A Q - McBooks Press Summer 2014 .pdf · A QUARTERLY JOURNAL TALL SHIPS ... naval thriller, Edge of...

QuarterdeckA QUARTERLY JOURNAL

TALL SHIPS

COMMUNICATIONS

Quarterdeck is published quarterly byTall Ships Communications

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269-372-4673

EDITOR & MANAGING DIRECTORGeorge D. Jepson

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OPERATIONS DIRECTORAmy A. Jepson

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BOOK REVIEW EDITORBarbara N. Peacock

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Quarterdeck is distributed byMcBooks Press, Inc.

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PUBLISHERAlexander Skutt607-272-2114

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EDITORIAL DIRECTOR EMERITUSJackie Swift

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ON THE COVER:Detail from an oil painting by GeoffreyHuband entitled “Ships.”

© Tall Ships Communications

McBOOKS press

FEATURES

06 SIM COMFORTAmerican expatriate Sim Comfort relates the story behind his

passion for British naval history and where it led him.

12 P. T. DEUTERMANNFormer naval officer P. T. Deutermann discusses his background

and his latest World War II novel, Sentinels of Fire.

17 JOHN J. GOBBELLJohn J. Gobbell shares the back story to his new Todd Ingram

naval thriller, Edge of Valor.

COLUMNS

03 SCUTTLEBUTTNews from nautical and historical fiction, naval and

maritime history, maritime museums and marine art

04 DISPATCHESNovelist Michael Aye reports on his annual working

holiday in the Bahamas

05 BY GEORGE!Battle of Hampton Roads

DEPARTMENTS

11 EDITOR’S CHOICELord Nelson’s Swords by Sim Comfort

16 EDITOR’S CHOICESentinels of Fire by P. T. Deutermann

21 EDITOR’S CHOICEEdge of Honor by P. T. Deutermann

22 REVIEWSQuarterdeck book reviewers look at current and recent

releases in nautical and historical fiction and related history from U.S. and UK publishers

23 NEW PUBLICATIONSCatch up on new titles in history, historical fiction and

classics from the past.

ContentsSUMMER 2014

2 | Quarterdeck | Summer 2014

New BookLaunch Dates

2014

US (United States)UK (United Kingdom)

TPB (Trade Paperback)PB (Paperback)HB (Hardcover)NF (Nonfiction)

J

Edge of Valor (USHB)by John J. Gobbell

Sentinels of Fire (USHB)P. T. Deutermann

Jane Austen’s England (USTPB)by Roy & Lesley Adkins

Until the Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead(UKHB)

By Sean Thomas Russell

A

Run Them Ashore (UKHB)by Adrian Goldsworthy

S

Waterloo (UKHB NF)by Bernard Cornwell

O

Caribbee (USTPB)by Julian Stockwin

Until the Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead(UKHB)

By Sean Thomas Russell

The Empty Throne (UKHB)by Bernard Cornwell

N

Pasha (USHB)by Julian Stockwin

The Devil to Pay (UKHB)by David Donachie

RICHARD WOODMANEnglish novelists and maritimehistorian Captain RichardWoodman was recently invested asa Lieutenant of the Royal VictorianOrder by the Princess Royal,Princess Anne, at BuckinghamPalace in London. The Royal Victorian Order is givenby The Queen to individuals whohave served her or the Monarchy ina personal way. The Order wasfounded in April 1896 by QueenVictoria as a way of rewardingpersonal service to her, on her owninitiative rather than by ministerialrecommendation. The Order was,and is, entirely the Sovereign’spersonal gift. Afterward, Woodman said:“It was a very enjoyableexperience. “She was very graciousand complimentary. While waitingwe had an opportunity to goggle atthe pictures hanging in the long


gallery, including severalRembrandts (one a self-portrait). “Because HRH takes some timeand trouble with each recipient,the ceremony was quite long, overone and a half hours, but theballroom looked splendid (wherewe sat after our investiture andwhere our guests spent the entiretime), and the string quartet wasexcellent. “The whole operation, run by thepalace staff and the military, wassuperb. Cavalry troopers in fulldress with drawn sabers lining thepublic rooms, a personal body-guard of two Ghurka officers, plusfive old soldiers of the Yeoman ofthe Guard in their Tudor uniforms.In the quadrangle outside therewas a horse-drawn carriage withtwo beautiful horses in the shafts.Quite an occasion.”

DAVID DONACHIEThe Devil to Pay by DavidDonachie, the eleventh title in theJohn Pearce naval adventure series,will be launched by British pub-lisher Allison & Busby in November.The book will be available in theU.S. by early 2015.

AUTUMN QUARTERDECKThe Autumn 2014 issue of Quarter-deck will feature two naval fictionauthors, Julian Stockwin and SeanThomas Russell. Stockwin’s newThomas Kydd novel, Pasha, will belaunched in the UK in October andin the U.S. in November. Russell’sfourth Captain Charles Haydennovel, Until the Sea Shall Give UpHer Dead, will be published in theUK in July and in the U.S. InOctober.

Scuttlebutt

Captain Richard Woodman and his wifeChristine in the courtyard at BuckinghamPalace, with the Royal Victorian Ordermedal presented to him by Princess Anne(photo courtesy of Richard Woodman).

Dispatches


A hoy! It’s April and in the United States thatmeans tax time. After getting my worst tax billever, I was glad to board a Delta jet and headout with my wife Pat on our annual excursion.This year, our destination was Great Exuma and

Little Exuma. The population on the sister islands rangesfrom under 1,400 to about 4,000 during National FamilyIsland Regatta week. The Exumas are made up of three hundred and sixtyfive islands and cays, which fall under the control of theBahamian government. The lure to these islands startswith their rich history, which is so much a part of the timeperiod in which I based my Fighting Anthony’s novels. Itwas also a pirate’s haven, which will be helpful as I tacklemy new series for Biting Duck Press, “Pyrates”. Of course, Pat was intrigued with the miles of powderysandy beaches strewn with sand dollars and conch shells.In fact, conch salad prepared with raw conch is a must forvisitors to these wonderful islands. However, for a priceysalad that fits in a cereal bowl made with fruits, veggies,spices and peppers that light up your sinuses, one isusually enough to satisfy you for the entire trip. In all our visits to the Caribbean, I have never been soawed as by the beauty of the sea surrounding theExuma’s. The turquoise ocean, with shifting shades ofblue, changes from being nearly translucent to a darkradiant blue. Close to the shore, the water is crystal clearand unspoiled by the pollution we have observed aroundother islands we have visited in the Bahamas. For all of their history and natural beauty, the Exumasare rampant with poverty. Medical facilities andpharmacies are almost non-existent. Pregnant womentravel to Nassau for maternity care, if they receive any.There are no red lights. Shopping is limited to one largegrocery, which is the size of our local convenience stores.There are two gas stations – one at each end of GreatExuma. History records that during the Golden Age of Piracyand again in the 1800s, the Exuma’s were a pirates’haven. The numerous islands and cays were convenientspots from which pirates could pounce on merchantshipping and slave ships. Vessels laden with salt were alsotargets.

Blackbeard and Captain Kidd were the most famousbuccaneers to ply these waters. That is, unless you includeJohnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Parts of theseproductions were filmed on Little Exuma. I have picturesof caves where legend says pirates stored their plunder.These caverns are a honeycomb of holes, some a man canstand up and walk in, while others are much smaller. During the 18th century, the Treaty of Versaillessettled the ownership of Exuma and the other islandsmaking up the Bahamas. Until then, the ownership wascontested by both England and Spain. With the treaty,England gained control of the Bahamas and Spain wasgiven the Florida Peninsula. When it looked certain thatAmerica was going to win the Revolutionary War, therewas a mass exodus of British loyalists from the Colonies,including the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. A goodmany migrated to the Exumas. Land grants and financialcompensation were awarded by the British government tothese “unfortunate subjects.”

Michael Aye with an iguana “friend” in the Exumas.

Lure of th e IslandsMichael Aye, author of The Fighting Anthonys navaladventure series and a new trilogy about the War of 1812,sent this dispatch to QUARTERDECK following his annualearly-spring working holiday in the Bahamas.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28


By George!

National Treasure

E arly on New Year’sEve morning in 1862,the Union ironclad

USS Monitor slippedbeneath the waves in heavyseas off the North Carolinacoast. “The Monitor is no more,”wrote Paymaster William F.Keeler to his wife. “What thefire of the enemy failed todo, the elements haveaccomplished.”

