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Anchors Aweigh
Interested in the naval adventures of Aubrey & Maturin? Do the exploits of Horatio Hornblower set your pulse racing? Do the names Hoare, Bolitho, Ramage, Delancey, Lewrie, Halfhyde, Drinkwater or Kydd remind you of the tang of salt air, the clash of swords on swords, the jolt of cannon-fire and the thrill of waves crashing on a ship’s prow? Then perhaps you’ll be interested in this extensive list of Naval Adventure fiction, set from the 1600s through the early 1900s. Most of these titles are military fiction, with a few pure “adventure” novels thrown in. All the novels in this list feature adventures aboard sailing vessels, prior to the advent of steam-powered vessels and/or modern naval warfare.
Some of the following novels are “stand alones”, while many are entries in popular on-going series. In the cases of stand-alone novels, individual titles are in alphabetical order following the author’s name. In the case of series, the novels are arranged in “series order” following the name of the series. We’ve included a number of titles in this list which are not currently owned by the Lincoln City Libraries. These appear here for the sake of providing complete series listings, or to identify classic naval adventure series which are long out-of-print. All books owned by Lincoln City Libraries are hotlinked to their entries in our library catalog, so that you may check on their current availability. If you see a title on this list that is not hotlinked to our collection, please consider ordering it through our Interlibrary Loan department.
Anchors Aweigh!
Naval Adventure Fiction
Alexander, Bruce
Watery Grave
Amado, Jorge
Sea of Death
Ashley, Mike [ed.] The Mammoth Book of Hearts of Oak [anthology of short stories] The Mammoth Book of Men O’War [anthology of short stories] The Mammoth Book of Sea Battles: Great Stories and Classic Tales From the Golden Age of Naval Warfare [anthology of short stories]
Barrett, Andrea
Voyage of the Narwhal
Bontempelli, Bruno
The Traveler’s Tree
Caputo, Philip
The Voyage
Churchill, Winston
Richard Carvel
Clavell, James
Tai Pan
Collett, Bill
The Last Mutiny
Connery, Tom
The GEORGE MARKHAM Series
— A Shred of Honour
— Honour Redeemed
— Honour Be Damned
Conrad, Joseph
Almayer’s Folly
Arrow of Gold
Chance
Lord Jim
Nigger of the Narcissus
Nostromo
An Outcast of the Islands
The Rescue
The Rover
Sea Tale
Typhoon and Other Tales of the Sea
Victory
Within the Tides
Cooper, James Fenimore
Homeward Bound
The Pilot
The Red Rover
Sea Tales
The Water-Witch
The Wing-and-Wing
Cornwell, Bernard
Sharpe’s Devil
Sharpe’s Trafalgar
Sharpe’s Prey
Costain, Thomas
For My Great Folly
Crace, Jim
Signals of Distress
Defoe, Daniel
Robinson Crusoe
Doig, Ivan
The Sea Runners
Donachie, David
The HARRY LUDLOW Series (a.k.a. The Privateersman Mysteries)
— The Devil’s Own Luck
— The Dying Trade
— A Hanging Matter
— An Element of Chance
— The Scent of Betrayal
— A Game of Bones
The MARKHAM OF THE MARINES Series (written as Tom Connery)
— Shred of Honour
— Honour Redeemed
— Honour Be Damned
The NELSON AND EMMA Series
— On a Making Tide
— Tested by Fate
— Breaking the Line
The JOHN PEARCE Series
— By the Mast Divided
— A Shot Rolling Ship
— An Awkward Commission
— A Flag of Truce
— The Admirals’ Game
— An Ill Wind
— Blown Off Course
— Enemies at Every Turn
— A Sea of Troubles
— A Divided Command
— The Devil to Pay
— The Perils of Command
— A Treacherous Coast
— On a Particular Service
— A Close Run Thing
— HMS Hazard
— A Troubled Course
Druett, Joan
Abigail
A Promise of Gold
A Love of Adventure
The Elephant Voyage
The Money Ship
Finale
The WIKI COFFIN MYSTERIES series
A Watery Grave
Shark Island
Run Afoul
Deadly Shoals
The Beckoning Ice
Eccles, Frank
The Mutiny Run
Farley, Christopher John
Kingston by Starlight
Forester, C.S.
