James Edmond Macdonnell (1917-2002) was born in Mackay, Queensland and was Australia's greatest novelist of the sea, and his stories of naval warfare have since become classics of their type. As a boy, Macdonnell became determined to go to sea and read every seafaring book he could find. At age 13, while his family was still asleep, he took his brother’s bike and rode eighty miles from his home town to Brisbane in an attempt to see ships and the sea. Fortunately, he was found and returned to his family.
Eventually he served in the Royal Australian Navy for fourteen years, joining at age 17, advancing through all lower deck ranks and reaching the rank of commissioned gunnery officer. He began writing books while still in active service. His first book, Fleet Destroyer – a collection of stories about life on the small ships – was published by The Book Depot, Melbourne, in 1945. Macdonnell began writing full-time for Horwitz in 1956, writing an average of a dozen books a year.
Macdonnell’s naval stories feature several recurring characters – Captain “Dutchy” Holland, D.S.O., Captain Peter Bentley, V.C., Captain Bruce Sainsbury, V.C., Jim Brady, and Lieutenant Commander Robert Randall.
He was a prolific writer using a number of pseudonyms, James McNell, James Dark, James Edmond Macdonnell, James Macdonnell, J.E.M., Jim Macdonnell, J. Macdonnell, Macnell, Kerry Mitchell, Michael Owen.
There are 147 titles I have found in the series I will be working to add his books to the site and those I have found, not yet added, are listed at the bottom of the page. The series is currently being republished by Piccadilly Publishing at the rate of 1 book per month, and once I have caught up the rest may be added once republished.
Modern Era Naval Fiction
Series: The Naval War Series
Stand by To Ram! : Why hadn’t the Jap opened fire? Five thousand yards! He couldn’t miss
Target Unidentified : The charges went over, and some evil fate exploded them right outside the forward engine-room
Battle Ensign :
Scimitar was ordered to join the American Fleet, but itheydidn’t have much time for the Aussie battleship
Enemy in Sight : Peter Bentley had three weeks to learn to handle the midget submarine
Command :
Wind Rode was a sorry-looking destroyer. Everything about her had been allowed to slide
Alarm - E-Boats! : Bentley looked toward the shore. Beyond the dunes lay Rommel’s headquarters
The Weak Link : Who would expect a lone destroyer to close the range of three cruisers and a destroyer flotilla?
Presumed Sunk : She had chosen her watery grave and
Wind Rode intended to go down fighting …
Mutiny! : The tension among the crew was hard, menacing.
Wind Rode was perilously close to mutiny
Coffin Island : That wasn’t going to stop Bentley from risking everything to send the larger vessel to the bottom of the sea!
Frogman! : Their first big mission—to destroy a powerful radar station
Killer Ship : The deadly battle of wits began between destroyer and submarine really started
Night Encounter : William Walker volunteered for a spell with the Light Coastal Forces
The Secret Weapon : Bentley knew this was the time for nothing but concentrated attack
Target Battleship : Was something driving Cdr. Valance to get right in where the shot and shell were thickest
The Surgeon : The testing time was soon to come for Surgeon-Lieutenant Geoffrey Landis
The Gunner : The enemy destroyers were almost dead ahead
The Captain : news travels like a breath of wind, especially that an officer is confined to his cabin
The Recommend : None of them was prepared for the next startling evidence of the progress of the hunt
The Coxswain : The new coxswain of the
Wind Rode found himself faced with a twin challenge
The Challenge :
Pelican’s ancient guns snapped their challenge at the grey monster racing alongside them
Convoy : The deadly pack was closing in on its prey
Escort Ship : Bentley’s decision to continue fighting was possibly the simplest he had ever made
The Blind Eye : Bentley knew he had to destroy that refuelling point
Eagles Over Taranto : If they could hit Taranto hard, they could prevent embattled Malta being starved of food and ammunition
Series: n/a
Fleet Destroyer
The Rocky
The Lesson
Clear for Action
Battle Fire
The Ordeal
Sainsbury V.C.
Broadsides!
Battle Line
The Long Haul
Away Boarders
The First Lieutenant
UBoat
Flotilla Leader
Sea Surgeon
Abandon Ship!
Conflict
Repel Boarders
Not Under Command
Fire One!
Abandon and Destroy
The Buffer
Decision
The Gun
The Pawn
Sabotage
The Betrayal
Collision Course
The Big Wind
Killer Group
The Mistake
Course to Intercept
Creeping Attack
The Jaws of Hell
Close and Investigate
Under Sealed Orders
Flashpoint
White Death
The Deserter
The Duel
Whispering Death
Point of Departure
Loom of Ice
Foul Ground
Hell Ship
The Convert
Wall of Fire
The Unforgiving Sea
Down the Throat
Combat Assignment
The Snake Boats
The Misfit
Behemoth
Dit Spinner
The Power and the Privilege
Rat Island
Petty Officer Brady
Valiant Mission
Full Fathom Five
Approved to Scrap
Attack and be Damned
Mission Hopeless
Judas Rat
High Command
HunterKiller
White Fury
The Hammer of God
Headlong into Hell
Decoyed
To the Death
Execute!
Strike Force
The Big Hunt
Operation Jackal
And the Heavens Spoke
Not Wanted on Voyage
The Last Stand
Object Destruction
Battle Hymn
Died Fighting
Fog Blind
Circle of Fire
For Valour
Torrent of Fire
Guns for God
Damn the Torpedoes
First Command
Standing into Danger
Torpedo Junction
The Worst Enemy
North West by North
Chain of Violence
Close Up
False Colours
The Brave Men
Point Blank
Most Immediate
This Ship is Mine
The Trap
The Verge of Hell
Blind into Doom
Fire Storm
The Iron Claw
Attack!
A Council of Captains
The Kill
Court Martial
Operational Immediate
The Dark of the Night
Liberty Men
The Battle for Midway
Big Bill the Bastard
Confirmed in Command
Standoff
The Shadow
Death of a Destroyer
Valiant Occasions