Monitor was the prototypefor a new class of armoredwarships, which ultimatelybrought about the demise ofwooden, sail-powered men ofwar in navies around the world. Theprevious March, this historic shipfought the Confederate ironclad CSSVirginia at Hampton Roads, Virginia. Itwas the first battle ever between iron-armored warships. The location of the wreck remained amystery until 1973 when the hulk wasdiscovered in the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras.But it wasn’t until 1995 that partial recovery ofthe vessel commenced, with a shared effortbetween the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration and the United States Navy. Today the Monitor’s iconic gun turret rests inthe USS Monitor Center at the Mariner’sMuseum in Newport News, Virginia, which hasbeen designated by Congress as America’sNational Maritime Museum. On a sunny spring morning, under brightblue skies, a few weeks back, Amy and drovetoward Newport News, crossing over the bridgethat spans Hampton Roads and the site of themomentous sea engagement fought a centuryand a half earlier. Our destination: the

Mariner’s Museum. Viewing the panorama,with shipyards in the distance, and but a fewocean-going vessels at temporary anchor, it wasdifficult to imagine the carnage taking place on8 March 1862, when the Virginia laid waste toUnion naval vessels blockading the James Rivera day before exchanging fire with the Monitor. Over the bridge and a few blocks further onwe turned into the beautifully landscaped 550-acre park in which the museum is located. Aftera long and particularly oppressive winter nearLake Michigan, stepping from the car into thewarmth of the sun and breathing mild fresh airwas a pure joy. After a light lunch in the museum’s cafe,Amy found a comfortable place to read and I

The USS Monitor, under tow of the USS Rhode Island, founderedoff the North Carolina coast on 31 December 1862, as depicted inthis engraving from Harper’s Weekly (3 January 1863). Imagecourtesy The Mariner’s Museum.

A half century ago,Sim Comfortembarked on his

life’s voyage, which led him fromAmerica’s heartland to Londonand in the course of time aprofound passion for the BritishRoyal Navy during the Age ofFighting Sail. Comfort’s initial introduction toBritain’s rich naval history was abiography of Horatio Nelson. Avisit to the National MaritimeMuseum in Greenwich ignited afervor for the Royal Navy’sheritage that continues today. Settling in Wimbleton with hisEnglish bride, Mary, in the 1970s,Comfort frequented antique shops

in London, gradually building animpressive collection of swords,medals, coins, paintings, booksand a myriad of naval items, whilelearning more about British navalhistory. Julian Stockwin recalled that he“found it very hard to disengagefrom the delights in Sim’s study,”during a visit with his wife Kathy. In 1974, Sim and Mary Comfortlaunched Sim Comfort Associates(SCA), a small specialtypublishing house, to produce finelimited editions focusing onfighting sail. Their objective wasto produce books “which willchallenge the original in terms ofcraftsmanship and style” that

Interview

A Yank in Pursuit of British Naval HistorySim Comfort

Nelson in action at Cadiz in 1797, detail from a painting by English artist Richard Westall (1765-1836), which appears on the cover ofLord Nelson’s Swords by Sim Comfort.

Sim Comfort

by George Jepson


would “last as long as the original copies.” SCA titles include: The Elements and Practice ofNaval Architecture by David Steel, originallypublished in 1805; The Elements of Rigging andSeamanship by David Steel, published in 1794; andThe Naval Achievements of Great Britain, From theYear 1793 to 1817 by James Jenkins, first publishedin 1817. In addition to producing the reprint editions,Comfort has authored Forget Me Not, A Study ofNaval and Maritime Engraved Coins and Plate (1745to 1918) and Naval Swords & Dirks, a two-volumeboxed set about historic naval edged weapons.Earlier this year, Comfort released Lord Nelson’sSwords (see review on page 11), a companionvolume to Naval Swords & Dirks. These books arelavishly illustrated, with the histories behind variousweapons offered in great detail. Comfort’s beautifully hand-bound editions, thoughpricey, are true collectibles, produced with thehighest quality paper, color transfers, binding andimages. Such excellence in publishing only exists inspecialty houses like Comfort’s these days.

Quarterdeck recently interviewed Sim Comfort to

learn more about the extraordinary course that tookhim from Missouri to England:

London is a long way from Missouri in middleAmerica, not only geographically, but culturally, aswell. Tell us about your journey and your transitionto life in England.

Well, yes, Missouri is a long way from England, butculturally there is much shared. My family was fairlySouthern in their ways, so I grew up in a big whitehouse with columns in front and Waterford crystal,Royal Doulton china and Wedgewood figuresdecorating the dining and living room. When onelooks at the blade of the Confederate naval officers’sword which was made in Birmingham, England, onthe blade are bales of cotton and sheaths of tobacco,the two primary exports of the South and it all wentto England, particularly Manchester which wasknown as Cotton King. When I visited Manchesterfor the first time, I felt really at home because thewarehouses were just like those on the St. Louislevee – tall, three or four stories in red brick, with tallwindows.

Novelist Julian Stockwin admires a bicorne hat in Sim Comfort’s collection, which belonged to an unknown lieutenant during theperiod 1812 to 1825.


I guess the other thing is that with a family nameof Comfort, my ancestors were English andPresbyterians. After the restoration of the Monarchyin the mid-1600s it was a very good time forPresbyterians to leave the country and seek a new lifein America, which I’m pretty sure my family did.So I have lots of links with England, and have neverfelt really out of place, although I have alwaysremained a Yank. It’s lot more fun being a Yank inEngland than a morphed Englishman!

You have produced some of the most beautiful andhigh quality volumes on naval history during the Ageof Fighting Sail, with an emphasis on the BritishRoyal Navy. What was the origin of your passion forthings naval?

I think it was C. S. Forester’s Hornblower books,which caught my imagination. As I finished highschool in Webster Groves, the future loomed beforeme and I knew I didn’t want to go to college. I want-ed adventure and to go to sea, although I’d never seenthe sea. Anyway, I joined the United States Navy onmy 18th birthday, and I have to say, the navy reallygave me just what I needed, although they never putme on board a ship. I was in the Naval SecurityGroup and the navy just flew me from place to place. I spent a year on Guam Island in operations, andthere read all of the Hornblower stories. Fate dealtme a wonderful card because a shipmate of mine hadbeen transferred to the Bureau of Naval Personnel inWashington, but couldn’t take his bowling ball withhim, so I packed and shipped it to him. He telexed mewith a thank you and asked if there was anything hecould do for me. Jokingly, I replied, “Orders to Lon-don, please,” and they came two weeks later. What awonderful thing to have happen. In London I was a librarian of codes and ciphersand didn’t stand watches so I enrolled in eveningclasses to study English history and literature. Thisthen grew into a full year of study in England aftermy discharge from the navy, all in the hope of ma-triculating to King’s College, University of London,but I failed all of the tests and had to return to St.Louis beaten. Having said that, my failure was proba-bly worth a BA degree from any American universityat the time, because the English taught me how towrite and how to think. Everything was essay, essayand more essay.

You have obviously read deeply into naval history setduring the Nelson era. Do you also read naval fiction

written about the period?

I mentioned Forester, who remains a favorite, but hischaracters can be a bit thin. Julian Stockwin’s Kydd,particularly the first two volumes, are the finest de-piction of life on the lower deck I have ever read, andbeing lower deck myself, I was really in tune withThomas Kydd’s plight.

Once you were smitten by the rich British naval heri-tage, how did you initially pursue your interest?

I can tell you exactly how it started and what hap-pened next. I was taking the English GCE (GeneralCertificate of Education) A level courses in EnglishHistory and Literature at Northwestern Polytechnic inKentish Town. The GCE qualification was necessaryto gain entry to university. Anyway, this school wasbuilt in the 19th century and the heating it hadn’tchanged. In fact, during my first years in England Ifroze every winter. Anyway, it was break time andI’m in the canteen with other students drinking theworst coffee ever brewed. I asked them, “Who isEngland’s national hero?” I was expecting the answerto be some king or queen, but the answer was Admi-ral Lord Nelson. I had heard of him, but didn’t knowanything about him, so I bought Oliver Warner’sPortrait of Lord Nelson, and the rest is history! He was larger than life, highly skilled and becamea post-captain at just twenty-one years of age, in1779, and this was an age when fine officers wouldspend most of their lives trying to attain that rank. Hehad only one mode and that was to attack, and itserved him well as he was also fortunate in beingable to communicate what he wanted to see happenfrom his fellow officers. And there was a great ro-mance behind the man as well with his relationshipwith Emma, Lady Hamilton. His life contained ev-erything one would wish to read about during the pe-riod of the long French wars. Having found Nelson, my next great find was theNational Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Here werePhilip Annis and John Munday, who looked after themuseum’s edged weapons, and they were very kindtoward the kid from Missouri. I remember once walk-ing down the long History Gallery with them. Theywould stop in front of a portrait of an important navalhero of the Georgian period, and talk about his lifejust as if they had had lunch with him a few days ago.Britain has such a rich naval history that once youstart you just continue, and as you meet more andmore of these remarkable seaman you become more


familiar with not just the war at sea, but the whole ofthe age. It is definitely not boring and has servedmany authors very well during the last hundred yearsor so.

How did you begin collecting naval artifacts andbooks?