The Man in the Yellow Raft
The Ship
The HORATIO HORNBLOWER Series
— Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
— Lieutenant Hornblower
— Hornblower and the Hotspur
— Hornblower During the Crisis
— Hornblower and the Atropos
— Beat to Quarters
— Ship of the Line
— Flying Colours
— Commodore Hornblower
— Lord Hornblower
— Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
— Hornblower | DVD
— Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures | DVD
— Horatio Hornblower: The Adventure Continues | DVD
— ( The Hornblower Companion ) ( about the Hornblower series; 823 qF76z )
Forrest, Anthony
The JOHN JUSTICE Series
— Captain Justice
— The Pandora Secret
— A Balance of Dangers
Fowler, Robert H.
Voyage to Honor
Fraser, George McDonald
Flash for Freedom
Flashman’s Lady
Pyrates (spoof)
French, Joseph Lewis
Great Pirate Stories (Hoopla)
Great Sea Stories (Hoopla)
Friend, Charles
All the Proud Ships: A Novel of the American Revolution
The Privateers
Yesterday’s Enemies
Fullerton, Alexander
various stand-alone novels — most of Fullerton’s works are set after WWI
The Nicolas Everard series (WWI)
The Blooding of the Guns
Sixty Minutes for St. George
Patrol to the Golden Horn
Storm Force to Narvik
Last Lift From Crete
All the Drowning Seas
A Share of Honour
The Torch Bearers
The Gatecrashers
Galbraith, Douglas
Rising Sun
Garrett, Elizabeth
Sweet Trade
Gebler, Ernest
The Plymouth Adventure
Gidley, Charles (a.k.a. Charles Gidley Wheeler)
Armada
The Raging of the Sea
The Crying of the Wind
The Fighting Spirit
Golding, William
The SEA VOYAGE Trilogy
— Rites of Passage
— Close Quarters
— Fire Down Below
Graham, Winston
The Grove of Eagles
Griffin, Nicholas
The Requiem Shark
Hackman, Gene (& Lenihan, Daniel)
Haislip, Harvey
The TOMMY POTTER Series
— A Sailor Named Jones
— The Prize Master
— Sea Road to Yorktown
Hale, Edward Everett
Man Without a Country
Hall, James Norman
Doctor Dogbody’s Leg
(see also: Nordhoff & Hall, below)
de Hartog, Jan
The Call of the Sea
The Commodore
Hawes, Charles Boardman
The Mutineers
The Great Quest
The Dark Frigate
Whaling
Hayden, Sterling
Voyage: A Novel of 1896
Hemingway, Ernest
The Old Man and the Sea
Hersey, John
Under the Eye of the Storm
Hill, Porter
The ADAM HORNE Series
— The Bombay Marines
— The War Chest
— The China Flyer
Hodgson, William Hope
Adrift on the Haunted Seas (short story collection)
possibly more — unclear
Trilogy of the Abyss
The Boats of the “Glen Carrig”
The House on the Borderland
The Ghost Pirates
Holland, Cecelia
The Sea Beggars
Hoover, Thomas
Caribbee
The Moghul
Hough, Richard
The ARCHY BULLER/ROD McLEWIN Series
— Buller’s Guns
— Buller’s Dreadnought
— Buller’s Victory
Hoyt, Edwin Palmer
The STEPHEN DECATUR Series
— Hellfire in Tripoli
— Against Cold Steel
— Decatur’s Revenge
Hughes, Richard
A High Wind in Jamaica
Hugo, Victor
The Toilers of the Sea
Jekel, Pamela
Sea Star
Johnson, Charles R.
Middle Passage
Jones, Ben
The Rope Eater
Kelley, Douglas
The Captain’s Wife
Kent, Alexander
(see also: Douglas Reeman)
The RICHARD BOLITHO Series
— Richard Bolitho – Midshipman
— Midshipman Bolitho and the Avenger
— Stand Into Danger
— In Gallant Company
— Sloop of War
— To Glory We Steer
— Command a King’s Ship
— Passage to Mutiny
— With All Despatch
— Form Line of Battle!
