Naval Adventures

It is 1796 and a diminutive, Corsican-born French general has inherited a ragtag army and turned it into an unstoppable fighting force. Within months, Napoleon's storm rolls across Italy and strikes a lethal blow against the Austrian empire. But while the soil of Piedmont and Tuscany runs with blood, another battle takes shape on the mysterious Adriatic Sea. Alan Lewrie and his 18-gun sloop, HMS Jester, part of a squadron of four British warships, sail into the thick of it.

The French called it La Forteresse Maudite, the Cursed Fortress. Louisbourg stood at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, massive and impregnable, a permanent provocation to the British colonies. It was Canada’s first line of defence, guarding the approaches to Quebec, from where all New France lay open to invasion.

In late 1756, as the British government collapses in the aftermath of the loss of Minorca, and the country and navy are thrown into political chaos, a small force of ships is sent to the West Indies to reinforce the Leeward Islands Squadron. Captain Edward Carlisle and his first lieutenant George Holbrooke are fresh from the Mediterranean and their capture of a powerful French man-of-war. Their new frigate Medina has orders to join a squadron commanded by a terminally ill commodore. Their mission: a near-suicidal assault on a strong Caribbean island fortress.

A lost treasure of unimaginable value awaits those daring enough to find it. Former Green Beret Ryden Spass is looking for a new start and travels to the Philippines to visit his estranged brother, figuring it’s time to reconnect with family again and enjoy a long-earned vacation in the sunny tropics. But things don’t turn out quite as he expected when his brother goes missing. Falsely accused of murder, Ryden finds himself on the run from corrupt cops and if that isn’t enough, he ends up with ruthless gangsters after discovering his brother’s involvement in a scheme to obtain lost ...

Lewrie loses his ship and his command when he receives news that Vigilance must return to England to be decommissioned and turned over to the dockyards for a complete refit. Lewrie is grounded, put on half-pay, and his crew disperses to look for new positions. It's late autumn, and being ashore is heavenly, after a time. Lewrie spends time with his wife, Jessica, helps his son Hugh find a new ship, and happily marries off Charlotte. Life onshore is quiet until Lewrie finds himself once again in the headlines of the city papers.

"Freeman kicks off a new series set in Renaissance-era Italy with this stylish espionage thriller. Freeman brings the period to vivid life. Historical fans should give this a look." Publishers Weekly "A Renaissance spy adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Steve Freeman has done well to cleverly interweave suspense, history, culture, and a mystery to keep the reader engaged. Highly recommend for those that enjoy action historical fiction in the times of the famous Medici family and Leonardo da Vinci." Reedsy Discovery (five-star review) During the height of the Renaissance, a ...

Summer comes to Ireland, and an uneasy peace holds at Loch Garman. The Northmen, eager to get to sea, work relentlessly on their ships, with the aid of their unlikely allies, the Irish, who are just as eager to see them go. But not everyone is willing to just let them sail away. Certain that God demands the heathens be punished, the one-eyed warrior turned monk Brother Becc is determined that Thorgrim and his men will not simply go free. And when another band of raiders arrives, Becc finds the excuse he needs to take action.

Rocks and Shoals is the seventh of the Carlisle & Holbrooke naval adventures. The series follows Carlisle and his protégé George Holbrooke through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American colonies in the 1760s.

From the author of the Magellan biography, Over the Edge of the World, a mesmerizing new account of the great explorer. Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a trading route to China, and his unexpected landfall in the Americas, is a watershed event in world history.

Scarred—physically and emotionally—by the brutal warfare at Dunkirk, Jack Pembroke decides to leave his home in England to join his father, Admiral Pembroke, in the South African Cape. A fledgling naval force is preparing to fight the coming onslaught of German raiders, and Jack is soon thrust back into action when he is appointed commander of a minesweeping flotilla. Unknown to Jack, a Nazi commerce raider has left Germany for the Cape intending to wreak havoc on Allied shipping.