I can remember walking down the Edgeware Road inLondon on my way to the Navy Building in Grosve-nor Square and passing a shop that sold arms and ar-mor. In the window was a double-disc cutlass and Iknew this was the seamans’ edged weapon during theHornblower period, so I bought it. Then this was fol-lowed by finding Maggs Brothers in Berkeley Squareand Mr. John Maggs spending time with me guidingmy reading about the Royal Navy. Then the auctionhouses, which were like a museum when a good col-lection was being offered. The difference was thatyou could pick up the objects and learn from them,and if they weren’t too expensive, actually buy them! What was wonderful about this whole adventurewas that as I read more, I found more objects – pic-tures and weapons that all related to naval officersand men of this period. Everything related to eachother and helped to tell the story.

What motivated you to enter the book trade as a pub-lisher? What was your first venture?

It really had to do with tax and my family back-ground. My grandfather founded Comfort PrintingCompany in St. Louis, and I used to work at theprinting company during the summer. I have to tellyou it was HOT – big Heidelberg presses on a steeldeck and in the press room in July in St. Louis, Iwould guess the temperature was 120 Fahrenheit. Noair conditioning. So, I guess there is ink in my blood. In the mid 1970s, I started to make some seriousmoney as a computer salesman in England, but thetax rate was seventy or eighty percent, and I was hav-ing trouble just making ends meet. So I had an idea toreprint The Elements and Practice of Naval Architec-ture by David Steel, published in 1805. I had man-aged to buy an original from Maggs and I knew thiswork, if it could be reprinted, would stand alone, be-cause nobody would ever try and reprint the elephantfolio of thirty-eight large ships’ draughts. I found anaccountant who agreed that the total cost of produc-tion could be expensed in the year of production, soinstead of paying a lot of tax, I published my firstbook, with Her Majesty making an important finan-

cial contribution! John Maggs helped me and mywife Mary learn about how to price a reprint (nomore than ten percent of the value of the original edi-tion), and how to pack books properly. We have soldNaval Architecture all around the world and our cus-tomers, mainly ship model makers, have all praisedit, because David Steel takes you by the hand andshows you exactly how to build the great woodenships of the period.

How do you select the topics for your books?

Everything has to relate to the same central theme,Fighting Sail 1793 to 1815. Very limited scope, butthere has been enough to make the effort a success.

What drives you to produce such wonderful books?

My rule is that I’ll do this only once, and I want eachpublication to challenge the original edition not onlyin terms of quality, but also in terms of longevity. It’smore a labor of love than a fully commercial venture,but then there is real pleasure in producing a veryfine book, which you know will be collected longafter you “step off the mortal coil!”

Lord Nelson’s Swords, like your earlier works, is a

Naval Swords & Dirks (above) is an example of the beautifuleditions produced by Sim Comfort Associates (London).


stunning display of vivid photographs, illustrationsand prose. How did you research the book?

Another mentor of mine has been the great Americanarms dealer, Norm Flayderman. What Norm woulddo is build the best collection of something and thenwrite the book and then sell the collection. The bookwas invariably the best on the subject, becauseNorm’s collection was the best. His title on scrim-shaw still stands as the number one reference on thesubject. So I did the same thing, except I haven’t soldthe collections, because I’m not a dealer. I continueto enjoy these wonderful things. My normal rule is to research an object after I’vebought it. I know it should be the other way around,but if it looked like there was a good sea story behindit, I bought it, and if it ended up being a fake, I re-corded it and got rid of it. This didn’t happen veryoften and my eye for objects has improved with time.I have found wonderful things, particularly swordswith a great story to tell. I use Gillian Hughes as myresearcher at the National Archive in Kew. It is therethat all of the log books and pay books for the RoyalNavy are kept, and it is just wonderful what may befound amongst them.

Lord Nelson’s Swords was different because itwasn’t so much as drawing on new material, butmore an exercise in joining up the dots and makingthe conclusions. Everything was out there, but no-body had really brought the information together andit was a thrill to have done so, along with GrahamHunt who I worked with on the book.

Once you begin work on a project, do you have aspecific work model you follow?

Yes and no. I’m working with collections where theobjects have been researched, so it is just a matter ofdeciding how to catalogue and present them. If theobject is Royal Navy and I know the man who it be-longed to and his ship, then I would tell the story ofthe man and his ship and what happened at the timethe object was used or made. Other than that, I have to be inspired to get on withwriting. I don’t suffer from writer’s block, but thereare other things going on in my life and sometimeswriting has to take the back burner. Once I get going,things tend to move pretty quickly. This is followedby editing, both by myself and outside editors towhom I am always most thankful, as they help mefocus on telling the story and picking up my less-than-perfect English.

Please describe where you write.

Mary and I founded Comfort Computer Company in1993 in the back bedroom of our house in Wimble-don Park. One PC, a fax machine and a telephoneline and we were in business. We needed more space,so we built an extension in 1994, which has on thetop floor an office with two work stations. That iswhere I write. My view looks over a lovely Englishgarden. I keep fit by playing tennis, but then this isWimbledon!

Do you have another project underway?

Yes, The Naval Medals of Matthew Boulton. Again avery limited subject, but Boulton made the Resolu-tion and Adventure medal which was used by Cap-tain Cook on his second voyage to be presented to“such newly discovered peoples.”. He also struck theDavison Nile medal, which was commissioned byAlexander Davison, Nelson’s close friend and prizeagent for the Nile fleet, and then lastly his own Boul-ton’s Trafalgar Medal, which went to all those beforethe mast that fought at Trafalgar. Perhaps the titlehides the wonderful range of sea stories foundamongst these medals. I’m still a couple of yearsaway from publication.

What has been your greatest joy as an author, editorand publisher?

When writing, I sit back now and again and think thatwhat I just wrote was well said, a nice piece. Havingsaid that, after the manuscript is in good shape and Ihave all of the images together, perhaps the most re-warding exercise is creating the book in Adobe InDe-sign. It is wonderful software and after completing aparticularly handsome double-page spread, I really dosit back and marvel at how fine it all looks. Again,being the publisher, I get to meet most of my custom-ers which is always a pleasure. So, writing and selfpublishing is definitely a rewarding occupation.

Is there anything else you would like to share withour readers?

Only that if you have a story to tell, have a go and seewhat you can put down on paper. You just might sur-prise yourself, and a lot of other readers!

Visit Sim Comfort Associates online:www.simcomfort.demon.co.uk.


Editor’s Choice

Lord Nelson’s Swordsby Sim Comfort

Sim Comfort Associates London, £75.00, Signed and numbered UK Hardcover

The clash of steel rings off thepages of Lord Nelson’s Swords,adding to the din of shipboard

battle during the Age of Fighting Sail,as depicted in contemporary battlescenes. This latest offering from SimComfort Associates (London) is ahandsome companion to SCA’s earliertwo-volume Naval Swords & Dirks.

Sim Comfort –publisher and author –is an Americanexpatriate residing inEngland, and is along-establishedcollector of thingsnaval, which relate tothe British RoyalNavy during theperiod 1793 to 1815.

Lord Nelson’sSwords is a history, ofedged weaponsowned and some-times raised in battleby such luminaries asAdmiral Lord Nelson,Admiral Lord

Collingwood, Admiral Sir ThomasHardy, Admiral the Earl of Northeskand Admiral the Earl of St. Vincent. Early on, Comfort questions whyNelson “chose to wear just the modestoval side-ring small sword,” rather thanone of the several fine swords which heowned. Period portraits, paintings depictingNelson in action, and a sketch – the onlyvisual histories during the Age of Sail –clearly document the weapon’s physicalcharacteristics.

Comfort presents a detailed history ofthe oval side ring sword and concludesthat it was “the sword Captain MauriceSuckling gave to Nelson,” and is thefighting sword that Nelson used to gainhis fame. As the location of the sword isunknown, with Comfort’s new study,you have what you need to look for it! Over the course of a naval career, anofficer during the Nelson era wouldhave owned a series of weapons,beginning as a midshipman with a dirk(a small sword or dagger) or hanger (ashort, plain curved sword), eventuallyleading to ornate presentation swordsfor great acts of bravery or victoriouscampaigns. Comfort reprints passages from theclassic Swords for Sea Service by Mayand Annis, a long out-of-print volume,describing in great detail weaponsrelated directly to Nelson, Collingwoodand Hardy. This section, which Comfortenhances with his own remarks, isgenerously illustrated with detailedcolor photographs and period oilpaintings.

Lord Nelson’s Swords, while writtenprimarily for collectors and museumcurators, is a treasure chest spilling overwith background material not usuallyfound in mainstream naval histories orbiographies that will appeal to a broadswath of readers. It is a pure pleasure to turn the pagesof this splendid volume, savoring thetwo-hundred-plus color images of rarenaval swords and paintings and thestories behind them.

George Jepson


“My father always said I caused Pearl Harbor!”