— Enemy in Sight!
— The Flag Captain
— Signal – Close Action!
— The Inshore Squadron
— Tradition of Victory
— Success to the Brave
— Colors Aloft
— Honour This Day
— The Only Victor
— Beyond the Reef
— The Darkening Sea
— For My Country’s Freedom
— Cross of St. George
— Sword of Honor
— Second to None
— Relentless Pursuit
— Man of War
— Band of Brothers
— Heart of Oak
— In the King’s Name
Kingsley, Charles
Westward Ho!
Kinsolving, William
Mister Christian
Kipling, Rudyard
Captains Courageous
Kneale, Matthew
English Passengers
Lambdin, Dewey
The ALAN LEWRIE Series
— The King’s Coat
— The French Admiral
— The King’s Commission
— The King’s Privateer
— The Gun Ketch
— H.M.S. Cockerel
— A King’s Commander
— Jester’s Fortune
— King’s Captain
— Sea of Grey
— Havoc’s Sword
— The Captain’s Vengeance
— A King’s Trade
— Troubled Waters
— The Baltic Gambit
— King, Ship and Sword
— The Invasion Year
— Reefs and Shoals
— Hostile Shores
— The King’s Marauder
— Kings and Emperors
— A Hard Cruel Shore
— A Fine Retribution
— An Onshore Storm
— Much Ado About Lewrie
L’Amour, Louis
Fair Blows the Wind
Lawrence, Alan
Aftermath of Devastation
Llewellyn, Sam
Sea Story
The Shadow in the Sands
Llywelyn, Morgan
Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas
London, Jack
The Sea Wolf
South Sea Tales
Long, William Stuart
The Seafarers
MacDonald, Roger
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter
Mack, William P.
Lieutenant Christopher — A Novel of the Sea
Maillet, Antonine
The Devil is Loose
Marlowe, Stephen
The Memoirs of Christopher Columbus
Marryat, Frederick
Frank Mildmay, or The Naval Officer
Jacob Faithful, or The Story of a Waterman
The King’s Own
Masterman Ready, or The Wreck of the Pacific
Mr. Midshipman Easy
Newton Foster, or The Merchant Service
Peter Simple
The Phantom Ship
The Pirate and the Three Cutters
Poor Jack
The Privateersman
Snarleyyow
The Three Cutters
Martin, William
Annapolis
Masefield, John
The Bird of Dawning
Jim Davis
Mason, Van Wyck
The Golden Admiral
Harpoon in Eden
The Manila Galleon
Proud New Flags
The Sea ‘Venture
Three Harbors
Maynard, Kenneth
The LIEUTENANT LAMB Series
— Lieutenant Lamb
— First Lieutenant
— Lamb in Command
— Lamb’s Mixed Fortunes
McCutchan, Philip
The Last Farewell
The LT. ST. VINCENT HALFHYDE Series
— Beware, Beware the Bight of Benin
— Halfhyde’s Island
— The Guns of Arrest
— Halfhyde to the Narrows
— Halfhyde For the Queen
— Halfhyde Ordered South
— Halfhyde and the Flag Captain
— Halfhyde on the Yangtze
— Halfhyde on Zanatu
— Halfhyde Outward Bound
— The Halfhyde Line
— Halfhyde and the Chain Gangs
— Halfhyde Goes to War
— Halfhyde on the Amazon
— Halfhyde and the Admiral
— Halfhyde and the Fleet Review
Meacham, Ellis K.
The PERCEVAL MEREWETHER Series
— The East Indiaman
— On the Company’s Service
— For King and Company
Melville, Herman
Billy Budd
Mardi
Moby Dick
Omoo
Redburn
Typee
White-Jacket
Meroff, Deborah
Captain, My Captain
Michael, Ib
Prince
Monsarrat, Nicholas
The Cruel Sea
A Fair Day’s Work
The Ship That Died of Shame and Other Stories
The MASTER MARINER/MATTHEW LAWE Novels
— Running Proud
— Darken Ship
Morgan, Charles L.
