Sea-faring/ tall-ships / going to sea author recommendations?

2020HD

2020HD

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I recall reading here or on another forum about a list of authors or books in the Moby Dick, Hornblower, “Master and the Commander” sort of genre. IIRC, there was a particular giant in the filed but I can’t for the life of me find it.
Any vacation reading recommendations along those lines? Thanks!
 
Hmm...

Frederick Marryat
Dudley Pope
C. S. Forester
Alexander Kent
Patrick O'Brian

Any of them?
 
Don't forget Jane Austen's Persuasion and even Mansfield Park. She weaves in the British Navy beautifully in both.
 
Wilbur Smith, the Courtney family series, which I am re-reading this summer in the hammock or on the screened porch. Swashing and buckling in many of them.

As mentioned above, the entire Patrick O’Brian series with Capt Jack Aubrey and Dr. Maturin. “Master and Commander” was made from one of these.

Rafael Sabatini, old-school pirates, the “Captain Blood” series. Argh.

Ted Bell, the Lord Alexander Hawke series. Contemporary, but there is usually water-borne fun in there somewhere. Lord Hawke is also a RN officer.

Bernard Cornwell, any of his, but very enjoyably, the Uhtred books. Historical, Saxons, Danes, Norse, Irish, Scots, viking around and on land as well. Read in order. Cornwell’s Sharpe series is also a good long series read, not naval, but British riflemen in various 19th c conflicts.

Everything @flieger83 mentioned!
 
The absolute BEST of these though, in my humble opinion, would be to find copies of "The Naval History of Great Britain" by W. M. James and the five volumes of "The Naval Chronicle" edited by Nicholas Tracy.

These are NOT "light reading." They are excerpts from contemporary autobiographies, letters to the Lords High Commissioners of the Admiralty as published in the London Gazette, etc. They are better than any Hollywood script!

Just the account alone of the capture and commissioning of HMS Diamond Rock will have you wonder "how did they do that then?" And there are many more examples. The real-life exploits are just...almost unbelievable.
 
If you really want a trip in the way back machine, try "Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy" by John Hale. A great read.
 
I loved the Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester. I read it before I watched Apple's version titled the Greyound.
 
Written for teens, but this 12 book series is fun. Try the " Bloody Jack" series by L.M. Meyer. The first book is Bloody Jack. The second is Curse of the Blue Tattoo.

From the book publisher:
Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.

There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . . .
 
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