American novelist P. T. Deutermann was borninto a naval family in 1941, educated at theUnited States Naval Academy and spent

twenty-six years on active duty in the United StatesNavy, retiring with the rank of captain. Deutermann’s father, Admiral Harold T. Deuter-mann, also a Naval Academy graduate, commanded adestroyer squadron during the Battle of Okinawa inthe spring of 1945. This dramatic conflict, in whichAmerican destroyers suffered severe losses againstJapanese kamikazes, is the focus of the author’s newnovel, Sentinels of Fire (see review on page 16). “I twice asked Pop to tell me more about the picketline, and he would simply blow out a long breath andsay, ‘I’m here, not there.’ That was it.” So in the end,like so many offspring of World War II veterans,Deutermann was forced to learn more about the

by George Jepson


Interview

P. T. DEUTERMANN

P. T. Deutermann and his pal.

Okinawa campaign at sea from other sources. Deutermann is the author sixteen previous novels.Sentinels of Fire is his third World War II navaladventure. The first, Pacific Glory, was published in2011, and won the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award forExcellence in Naval Fiction. The second, Ghosts ofBungo Suido, was published in 2013, and wasdescribed by Kirkus Review as written in “ . . . thetradition of Edward L. Beach’s Run Silent, RunDeep.” Deutermann recently discussed his writing careerand novels with Quarterdeck:

As one of three sons in a distinguished Americannaval family, was there ever a doubt that you wouldfollow the sea?

Yes, there was. I was a national merit scholarshipsemi-finalist; had some free rides to really gooduniversities, wanted to be a doctor. But my folkscouldn’t afford the room, board, books and bills. Sothe navy started looking good.

During your service following graduation from theNaval Academy, did writing play a role in yourprofessional or personal life?

Yes, it did. I wrote a textbook on the role of theoperations officer aboard ship, published by the


United States Naval Institute, and severalprofessional articles, which were published in theUSNI Proceedings.

After service in the navy and a successful businesscareer, what motivated you to write naval fiction withyour first published novel, Scorpion in the Sea?

I was tired of working for a living. I always wantedto write for money, and it all happily panned out.

Was the seed for your second novel, The Edge ofHonor, sown during your service off Vietnam in1964?

Not in 1964, but in 1970, when I was the Ops Boss ina missile cruiser in the Gulf of Tonkin. The drugproblem was starting to overwhelm us.

With two successful naval stories to your credit, whatdrew you to write Official Privilege, a shift tosuspense and thrillers?

The market – at the time, the market wanted thrillers.

What was the genesis of your Cam Richter novels,which first appeared with The Cat Dancers in 2005?

Living in North Carolina, I wanted to try a series

Gearing-class destroyer USS Glennon, similar to the fictitious USS Malloy in P. T. Deutermann’s novel, Sentinels of Fire (official U.S. Navy photo).

character. I loved the books, but they didn’t sell allthat well outside of North Carolina. So we stopped.

What drew you back to naval fiction, with the focuson World War II and the Pacific Theater in PacificGlory (2011) and most recently in Ghosts of BungoSuido (2013)?

I’ve always been a student of naval history, andfigured that I was better qualified to write about warat sea than many other authors. Plus, I wanted topersonalize what the people went through.

What drove you to write about the Japanesekamikaze attacks in the spring of 1945 in Sentinels ofFire?

My Dad was up there in the picket line as a divisioncommander. It was more horrific than peoplegenerally know.

How do you gather material for each story? How doyou develop the “period feel” in your World War IInovels?

I was born in 1941. My father always said I causedPearl Harbor! After that, expressions and sea storiesmy father told flavored my writing.

Your books have twists and turns throughout. Do youinitially outline them?

No. I get the idea for the book, develop thecharacters, and then set them loose. They take over.If they don’t take over, then I start over.

At what point in the process do you begin writing?

Right out of the box. Get the contract, get going. Startwriting. Problems arise immediately. I ask thecharacters: what now?

Please describe where you write and a typicalwriting day.

I have an office above my garage to get away fromfamily noise and distraction. We live on a horse farm.I go out in the morning, help with chores, then go inaround 9:30, coffee-up, and turn to until noon. Afterthat, I play.

Do you re-write as you go along?

Sometimes, but the initial objective is to get the thinglaid down – 130,000 words or so, and then I go backand clean it up.

After a day of writing, are you able to step away fromthe story?

No. I’m “in the book” until it’s done.

Do you ever work on more than one writing projectat a time?

No. My contract prohibits it.

What is next on your writing horizon? Will there beanother World War II naval story in the near future?

The next one will be a Washington thriller.

Are there other areas you would like to explore withyour writing?

American Civil war. A dystopian epic. A Romantechno-thriller.

Is there anything else you would like to share withour readers?

I write because it’s fun and fulfilling. When I go upto the office to settle down and finally put ass-to-chair, it’s always interesting and I look forward to it,every day. Also beats working for a living.


USS Pavlic after a kamikaze attack on the destroyer radar picket line during theBattle of Okinawa, the focus for the author’s new novel, Sentinels of Fire (USSPavlic Association photo).

Visit P. T. Deutermann online:www.ptdeutermann.com.


Kamikaze Attacks at Okinawa

On 11 April 1945, aJapanese MitsubishiA6M Zero penetrat-

ed an antiaircraft screen andslammed into the port sideof the American battleship,USS Missouri (BB-63) offOkinawa. Little damage was inflictedon the “Mighty Mo,” butkamikaze attacks wereparticularly devastating tothe Allied destroyers andother smaller vesselsstationed on picket lines,where they could warncruisers, carriers andbattleships of impendingattacks. The destroyer USSLaffey was called “The shipthat would not die,” after itsurvived six kamikaze attacks and four bomb hitsoff Okinawa. The kamikaze, believed by Japanese ViceAdmiral Takashiro Ohnishi, to be the mosteffective weapon against American and Britishnaval forces, reached its zenith at the Battle ofOkinawa between April and June 1945. Between 6 April and 22 June, 1,465 Japanesemulti-aircraft kamikaze attacks were launchedfrom Kyushu. During the same period, 185individual kamikaze sorties flew from Kyushu, and250 individual kamikaze attacks flew fromFormosa. In addition to single-engine aircraft, theJapanese also sent twin-engine aircraft againstAllied shipping in planned kamikaze attacks. American intelligence estimated that 89 enemyplanes were based on Formosa, while in truth theJapanese had approximately 700 dismantled orwell camouflaged aircraft hidden and dispersedon the island in villages and towns. Although all classes of warship were damaged,

no cruisers, carriers or battleships were sunk bykamikazes at Okinawa. During the campaign atsea, 368 Allied vessels (including 120 amphibiouscraft) were damaged while another 28 (including15 amphibious ships and 12 destroyers) weresunk. U.S. Navy killed (4,907) exceeded wounded(4,874), with most casualties inflicted by kami-kaze attacks. American carriers, with their wooden flightdecks, were more vulnerable to damage fromkamikaze hits than the British carriers, which wereconstructed with reinforced steel decks. U.S.carriers also suffered considerably heaviercasualties than the British from kamikaze strikes.During one attack, 389 men were killed aboardthe USS Bunker Hill. This single loss exceeded thetotal combined fatalities suffered aboard all sixRoyal Navy carriers during the entire war. Rear Admiral Matome Ugaki, the second incommand of the Combined Japanese ImperialPacific Fleet, directed the last official kamikazeattack against the Allied fleet at Okinawa on 15August 1945.

A Japanese Zero about to hit the USS Missouri (BB-63) on 11 April 1945, during theBattle of Okinawa.

I n the spring of 1945, JapaneseImperial Navy ships rest on thePacific sea bed, rusting relics of an

ill-conceived war. All that standsbetween the home islands and Alliednaval forces are kamikaze aircraft – theDevine wind – and a few remainingsubmarines.

By early April, UnitedStates Army and Marinedivisions have landed onOkinawa, intent onsecuring the large islandfor an air base inpreparation for aninvasion of mainlandJapan. At sea, surroundingOkinawa, Americandestroyers, cruisers,battleships andaircraft carrierssupport groundoperations. Inresponse, theJapanese launchwaves of suicidebombers against the

imposing fleet. Reporting aboard the Gearing-classdestroyer USS Malloy, newly appointedExecutive Officer Connie Miles is aboutto face the most challenging two monthsin his naval career. In a story reminiscent of HermanWouk’s The Caine Mutiny, Deuter-mann places ordinary men inextraordinary situations where time isoften measured in seconds and thedifference between life and death isoften a matter of luck.

