rousing tradition of C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian.

London: 1793. Young firebrand John Pearce, on the run from the authorities, is illegally press-ganged from the Pelican tavern into brutal life aboard HMS Brilliant, a frigate on her way to war. In the first few days, Pearce discovers the Navy is a world in which he can prosper. And he is not alone; he is drawn to a group of men who eventually form an exclusive gun crew, the Pelicans, with Pearce their elected leader.

The oily and brackish waters of the Russian Northern Fleet submarine base part for the passage of the colossal special purpose Omega II-class submarine Belgorod, on a mission to hold the United States hostage. This gigantic submarine is armed with three Poseidon unmanned submersibles, each with a 10-megaton warhead. Her goal: placing them offshore in US ports in a nuclear-blackmail chess move.

In the 21st century, the United States has all but used up its oil supply. A new source must be found. Our atomic subtugs begin stealing oil from underwater deposits in enemy territory. But none of the last 20 tugs sent to bring back the desperately needed mineral have returned. Ensign John Ramsey of the Bureau of Psychology is planted aboard the Fenian Ram S1881 as an electronics officer. His assignment: find the saboteur in the four-man crew and bring back the oil.

It’s 2037, and Alex is one more disobeyed order away from kissing his naval career goodbye. He used to be high speed, the kind of officer on the fast track to submarine command. Then he threw it all away trying to save a few civilian lives from his glory hungry commanding officer.

Three mismatched troop transports, lots of 29-foot barges, and an under-strength regiment of foot - a waste of Royal Navy money, a doomed experiment, or a new way to bedevil Napoleon's army in Italy? Either way, it's Capt. Sir Alan Lewrie's idea, and it seems to be working, with successful raids all along the coast of Calabria. But it depends on timely information, and Lewrie must trust Don Julio Caesare, a lord of a Sicilian criminal underworld, and his minions, or the amateur efforts of a disorganized network of Calabrian partisans.

Sometimes a girl is touched by mother war. Thorn is such a girl. Desperate to avenge her dead father, she lives to fight. But she has been named murderer by the very man who trained her to kill. Sometimes a woman becomes a warrior Fate traps her in the schemes - and on the ship - of the deep-cunning minister Father Yarvi. Crossing half the world to find allies against the ruthless High King, she learns harsh lessons of blood and deceit.

With his cold, steely-eyed focus on killing Japanese ships, Malachi Stormes is an enigma to his officers and crew - especially when it becomes clear he is willing to take huge chances to achieve results. Firefish sinks more ships than any Perth boat on her first war patrol, but Stormes’ unconventional tactics literally frighten his crew. His crew members are proud of their boat’s accomplishments but wonder if their iron-willed skipper will bring them home alive.

Ordered to relieve an alcoholic skipper, Dan finds he has inherited a damaged ship, an untrustworthy crew, and an ambiguous mission. He is to take the USS Oliver C. Gaddis, soon to become the PNS Tughril, on her final voyage to be donated to Pakistan. But in Kirachi, Dan gets new orders: take Gaddis still further east, and operate against modern pirates preying on commercial shipping in the remote, dangerous South China Sea.

After gaining valuable experience as an aide to Governor Lord Horatio Hornblower, William Brewer is rewarded with a posting as first lieutenant on the frigate HMS Defiant, bound for American waters. Early in their travels, it seems as though Brewer’s greatest challenge will be evading the wrath of a tyrannical captain who has taken an active dislike to him. But when a hurricane sweeps away the captain, the young lieutenant is forced to assume command of the damaged ship, and a crew suffering from low morale.

Winter, 1793—the Reign of Terror rips through revolutionary France. In Plymouth, England, Master and Commander Charles Hayden is given orders to return to the ill-fated HMS Themis as the British fight the French for control of thestrategically located island of Corsica. But within hours out of port, Hayden’s uncanny knack for attracting the attention of the French navy sees the Themis thrown back into action. When she lands in Corsica, and her men join forces with native insurgents, Hayden finds himself at the vanguard of a brutal clash of empires.

Former Navy SEAL Logan Dodge travels across the Caribbean and learns the painful truth behind his father’s death. Instead of dying of natural causes like he was told, his father was murdered, and the thugs behind it are still at large. Vowing revenge, Logan races to take down the drug smugglers responsible but soon discovers a secret that his father died to protect. A secret that threatens countless innocent lives.

America's most proficient covert operations team, hand-picked for its intelligence, analysis, and crisis-management skills, has had many a tough situation thrown at it. Years ago, before North Korea made its belligerent intentions known to the world, Op-Center's first mission was to thwart a crisis on the Korean peninsula. Since then, it has dealt with the machinations of Russian hard-liners, prevented the resurgence of age-old hatred in Germany, gone underground to prevent Kurdish terrorists from destabilizing the Middle East, subjugated the tensions of rebellious Basques....

By the spring of 1945, the once mighty Japanese fleet has been virtually destroyed, leaving Japan open to invasion. The Japanese react by dispatching hundreds of suicide bombers against the Allied fleet surrounding Okinawa. By mid-May, the Allied fleet is losing a major ship a day to murderous swarms of kamikazes streaming out of Formosa and southern Japan.

After a century of war, revolutions, and imperial conquests, 1790s Europe is still embroiled in a battle for control of the sea and colonies. Tall ships navigate familiar and foreign waters, and ambitious young men without rank or status seek their futures in naval commands. First Lieutenant Alexander Clay of the frigate Agrius is self-made, clever, and ready for the new age. But the old world, dominated by patronage, retains a tight hold on advancement.

Hero of Jutland in World War I, Kelly Maguire progresses rapidly through navy ranks during the dangerous post-war years. Amid the Russian Civil War, British forces must rescue thousands of terrified White army men from rampaging Communist militias. Maguire gets stuck in, risking everything. From Russia, he moves on to China and a gunboat incident on the Yangtze. His resolve is tested when he must choose between his childhood sweetheart to a wealthy aristocrat.

A military revolt in southeastern Russia puts a former hard-line Soviet leader in command of a ballistic missile submarine and its arsenal of nuclear weapons. His goal: re-ignite the communist revolution, and recapture the might and glory of the fallen Soviet Union. Without warning, Russia, Japan, and the United States become hostages in a scheme of international nuclear blackmail. When the warheads start falling and people begin dying, no one can pretend that it's a bluff.

Thorgrim Night Wolf, now somewhere on the south coast of Engla-land, may be closer to his goal of returning home than he has been since reaching Ireland years before, but he is still very, very far away. His son Harald, however, has ambitions beyond just getting home. Given command of one of the ships in the fleet, Harald sees a chance to put his courage on display, unleashing consequences that will lead Thorgrim into a fight against the powerful armies of Wessex, a fight he does not want.

Newly promoted to captain, William Brewer is tasked to serve and defend British interests in the waters off Brazil. But who defines what constitutes Britain’s Interests? Portugal’s former colony is declaring independence, and an independent Brazil might better serve Britain’s economic development. King George, however, chooses to support Portugal’s monarch and his efforts to retain the colony. At the very least, Portugal’s king wants to retrieve the royal treasury that was sent to Brazil for safekeeping during the Napoleonic wars.