In 1991, acting on a tip from a local fisherman, two scuba divers discovered a sunken German U-boat, complete with its crew of 60 men, not too far off the New Jersey coast. The divers, realizing the momentousness of their discovery, began probing the mystery. Over the next six years, they became expert and well-traveled researchers, taught themselves German, hunted for clues in Germany, and constructed theories corrective of the history books, all in an effort to identify this sunken U-boat and its crew.

Wessex is relived of patrolling the coasts of Florida in 1791 and is sent to monitor the slave rebellion on Saint Domingue, which will be later divided into the island nations of Haiti and The Dominion Republic. Donland’s orders are explicit, do not become involved! He does become involved when he rescues the recently widowed Emily Bostwick who is quite enamoured with the dashing Captain Donland. Adding to the difficulties of the patrol, Donland and his officers experience bouts of unexplained sickness. As Maddox states, it is like my guts was taken out and put back wrong way round. The ...

Secrets, storms, and stolen glances. A pirate queen and a naval officer are forced into a deadly game where betrayal could cost everything. She was sent to hunt the pirate queen. She never expected to fall for her. Captain Brynn Vale is known as the Shadow of the Caribbean — untouchable, uncatchable, and unstoppable. But when she discovers a stowaway aboard the Midnight Serpent, she realizes her greatest threat isn’t a Royal Navy warship, it’s the woman hiding in her hold. Lieutenant Amara Thorne was sent to hunt the most dangerous pirate on the high seas. But nothing could prepare ...

From the authors of the number-one best-selling The Sea Hunters comes more unforgettable true adventures with famous shipwrecks.

Al Miller has concluded negotiating the early stages of an alliance with the goliath people. He has completed it in time so he should be able to return home soon enough to be there when Delia is ready to claim her class, the first of his party to do so. Through that process, and while trying to figure out the logistics of the old Jamiston Barony, Al has come to the conclusion he must have a bureaucracy to run his ever-expanding noble fief. His friend Mazornwreld, the copper dragon will have a clutch of eggs hatching, bringing more native dragons into the world. Al wants to be there for the ...

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.

Impersonating a King's Officer is a death sentence, but Brent had decided long ago, even before the boy died that he would do it. It would be a far better life than that of a power monkey. After the years of torture and pain his chance had come but could he manage it? Setbacks are a part of life and Brent has more than his share after his rescue. His dream of being a naval officer depends on an improbable rescue attempt of four important men from the pit of his nightmares. He, alone, knows of an entrance to the pit and it falls to him to succeed or die.

Everyone changes, it is inevitable. Rarely, however, are points in life captured and told as detailed as the master chief tells them. Stories this time not of the sea, but ashore in an isolated land where he learned of himself, of magnificent Scotland, and of his loving wife. Then, when all was right with the world, experienced failure. Not the daily sort, but of one holding life lessons, preparing young Chief Moye for the immense challenges lying ahead. At his first communication station, Moye planned to continue his “stellar” duty to the Navy and country. As providence had it, the ...

A new type of stealthy nuclear submarine – the USS Stingray – is under development, and Commander Jeff Woodbridge has been assigned to command her. Shortly after its sea trials have been successfully concluded, Stingray is sent on an urgent mission. After leaving port, it is discovered that a young civilian is still on the ship, and cannot be sent home due to the mission’s urgency and secrecy. A team of SEALs is picked up along the way, and when Stingray reaches the Iranian coast, they pick up a mysterious agent in the midst of a fire-fight. The Voyage of the Stingray is part "Hunt ...

In the annals of seafaring and exploration, there is one name that immediately evokes visions of the open ocean, billowing sails, visiting strange, exotic lands previously uncharted, and civilizations never before encountered - Captain James Cook. Full of realistic action, lush descriptions of places and events, and fascinating historical characters such as King George III and the soon-to-be-notorious Master William Bligh, Dugard's gripping account of the life and death of Captain James Cook is a thrilling story of a discoverer hell-bent on going farther than any man.