Sentinels of Fireby P. T. Deutermann

The Malloy is assigned to picket dutyoff Okinawa, providing advancewarning to the fleet’s capital ships ofincoming kamikaze attacks. Stress is acommon denominator for enlistedseamen and officers alike, but for Milesthere is an added element: a captain,Commander Carson Tallmadge III, whois on the brink of an emotionalbreakdown. As the Japanese attacks intensify,Tallmadge retreats to his cabin at thesound of the general quarters alarm,leaving Miles in command. The youngXO walks a fine line between leadingthe other officers and crew members,while not over-stepping his captain’sauthority. Day and night, the Malloys await thedeadly kamikazes, which frequentlyapproach their targets on the deck,flying one behind the other in a straightline, hoping to evade defensive fire andtake out a destroyer with multipleaircraft strikes. If the flying bombs aren’t enoughconcern, a large Japanese submarinesurfaces one night and launches rocketsfrom its deck, obliterating a sisterdestroyer. Deutermann is at his best with vivid,raw descriptions of life aboard theMalloy. This is fine naval fiction toldwith sensitivity by an author who hashimself commanded men aboard a U.S.Navy destroyer. At times I was aboard the Malloywith Connie Miles and Pudge Tall-madge, sharing their emotions.

George Jepson

St. Martin’s Press, $25.99, U.S. Hardcover / $11.04, Kindle / $12.99, NOOK


Editor’s Choice

Nearly seventy years afterWorld War II officially ended,with the Japanese surrender

aboard the USS Missouri in TokyoBay, the conflict continues to spawncaptivating fiction. Novelist John John J. Gobbell’slatest Todd Ingram naval thriller (seereview on page 21), Edge of Honor –the fifth title in the series – will belaunched in mid July by the UnitedStates Naval Institute Press. During the war, Gobbell was ayoungster growing up in Southern

JOHN J. GOBBELLby George Jepson


Interview

“. . . as a kid, I was completely immersedin events of World War II . . .”

The Japanese contingent aboard the USS Missouri in Toyko Bayprior to surrender ceremonies on 2 September 1945. The gunmount (left) is where Todd Ingram views the formalities in JohnGobbell’s new novel, Edge of Valor (official U.S. Navy photo).

California, while his father, aphysician, served with the UnitedStates Navy in the Pacific Theater. In America, many youths, who livedthrough the war or were born in theyears immediately afterward, were aptto ask their fathers “Dad, what did youdo in the war?” Often as not, the question wasanswered with a taciturn reply orsimply silence. Returning vets, somewho had witnessed unspeakablehorrors, were looking ahead, glad to behome, building families and careers.John J. Gobbell

The war was behind them. Like many of his generation,Gobbell learned little directlyfrom his father, but this didn’tdiscourage his fascination withthe war, particularly navalaction in the South Pacific. Sowhen the elder Gobbellsocialized with other veterans,young John was all ears, asthese men shared their stories. The naval connection stuck.After graduating from theUniversity of SouthernCalifornia, Gobbell wascommissioned an ensign in theUnited States Navy, serving as adeck and anti-submarine warfareofficer aboard the USS Tingey(DD 539), a Fletcher-classdestroyer and a Battle of LeyteGulf veteran. The Todd Ingram novels,beginning with The Last Lieutenant, follow theAmerican naval officer from Corregidor as theJapanese closed in after the attack on Pearl Harbor in1941 to the final days of the war in the Pacific, theJapanese surrender and the messy aftermathinvolving the Soviet Union. Gobbell has also written two standalone novels, ACall to Colors, which is a naval thriller set in thePacific in 1944, and a modern submarine adventure,The Brutus Lie. The author recently spoke with Quarterdeck aboutthe influences behind his writing career and the ToddIngram series:

What called you to the sea and naval service as ayoung man?

As a youngster I was surrounded by military people,mostly Navy. By 1945, I was eight years old and theUnited States was at the top of her game withvictorious GIs returning from overseas and anxious tostart a new life. My dad was no different. He returnedfrom duty as a Navy doc aboard an APA (attacktransport), where he patched up Marines in five of themajor campaigns of the Pacific. So my pop and hisfriends were role models. Some of his friends I readabout today. All of them, including my dad, were inthe thick of things at one point or another. Like manyothers we know, they were reluctant to talk about the

“dark stuff,” but blabbed wellinto the night about the funnystuff.

After service in the Navy, with asuccessful business career, whatmotivated you to turn to writingfiction in your spare time? WasThe Brutus Lie your first attemptat fiction?

I’ve always enjoyed reading. Mymom was a librarian and sheencouraged me to read theclassics. But being a brainlessrenegade, I turned to reallychallenging things like the HardyBoys and, yes, Donald Duck.Thus, an understatement wouldbe that my professionaldevelopment was impaired as Istumbled along on my pathtoward college. But once at the

University of Southern California and in theirNROTC unit, I never looked back. I loved it,including the classes in naval engineering andnavigation, which for me, with no math capabilities,was phenomenal. I surprised myself and everyoneelse my getting through all that without too muchtrouble. Later in life, I once again turned to the Hardy Boysway of doing things. Except these were novels sellingin paperbacks under the guise of general fiction, orthrillers, or historical fiction. I loved them, except Isoon discovered that very few of these paperbackshad any merit. I was tossing four out of five bookspurchased before reaching page fifty. So after yearsof living this way, I figured I could do as good a jobas most of these authors and sat down and wrote anovel. That turned out to be a piece of junk, but theprocess was positive in that I acquired a good agentalong the way. So that book crashed and burned. Theagent advised me to write another, which I did. Thatturned out to be The Brutus Lie, published by CharlesScribner’s Sons.

Was nautical fiction, as opposed to another genre,your primary focus when you started writing?

Yes, it always has been. Wasn’t it Hemingway whosaid, “write about what you know?” So nauticalfiction is where I first turned.


Lieutenant jg John J. Gobbell

What initially drew you to World War II and thePacific Theater as the canvas on which to create yourstories?

As I mentioned earlier, as a kid, I was completelyimmersed in events of World War II – from myfamily, to my surroundings in Long Beach,California, which was a major port at the time. Andthis stayed with me long after 1945. I think thoseevents are still part of me.

What was the genesis of the Todd Ingram novels,beginning with The Last Lieutenant? Did you have aseries in mind from the outset?

After Brutus, I was looking for material for my nextnovel and having poor results. Brutus was acontemporary work. And I had no idea where to gonext. But then I reached on my book shelf and pulledout a long forgotten World War II work entitledSouth from Corregidor, by John Morrill. Thisdocumented Morrill’s 1942 escape from Corregidorwith seventeen men in a thirty-six-foot foot launch.Somehow, it grabbed me. I was able to get in touchwith Morrill, who lived in Virginia. He’s now passed,but he was very supportive at the time, helping mewrite a dramatized version of that escape. WithMorrill’s permission, the hero morphed into ToddIngram. It wasn’t until the end that my editor at St.Martin’s Press and I decided to generate a sequel andperhaps make it a series, which is what happened.

How do you develop your storylines?

I try to go with what really happened overall. Mygenre is historical fiction, which means you cannotbend or change actual events. If you do this toaccommodate some convoluted plot, your book goesin the trash and those people will never read youagain. So with a real story-line, one that people canunderstand like an event in World War II, Isuperimpose a sub-plot that is specific to mycharacters. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes verydifficult. But I’ve always found that truth really isstranger than fiction. If you stick to what happened,your novel will have a much greater chance forsuccess.

How did you settle on the plot for Edge of Valor?

I stood back and mused the post-Nagasaki, Japan (9August 1945) bomb events for a long time. Then, Ilooked at John Toland’s masterpiece, The Rising Sun.After that, I scooped up Richard Frank’s Downfall.Many other works followed, including Samuel EliotMorison’s epic Volume XIV of his History of UnitedStates Naval Operations in World War II. Idiscovered so many little things about the period –August 9, 1945 to the day of the surrender ceremonyon September 2, 1945 – with each being so worthy ofa novel. It was impossible not to write about them.

Period authenticity is a hallmark of your World WarII novels. How do you achieve this?

As I mentioned, don’t change what actuallyhappened. Adhering to actual events will make the


In John J. Gobbell’s latest Todd Ingram thriller, Edge of Valor, the American naval officer finds himself aboard a Japanese Mitsubishi-G4M “Betty” bomber like the one above. Japanese representatives flew to preliminary surrender meetings with Allied leaders in thewhite-painted aircraft, which were adorned with plain crosses.


Visit John J. Gobbell online at:johnjgobbel.com.

work better. You may have to jump through a lot ofhoops, but the outcome is always better. And you’lllearn a lot along the way. Like other authors, I doread a lot. And having friends in the navy, orwhatever connection you need to speak with, is veryhelpful. Keep your favorite doctor in mind whenneeding to learn what happens to somebody who hasa broken back, or speak with your pharmacist whenyou have to learn about poison antidotes. They’realways approachable. They love to talk about theirjobs like anyone else and these are usuallyentertaining experiences.

Do you outline your manuscripts before you beginwriting?

Not always successfully, but I try to write a single-spaced synopsis of ten pages or so. This is in presenttense and is the toughest part of the whole bookwriting process. When the synopsis feels pretty tight,I divide it arbitrarily into fifty sections. Good, bad orindifferent, this becomes fifty chapters of anapproximately 120,000-word work. Then I begin atpage one and hope for the best. Most likely, thenumber of chapters will change as I move along, butthis all seems to work, at least for me.