The Gunroom
Naslund, Sena Jeter
Ahab’s Wife
Nelson, James L.
The French Prize
The REVOLUTION AT SEA/ISAAC BIDDLECOMB Saga
— By Force of Arms
— The Maddest Idea
— The Continental Risque
— Lords of the Ocean
— All the Brave Fellows
— The Falmouth Frigate
The BRETHREN OF THE COAST Series
— The Guardship
— The Blackbirder
— The Pirate Round
The SAMUEL BOWATER series
— Glory in the Name
— Thieves of Mercy: A Novel of the Civil War at sea
The BLOOD, STEEL & EMPIRE series
— The Buccaneer Coast
Nichols, Peter
Voyage to the North Star
Nicol, Clive W.
Harpoon
Nordhoff, Charles (& Hall, James)
The BOUNTY Trilogy
— Mutiny on the Bounty | DVD
— Men Against the Sea
— Pitcairn’s Island
O’Brian, Patrick
The Golden Ocean
The Unknown Shore
The AUBREY/MATURIN Series
— Master and Commander | DVD (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World)
— Post Captain
— H.M.S. Surprise
— The Mauritius Command
— Desolation Island
— Fortune of War
— The Surgeon’s Mate
— Ionian Mission
— Treason’s Harbour
— The Far Side of the World
— The Reverse of the Medal
— The Letter of Marque
— The Thirteen Gun Salute
— The Nutmeg of Consolation
— The Truelove
— The Wine-Dark Sea
— The Commodore
— The Yellow Admiral
— The Hundred Days
— Blue at the Mizzen
— 21: The Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey
— Patrick O’Brian’s Navy: The Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey’s World [359 qOne]
O’Conner, Joseph
Star of the Sea
Parkinson, Cyril Northcote
The RICHARD DELANCEY Series
— The Guernseyman
— Devil to Pay
— The Fireship
— Touch and Go
— So Near So Far
— Dead Reckoning
Parkinson, Dan
The PATRICK DALTON Series
— The Fox and the Faith
— The Fox and the Fury
— The Fox and the Flag
— The Fox and the Fortune
Perez-Reverte, Arturo
The Nautical Chart
Perkins, Wilder
The BARTHOLOMEW HOARE Series
— Hoare and the Portsmouth Atrocities
— Hoare and the Headless Captains
— Hoare and the Matter of Treason
Poe, Edgar Allan
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Ponce de Leon, Napoleon Baccino
Five Black Ships
Pope, Dudley
The RAMAGE Series
— Ramage
— Drumbeat
— The Triton Brig
— Ramage and the Freebooters
— Governor Ramage, R.N.
— Ramage’s Prize
— Ramage and the Guillotine
— Ramage’s Diamond
— Ramage’s Mutiny
— Ramage and the Rebels
— The Ramage Touch
— Ramage’s Signal
— Ramage and the Renegades
— Ramage’s Devil
— Ramage’s Trial
— Ramage’s Challenge
— Ramage at Trafalgar
— Ramage and the Saracens
— Ramage and the Dido
The NED YORKE Series
— Buccaneer
— Admiral
— Galleon
— Corsair
— Convoy
Poyer, David
The CIVIL WAR AT SEA series
— Fire on the Waters
— A Country of Our Own
— That Anvil of Our Souls: A Novel of the Monitor and the Merrimack
Prokosch, Frederic
The Wreck of the Cassandra
Raddall, Thomas Head
Hangman’s Beach
Reeman, Douglas [see also: Alexander Kent]
The ROYAL MARINES Saga
— Badge of Glory
— First to Land
— The Horizon
— Dust on the Sea
— Knife Edge
Roberts, Kenneth
Boon Island
The STEVEN NELSON Series
— Arundel
— Rabble in Arms
— Lively Lady
— Captain Caution
Russell, William Clark
The Wreck of the Grosvenor
and several others…
Sabatini, Rafael
The Sea Hawk
