"Best WWII Naval Fiction?" Topic

Which novel(s) do you recommend?

The Cruel Sea
Run Silent, Run Deep

Beat me to it!

Ditto on Run Silent Run Deep probably the only WW2 naval fiction I ever read

War and Remembrance is not WWII naval fiction (it skips among different characters in different places), but there are some naval portions that are well done.

In Harm's Way
Away All Boats
The Caine Mutiny

Another vote for The Cruel Sea (Nicholas Monsarrat)

Cruel sea.
Douglas Reeman's books
one from Alistair Mclean, HmS Ulysses I think.

The Ship and The Shepard by C.S. Forester

Up Periscope by Rob White.

The Cruel Sea
HMS Ulysses (as Jcfrog thought)
Das Boot by Lothar Gunther Buchheim

Possibly "Stella" by Jan de Hartog, the film "The Key" based on the book was very good, but I've never read the story. Anybody read it?

Battle Cry by Leon Uris
My favorite by Uris, although it starts just at the end of WW2 is Armageddon

Robb White wrote (IMO) 3 good novels on WW2 (tho there were others)….Up Periscope, Flight Deck and Torpedo Run.

(edit)
Almost left out, Richard Newhafer's The Last Tally-Ho

The Caine Mutiny
The Cruel Sea
Run Silent, Run Deep
The Enemy Below

These are all good.

Craig diLouie's submarine series is good, as are the books by PT Deuterman. His most recent book, The Commodore, is focused on destroyer actions at Guadalcanal.

Best WWII Naval Fiction?

My uncle Ben's sea stories!

… plus …

RS/RD
Who ate my strawberries?
TV show – Black Sheep Squadron (or the novel Black Sheep One for the non-fiction version)

Lots of good books

South to Java
Another six-hundred: A true history in narrative form

Aie aie … Temptations.

Another vote for Douglas Reeman

The Ship and The Good Shepherd are my favorites

Alexander Fullerton wrote a series of 6 books set in ww2. I thought they were well written.

Up Periscope..

Up Periscope
A Flock Of Ships

Douglas Reeman is the a remarkable author, who also has the pen name of Alexander Kent, of Napoleonic Naval fiction fame.

Douglas, like myself was a regular Seaman in the Royal Navy, and commissioned from the ranks, ending up as a Lieutenant.

There the similarity ends – he was a combat veteran many times over, his ship sinking during the Battle of the Atlantic, when he was injured by a depth charge. He then served in small ships during the fight for the Narrow Seas, and was at D-Day. When the Korean War started he joined up once again, ending up as a Lieutenant Commander… What a guy! And boy could he write good stuff!

Sadly, he passed over the bar in 2017, but what a life well lived!

Thank you for the great literature Sir, not to mention your Gallant Service in the defence of Freedom.

Any book by Douglas Reeman.

The Cruel Sea.
The Caine Mutiny.
Run Silent, Run Deep.
The Sand Pebbles.
The Enemy Below.
Das Boot.

Another vote for Douglas Reeman regardless of which war.

Another vote for the "Cruel Sea" and the rest of Reeman's books.

Run Silent, Run Deep
Caine Mutiny

Don't think the "The Sand Pebbles" qualifies. It is set in the 1920s.

I have to say that I read quite a few (if not all) of Reeman's books and that he did push the bounds a bit far in his climactic actions in the WWII books (for some reason a bit more believable in the Napoleonic era). Otherwise good reads.

Love Maclean's 'HMS Ulysses' – another RN veteran writing what he had seen as a Seaman and LTO on the Royalist. Although per wiki –

Algis Budrys described MacLean's writing style as "hit 'em with everything but the kitchen sink, then give 'em the sink, and when they raise their heads, drop the plumber on 'em"

and things that took place over the course of many convoy runs all happen in one.

Another of his books – 'South by Java Head' deals with a tanker attacked by Japanese bombers in the Pacific – also a good read.

'The Cruiser' by Warren Tute (another RN veteran) is also a solid read. Starts pre-war and doesn't stretch the bounds quite as far when it comes to the final action.

I also liked the Rob White books.

Rallynow: you are correct, my mistake.