Please describe where you write.

Anywhere when mulling things over. I sometimes dothis to the consternation of my wife, who has toshout, “stop writing and listen to me!” When actuallywriting, I’m always glued to my desk at home withan old, wheezing, windows-based Dell computer. Justgot a 27 inch screen and that did wonders. I highlyrecommend it.

Do you follow a specific writing routine?

When starting out, I was pretty good in the lateevening, going to one or two o’clock in the weehours. With advancing age, I’m better now in themorning, with a sharp mind and breakfast under mybelt. Overall, I believe if I can do about a thousandwords a day I’m okay.

Do you re-write as you go along?

Yes, always. This is a major part of writing, usuallythe most entertaining. One can re-write a chaptertwo- three- five times and really enjoy it because thechapter keeps getting tighter and comes alive.

Are you able to step away from the story, after a dayof writing?

Sometimes no. A passage stays with me. Orsomething pops up that I’ve forgotten. Or maybe it’ssomething entirely new. I’ll either write it down forthe next day or actually make the change right then.

Does the Edge of Valor complete the Todd Ingramseries? Are you working on a new book?

Two more Todd Ingram novels are planned. Rightnow I’m at chapter twenty-nine of fifty of Dead ManLaunch. It’s funny when I look at all my platitudesabove. Some of it works; some doesn’t. But overall itseems to be working here, although at times this bookis driving me nuts. After that, look for At Danger’sEbb.

Beyond Todd Ingram, are there other areas youwould like to explore with your writing, as you did inyour standalone novel, A Call to Colors?

Yes, I’d like to do some more World War II novels.Dead Man Launch and At Danger’s Ebb are postWorld War II and, although interesting, I long to getback into my original genre.

What do you do for relaxation, when you're not writing?

Nothing exciting really. We like to travel a bit, spendtime with our grand kids and enjoy life at the beach.

Is there anything else you would like to say to ourreaders?

For your own well-being keep on reading. I’mconvinced that reading and exercising your mind. is amajor element for keeping your mind healthy andaway from the Alzheimer’s drugs. No doubt there’s alot of satisfaction from all of this, as well. And threecheers for the hard-bound books you snuggle up withon a cold winter’s night. And yes, keep up theexercise. No excuses. It’s important.

Edge of Valorby John J. Gobbell

Naval Institute Press, $34.95, U.S. Hardcover

A fter nearly four long and bloodyyears, the war in the Pacific isfinally over – or so Commander

Todd Ingram, skipper of the destroyerUSS Maxwell, believes. Less than a week earlier, a secondatomic bomb had been dropped on theJapanese mainland at Nagasaki, anevent the Maxwell officers and crew

hope will end hostilities. Now that Japan has officiallycapitulated and peace is finallyat hand, Ingram’s innerthoughts naturally turn to hiswife, Helen, their young son,Jerry, and home in San Pedro. And then a message fromAdmiral Raymond Spruance,commanding officer of theFifth Fleet, arrives, temporar-ily detaching Ingram fromthe Maxwell for special duty. Arriving on Ie Shima Is-land in the Okinawa Prefec-ture, Ingram receives ordersfrom a Major Neidemeyer –a State Department minion– to escort sixteen high-ranking Japanese to Manila

to negotiate a surrender ceremony. The duty sounds rather straight for-ward, but this is a John Gobbell novel.The waters are generally muddied andIngram usually finds himself in an un-tenable, often life-threatening, position. Another shoe drops, when Ingram isinvited to meet with General RichardSutherland, who explains that Russianforces are moving to take possession ofislands lost to Japan during the Russo-

Japanese War, as well as Hokkaido. The Americans want to slow the Rus-sians, who are moving fast, but there’s atwist. The Japanese have a Red Crossrepresentative named Walter Boring onToro Island, who has vital war-crimeevidence. “It’s essential you get Boringand return him to us before the Russiansget him,” says Sutherland. “Oh, sure,”snaps Ingram, “just like that.” In sunny San Pedro, Helen Ingram,an Army nurse, is dealing with demonsrelating to her service in the Philippinesduring the early days of the war, andwondering when Todd will return fromthe Pacific. En route to Karafuto Island from Ma-nila, Ingram survives a crash landingaboard a Japanese Mitsubishi G4M2“Betty” bomber, but eventually reachesthe island by air. Approaching the air-strip at Toro, the Americans discoverRussian forces closing in on the Japa-nese garrison. Leading the Soviets isIngram’s nemesis, Eduard Dezhnev. Just as World War II is over, Ingramwonders whether another is about tobegin. Caught between Japanese forcesand advancing Russians, – supposedallies – time is running out for theAmericans.

Edge of Valor is John Gobbell at hisfinest, with a rapidly-paced historicalthriller that will have readers turningpages at a furious rate. His portrayal ofthe war years in the Pacific and on thehome front is brilliant and authenticdown to the last detail.

George Jepson


Editor’s Choice


Reviews

HOW DARK THENIGHT

by William C. Hammond

Naval Institute Press, $34.95, U.S. Hardback

In the yearsleading up to

the War of1812, theCutlers ofHingham,Massachusetts,an Americanseafaringfamily, facethreats at homeand abroad. Great Britain’s long-standing warwith France imperils Americaneconomic interests, even asPresident Thomas Jefferson strugglesto maintain neutral in the conflict. Despite Jefferson’s stance, Britainendangers relations with its formercolonies by enacting laws thatadversely affect United Statesmerchant trade, including that ofCutler & Sons, as well as impressingAmerican sailors into the Royal Navy. Richard and Katherine Cutlerexperience this tension firsthand,when the new Cutler Baltimoreclipper, Dove, is stopped en route toBarbados by a British man-of-war.Returning home, Dove is taken by theinfamous pirate Jean LaFitte. As tensions with the Britishheighten at sea, Cutlers serve aboardwarships of both nations. William Hammond spins a capti-vating tale set against the endeavorsof a young nation and a familyseeking to find its way in a politicallyand personally complicated world.

How Dark the Night – and theentire Cutler chronicle – shineglorious light on America’s richmaritime history.

GDJ

TRIDENTby Michael Aye

Boson Books, $16.95, U.S. Trade Paperback

A mericanand French

privateers areat large, whenHMS Trident, a64-gun RoyalNavy man-of-war, arrives inthe Caribbeanunder thecommand ofCaptain Gabe Anthony and flyingRear-Admiral Rupert Buck’s flag. Learning that HMS Foxfire hasbeen taken and that the crew isimprisoned on the island of St. Croix,Foreign Services Officer Lord Skallarequests that a squadron be sent to“free our people, and burn or takeback our ship.” Carrying out orders, Rear-AdmiralBuck’s squadron, led by Trident, raidsSt. Croix and liberates the prisoners,and discovers a plan for Americanand French privateers to attackBritish convoys returning from theIndian Ocean. As all of this transpires, GabeAnthony’s personal life is conflicted,as his American-born wife, Faith, wholives on Tobago, harbors sentimentsfor the Colonies.

Trident, with Lord Skalla aboard,weighs anchor in the warmCaribbean waters and sets sail acrossthe Atlantic with Buck’s squadron,bound for South Africa and the seasbeyond, intent on destroying theroving marauders. Michael Aye’s crisp storytelling –punctuated with rousing battlescenes and true-to-life mortals –comes to the fore in this lively navalyarn.

GDJ

THE BATTLE OFALL THE AGES

by J. D. Davies

Old Street Publishing Ltd, $14.95, U.S. Paperback

CaptainMatthew

Quintoncommands thelarge, newlybuilt Third-Rate RoyalSceptre in thecolossal FourDays’ Battleagainst theDutch off the Flemish and Englishcoasts in early June 1666. The British fleet is weakened at theoutset, when a squadron is sent on afool’s errand to block the Strait ofDover against the French, whomysteriously do not appear. Theresult is a supreme defeat at sea. King Charles II is incensed,believing that false and traitorousintelligence drove the fleet in twoseparate directions. SummoningQuinton to Westminster Abbey inLondon, the Sovereign demands:“Find me someone I can hang, drawand quarter, to placate the mob.” Quinton’s quest leads to the murkyand dangerous lanes in Plymouth,where evidence points to an old andtrusted colleague – but all is not as itseems. J. D. Davies’s recreation ofRestoration England – a lesser knownperiod in popular naval fiction – andthe Royal Navy is masterful. Thund-erous cannon fire reverberates offthe pages, while powder smokeswirls around a cast of vividly drawncharacters. The Battle of All the Ages isanother brilliant naval adventure inDavies’s winning series.