The CAPTAIN BLOOD Series
— Captain Blood
— Captain Blood Returns
— The Fortunes of Captain Blood
Shannon, Dell
The Scalpel and the Sword
Shellabarger, Samuel
Lord Vanity
Slaughter, Frank
Pilgrims in Paradise
The Purple Quest
Smith, Wilbur
Birds of Prey
Smollett, Tobias
The Adventures of Roderick Random
Steinbeck, John
Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, With Occasional Reference to History
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Kidnapped
Treasure Island
Stockwin, Julian
The THOMAS KYDD Series
— Kydd
— Artemis
— Seaflower
— Mutiny
— Quarterdeck
— Tenacious
— Command
— The Admiral’s Daughter
— The Privateer’s Revenge (a.k.a. Treachery)
— Invasion
— Victory
— Conquest
— Betrayal
— Caribee
— Pasha
— Tyger
— Inferno
— Persephone
— The Baltic Prize
— The Iberian Flame
— A Sea of Gold
— To the Eastern Seas
Styles, Showell
The Malta Frigate
The Sea Officer
The MIDSHIPMAN SEPTIMUS QUINN Series
— Midshipman Quinn
— Quinn of the Fury
— Midshipman Quinn and Denise the Spy
— Midshipman Quinn Wins Through
— Quinn at Trafalgar
The MICHAEL FITTON Series
— A Sword for Mr. Fitton
— Mr. Fitton’s Commission
— The Baltic Convoy
— A Ship for Mr. Fitton
— Mr. Fitton’s Prize
— Mr. Fitton and the Black Legion
— Mr. Fitton in Command
— Lt. Fitton
— Mr. Fitton at the Helm
— The Martinique Mission
— Mr. Fitton’s Hurricane
and many, many more
Suthren, Victor
The PAUL GALLANT Series
— Black Cockade
— A King’s Ransom
— In Perilous Seas
The EDWARD MAINWARING Series
— Royal Yankee
— Golden Galleon
— Admiral of Fear
— Captain Monsoon
Talbot, Michael
To the Ends of the Earth
Turteltaub, H.N.
Over the Wine-Dark Sea
Unsworth, Barry
Sacred Hunger
Visiak, E.H.
Medusa
Wallace, Willard Mosher
Jonathan Dearborn
The Raiders
Wallenius, Kurt
Men From the Sea
Wilson, Derek
Her Majesty’s Captain
Woodman, Richard
The Wager
The NATHANIEL DRINKWATER Series
— An Eye of the Fleet
— A King’s Cutter
— A Brig of War
— The Bomb Vessel
— Arctic Treachery
— Decision at Trafalgar
— Baltic Mission
— In Distant Water
— A Private Revenge
— Under False Colours
— The Flying Squadron
— Beneath the Aurora
— The Shadow of the Eagle
— Ebb Tide
The WILLIAM KITE Series
— The Guineaman
— The Privateersman
— The East Indiaman
The KIT FAULKNER Series
— A Ship for the King
— For King or Commonwealth
— The King’s Chameleon
Worrall, Jay
The CAPTAIN CHARLES EDGEMONT Series
— Sails on the Horizon
— Any Approaching Enemy
— A Sea Unto Itself
Wyeth, N.C. [ed.] Great Stories of the Sea and Ships
Yerby, Frank
The Golden Hawk
808.8 D45b — The Book of the Sea
808.83 F88g — Great Sea Stories
821.08 M37 — A Sailor’s Garland
You may also be interested in the following non-fiction accounts:
910 D19tg — Two Years Before the Mast
910 S15s — Sailing Alone Around the World
910.4 B873c — The Cruise of the Cachalot
910.4 Sh25s — A Sailor’s Treasury
919.5 Bli — The Bounty Mutiny
Additional material may be found under the following subject headings:
- Naval History
- Pirates
- Seafaring Life
- Ships
- Shipwrecks
Original print booklist “To Sea, To Sea!” 1993 bwc | Updated and expanded for the web December 2003 sdc | Last updated June 2022 sdc