GDJ


Until the SeaShall Give Up Her Dead

by Sean Thomas Russell

(Michael Joseph, £12.99, UK Hardback) Under thecommand of the steadfast Captain Charles Hayden,Royal Navy frigate HMS Themis is sent across theAtlantic to counter the threat of the French forces inthe West Indies. But before she strikes port inBarbados, the Themis intercepts a single boat adrift inthe middle of the ocean, its sole occupants, twoyoung Spanish noblemen. But not is all as it seemswith Hayden's unexpected guests. The mystery onlydeepens as Hayden’s ship reaches Barbados, wherehe must take new orders from the Admiral. Haydenfinds his ship in a squadron under the command ofthe conceited Sir William Jones, who involvesHayden on a course of action so foolhardy that he isfaced with losing many of his men. Once again, theThemis is thrown into the most violent of actionagainst the enemy. Hayden must make the hardestchoice of all – life or death?

New Sea Fiction

The Last Vikingby Berwick Coates

(Simon and Schuster Ltd, £12.99, UK Hardback)England, 1066. With the death of Edward theConfessor, the future of England is hanging in thebalance. Harold has been crowned king but thecountry he inherits is menaced by division within andenemies without. In the north, Tostig, Earl ofNorthumbria, has been expelled by a rebellion. Heplots revenge, and threatens to invade at any time andanywhere. To the south there are rumors of Williamof Normandy massing a force to attack from France.And in Norway, Harald Hardrada, the greatest Vikingalive, sees an opportunity in a divided kingdom.Harold will not let his country go without a fight.Charismatic, daring and resourceful, he is determinedto make Hardrada the last Viking in England. And so,the bloodiest battle yet fought on English soil is aboutto begin.

July Available Now

The Devil’s Luckby Jan Needle

(Endeavour Press Ltd, $2.99, Kindle) Charlie Ravenis intent on a life at sea. But when he joins his uncleCaptain Hector Maxwell, a man who despises him,he is in for a stormier ride than he could haveimagined. Maxwell is the “owner” of the Pointer, asmall, fast sloop which he insists is a frigate, and hehas filled her with more officers than justified by hersize. He blames these men – and bad luck – for all hismisfortunes, and is desperate for the success andglory he feels is his right. His stock in trade is to takeon impossible missions. When Charlie Raven joinshim, he is about to embark on a treacherousexpedition that seems sure to end in death. As well asthe outwitting French, they will be forced into bloodybattle with the natives of the Scilly Isles. And“craven Raven,” as his uncle calls him, will have toprove he is not a hopeless coward. Very soon, Charliewill need the Devil’s luck to make it back to shorealive. The Devil’s Luck is a thrilling naval adventurethat will appeal to fans of Bernard Cornwell,Alexander Kent and Julian Stockwin.

NelsonThe Poisoned River

by Jan Needle

(Endeavour Press Ltd, $2.99, Kindle) For HoratioNelson, life on the West Indies station has been adisappointment. While other men have fought theAmerican rebels, he has been forced to cruise theCaribbean disrupting Spanish shipping, and harryingthe pirates, privateers and smugglers movingcontraband to the detriment of the English exchequer.Sailing in consort with his friend Cuthbert Colling-wood, Nelson has had some success, but has beenthwarted time after time when his targets turn out tobe legitimate traders. His prize money has beensmall, and Nelson knows that to succeed in his life’sambition he must be rich. To top it all, years ofrecurring malaria are destroying his health. When thegovernor of Jamaica decides to send an expedition upthe San Juan river to link the Caribbean with thePacific Ocean, the potential prize is enormous. TheSpanish Main will be split in half, and England willcontrol the whole continent.

New Sea Fiction

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New Historical Fiction

The Black Stoneby Nick Brown

(Hodder & Stoughton, $29.95, U.S. Hardback) AD273 . . . Obsessed by the solar religions of the east,the emperor Aurelian sets out to obtain every sacredobject within his realm. But one, a mysterious rocksaid to channel the power of the sun god, lies beyondhis reach. Warrior-priest Ilaha has captured thelegendary stone and is using it to raise an armyagainst Rome.For Imperial agent Cassius Corbulo and ex-gladiatorbodyguard Indavara, stopping him constitutes theirgreatest challenge yet. Assisted by a squad ofundercover soldiers and a Saracen chieftain, they treksouth across the deserts of Arabia, encounteringsandstorms, murderous money-lenders and a ruthlessGerman mercenary. And when they finally reachIlaha's mountain fortress, they face thousands ofwarriors who will give their lives to protect him –and the black stone.

August

The Art of the Devilby John Altman

(Severn House, $28.95, U.S. Hardback / $15.49,Kindle / $24.99, NOOK) In 1955, one woman holdsthe key to America’s future, a ruthless and beautifulex-Nazi assassin, posing as a housekeeper insidePresident Eisenhower’s isolated Gettysburg estate,awaiting her chance to murder the chief executiveand change the course of history. One man stands inher way, a disgraced Secret Service agent, drivenfrom active duty by battle fatigue. Waiting andwatching are the most powerful figures of the era,including Senator Joe McCarthy, FBI Chief J. EdgarHoover, Vice President Richard Nixon, and thesinister pair of German-American brotherssponsoring the attack. As the minutes tick down, thehighly-trained professional killer and the discreditedWWII veteran face off in a deadly game. At stake isthe life and legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower, theworld’s most powerful man.

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Run Them Ashoreby Adrian Goldsworthy

(W&N, £18.99, UK Hardback) British fortunes in thePeninsula War are at their lowest ebb. LieutenantHamish Williams of the 106th Foot will soondiscover just how precarious their situation is, andwhat bloody sacrifices are necessary to prevent totalvictory for the French. While the Navy keeps theBritish foothold at Cadiz from falling to the enemy,help from the valiant but divided Spanish guerrilloswill be vital if the French advance on land is to behalted. Alongside the experienced “exploring officer”Lieutenant Hanley, Williams joins the Spanishpartisans behind enemy lines, but while he learnsmuch about the viciousness of guerrilla warfare – notleast that women can sometimes fight with all theferocity of their male counterparts – he quickly findsthat the greatest danger comes from his own side.Carrying vital knowledge of a traitor, Williams mustfind his way back to the British lines before a deadlyFrench trap can be sprung, but with the Britishcommanders determined to go on the attack, will hebe able to avert disaster?

Iron & Rustby Harry Sidebottom

(HarperCollins, £16.99, UK Hardback) From thebestselling author of Warrior of Rome comes the firstbook in a new series set in third century Rome, adramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions andcivil war. In a single year six Emperors will lay claimto the Throne of the Caesars. In Spring AD235, asurprise attack and the brutal murder of the EmperorAlexander and his mother ends the Severan dynastyand shatters four decades of Roman certainty.Military hero Maximinus Thrax is the first Caesarrisen from the barracks. A simple man of steel andviolence, he will fight for Rome. The Senators praisethe new Emperor with elaborate oratory, but will anyof them accept a Caesar who was once a shepherdboy? And in the streets of the eternal city, othersmerely pray to escape imperial notice. In the north, asthe merciless war against the barbarians consumesmen and treasure, rebellion and personal tragedydrive Maximinus to desperate extremes, bloodyrevenge and the borders of sanity.


August Available Now

27 | Quarterdeck | Spring 2014

Keene’s Challengeby Iain Gale

(Heron Books, £12.99, UK Hardback) The IberianPeninsula, 1809. French troops led by one ofNapoleon’s best generals are massing on the border.Wellington’s outnumbered force and his unreliableSpanish allies need to pick off the smaller Frenchunits if they are to stand their ground. For that theyneed information: accurate intelligence on numbers,arms and whereabouts. That’s where Captain Keaneand his company of scouting officers are invaluabletools, despite being unpopular with the regularsoldiers. But it soon becomes apparent that someonehigh up in Wellington’s headquarters is a spy for theFrench. Only someone able to travel widely outsidethe camp, someone privy to battle plans, could be thedouble agent, and Keane’s enemies within the armyare quick to point the finger. Keane must defend hiscrew against their accusers - or root out the traitorhimself. Keane’s Challenge draws a fascinatingpicture of a disparate group of men brought togetherin a Peninsular War adventure that sees maverickhero Keane ride again.

Now Available


Available Now Available Now

Prince of Legendby Jack Ludlow

(Allison & Busby, £7.99, UK Paperback) They weremen born to fight. If God willed that Antioch was theplace where they gave up life, so be it. Thanks to thestratagems of Bohemund de Hauteville, leader of theApulian Normans, the Crusade has taken the city ofAntioch, and just in time. Once the besiegers,Bohemund and his men are about to become thebesieged, a huge Turkish-led army, commanded bythe fearsome General Kerbogha, is fast approaching.Provisions are needed to support not only the army,but also thousands of camp followers and pilgrims.But the surrounding countryside is near barren andthe storerooms of Antioch much depleted. It soonbecomes obvious that the Crusaders cannot hold outfor long without falling prey to starvation. And forBohemund and his nephew Tancred there is anotherdifficulty: the dissent between the Crusade leadershas broken out into the open, with the wealthyProvencal magnate Raymond of Toulouse stirring upconflict. If the Christian host is fighting on twofronts, so is Bohemund himself.


New History

Waterlooby Bernard Cornwell

(William Collins, £25.00, UK Hardback) From theinternationally bestselling author of the Sharpe novelsand in the bicentenary year of the battle, this is the truestory of Waterloo. On 18 June 1815, the armies ofFrance, Britain and Prussia descended upon a quietvalley south of Brussels. In the previous three days theFrench army had beaten the British at Quatre Bras andthe Prussians at Ligny. The Allies were in retreat. Theblood-soaked battle of Waterloo would become alandmark in European history, to be examined over andagain. This is the chronicle of the four days leading upto the actual battle and a thrilling hour-by-hour accountof that fateful day. In his first work of non-fiction,Cornwell combines his storytelling skills with ameticulously researched history to give a rivetingaccount of every dramatic moment, from Napoleon’sescape from Elba to the smoke and gore of thebattlefields. Through letters and diaries he also shedsnew light on the private thoughts of Napoleon and theDuke of Wellington, as well as the ordinary officers andsoldiers.

headed for the Monitor Center, which features a multi-media re-enactment of the Battle of Hampton Roads.Inside the theater, I found myself alone, soaking up theatmosphere, as ships sailed across a large screen, lightsflashed and cannon fire thundered, fully awakening mysenses. A voiceover narration shared the story of thebattle. By the time the doors swung open, I was fullyengaged in a historic time I previously had known littleabout. Inside the center, which is deceptively large,there are full-size re-creations of the crew’s andofficers’ quarters aboard the Monitor, as well asartifacts (eating utensils, a sailor’s comb, a boot, U.S.Navy buttons) recovered from the ocean floor. Turning a corner, I found myself face to face withtwo full-size replica interpretive turrets, one as it lookedwhen it arrived at the museum, complete with mud,embedded seashells and two skeletons of crew memberscaught when she sank. The second shows the turret’sconstruction and guns. On the lower level of the galleryis the Monitor’s mighty propeller. Outside the center,visitors may step aboard a full-size replica of theMonitor and walk her flat deck. There is much, much more to the museum, includinggalleries dedicated to Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, theU.S. Navy in World War II, ship models, as well asrotating exhibits. There is an admission charge to enterthe displays, but the beautiful park is open to the publicat no charge. America’s National Maritime Museum,with its signature USS Monitor Center, is a sparklingtreasure to visit again and again.

George Jepson

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

September

By George!

Detail from a painting by J. O. Davidson depicting the battlebetween the ironclads CSS Virginia (left) and USS Monitor on 9March 1862.


Naval Fiction Classics

Frank Mildmay or the Naval Officer(McBooks Press, $16.95, U.S. trade paperback) FrankMildmay is a rogue and a rascal who cuts a memorableswath as he move up the ranks of the early 19th-century Royal Navy. Whether seducing pretty girlsashore, braving hurricanes at sea or scrambling aboarda French privateer with cutlass bared, Mildmay and hisadventures live on! Frank Mildmay, Marryat’s firstnovel, is said to be partly autobiographical. Hecompleted it while fitting out his last command, the28-gun Ariadne.

Mr Midshipman Easy(McBooks Press, $18.95, U.S. trade paperback) Setsail with Midshipman Jack Easy, the original nauticalhero, as he embarks on a career in the Royal Navy, fullof spine-tingling danger, outrageous adventure andhumorous goings on. Jack is the unfortunate son of aself-taught philosopher who has a lot to learn on thedecks of a ship of war – but learn them he does, andproves his courage, honor and cleverness to boot. Asyou embark with Jack on a tour of the High Seas,you’ll be following in the footsteps of HermanMelville, Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, C. S.Forester, Patrick O’Brian and countless other lovers ofnautical fiction through the years, who found inMarryat the key to a whole new world.

Newton Forster(McBooks Press, $18.95, U.S. trade paperback)

Newton Forster is a troubled young man who survivesbeing impressed into the Royal Navy, imprisonment inFrance, and a shipwreck in the West Indies beforegaining a post on British East India Company vesselbound for Asia. Forster faces a thrill a chapter –murder, insanity, press gangs, prison, pirates,treachery, and romance! Marryat’s non-stop action andwry wit combine to create an immensely entertainingblend of sea story and farce.

The King’s Own(McBooks Press, $19.95, U.S. trade paperback)William Seymour grows up on shipboard in the RoyalNavy, after his father is hanged during the mutiny atthe Nore in 1797. Later, the young hero is impressedinto the crew of a daring smuggler. This amusing andexciting novel blends in the classic true tale of anEnglish captain who deliberately lost his frigate on alee shore, in order to wreck a French line-of-battle ship.

Snarleyyow or the Dog Fiend(McBooks Press, $18.95, U.S. trade paperback)Lieutenant Cornelius Vanslyperken is the greedy andtreacherous commander of a small vessel that hunts forsmugglers in the English Channel. Snarleyyow is his“indestructible” dog. Set in 1699 and framed aroundthe Jacobite (supporters of the overthrown king, JamesII) conspiracies of the time, this is the first of threeworks in which Marryat builds his story aroundhistorical events, rather than those of his own time.

Captain Frederick Marryat

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4


Dispatches

Plantations were established. As in America’s southerncolonies, cotton was king. From the 1780s until the end ofthe century these new plantations flourished. The newplantation owners grew wealthy, and more slaves werebrought to work the fields. Ships regularly dropped theiranchors in the harbor at Georgetown to fill their holds withexport goods. The good times did not last, however. The land only hada thin layer of topsoil on top of coral and limestone and aharder coral base. By the 19th century, the clearing of landand repeated planting of crops exposed the soil to highwinds and bad weather. Frequent downpours, hurricanesand pestilence proved to be catastrophic. Another development was the passage of the Slave TradeAct of 1807, which didn’t abolish slavery, but severelysuppressed the trade. Passage of the Slavery Abolition Act1833 was the final straw. The land was worthless and slaveswere free. Plantation owners were ruined. As the planterspulled out, the former slaves were left to make it on theirown. Some survived by planting and growing vegetablesand fruit, while others turned to the sea for a living. Interestingly enough, over the years the attitudes inAmerica had changed significantly. Many of the plantersreturned to the United States and started over where theyhad left off years earlier. During our week in the Exumas, we traveled the islandfrom end to end and east to west. Little Exuma is connectedto Great Exuma by a single, one-lane bridge called TheFerry. On Little Exuma at Williams Town lie the ruins ofHermitage Plantation, the last remaining reminder of theisland’s heyday. The area is overgrown and with almost noinfrastructure on the island it will probably disappear beforetoo long. A set of crypts are still present and are inscribed:“George Butler 1759 - 1822”, “Henderson Ferguson 1772 –1825” and “Constance McDonald 1755 – 1759”. A nearbyunmarked grave is said to be that of a slave. Approaching Williams Town, a tall stone monument orbeacon on the salt flats was built to signal ships that saltwas available for sale. On Little Exuma, we found the Tropic of Cancer Beach,which is officially called Pelican Beach. The Tropic ofCancer latitude line runs along this beach. It is down a veryrough, rocky road, without signs, but we were determinedand finally found the secluded beach, with its little cays inthe distance. It was an absolute paradise. I have never advertised in any of my letters, but the bestfood I’ve ever eaten in the Caribbean came from a littleopen air shack called Santanna’s Roadside Stand. I had twolobster tails, a Bahamian cooked rice, with caramelizedonions, cole slaw and corn. This was washed down withice cold Kalik’s beer. Not only was the food second tonone, but the place sat above a beautiful white sand beach

with an unbelievable view and seagulls everywhere. Theowner is a very pleasant and sweet lady named KeturahFox. We were told that Johnny Depp ate there every daythat he spent on the island. On Great Exuma at Rolle Town, named after plantationowner Lord John Rolle, we found three more tombs. Twowere inscribed: “Ann M. Kay” and “Alexander M. Kay”.A third was that of an infant dated 1792. On the northern end of the island sits Barraterre, wherewe hired a boat and spent an entire day on the openwaters. We watched in disbelief as the mighty Atlanticcrashed over the cays and spilled into the calm Caribbean.The boat captain pointed out places that were supposedlypirates’ hideouts and fishing villages established byformer slaves. We saw homes on islands owned by suchcelebrities as David Copperfield, Tim McGraw and FaithHill, Nicholas Cage and others. We saw where the JamesBond movie, Thunderball, was filmed in part. We went toan island that sported swimming pigs and another islandwhere rock iguanas would eat lettuce out of your hand. At Staniel Cay you could swim with the sharks. Wealso found a huge sandbar in the middle of the Caribbeannestled among the cays. At Stocking Island, mega million-dollar yachts were anchored in every direction. All too soon the week was over and it was back on a jetand to our daily routines. To learn more about theExumas, visit the islands’ website. You’ll be surprised athow much there is to see and do. Well, shipmates, untilnext year, fair winds.

Michael Aye

Michael Aye on the path to the Tropic of Cancer Beach.

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