Send a Gunboat

The Modern Naval Fiction Library

by Douglas Reeman

This a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780099070603.

HMS Wagtail is a river gunboat, a ship seemingly at the end of her useful life, lying in a Hong Kong dockyard awaiting her last summons to the breakers' yard. Commander Justin Rolfe is also seemingly at the end of his useful naval life, an embittered man, brooding and angry from a court-martial verdict. Then the offshore island of Santu is threatened with invasion from the Chinese mainland. The small British community must be brought out and Commander Rolfe and the Wagtail are ordered to the island. The job is regarded with sullen resentment by his crew, but to Rolfe, and even the ship, it is a job that offers the chance of a reprieve and a restoration of self respect.

Genres: Military Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, War, Fiction, Action

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

AKA Alexander Kent.
Douglas Edward Reeman was a British author who has written many historical fiction books on the Royal Navy, mainly set during either World War II or the Napoleonic Wars.

Reeman joined the Royal Navy in 1940, at the age of 16, and served during World War II and the Korean War. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant. In addition to being an author, Reeman has also taught the art of navigation for yachting and served as a technical advisor for films. Douglas married author Kimberley Jordan Reeman in 1985.

Reeman's debut novel, A Prayer for the Ship was published in 1958. His pseudonym Alexander Kent was the name of a friend and naval officer who died during the Second World War. Reeman is most famous for his series of Napoleonic naval stories, whose central character is Richard Bolitho, and, later, his nephew, Adam. He also wrote a series of novels about several generations of the Blackwood family who served in the Royal Marines from the 1850s to the 1970s, and a non-fiction account of his World War II experiences, D-Day : A Personal Reminiscence (1984).

Series:
* Blackwood Family

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one it had the right amount of action, suspense, and character growth that put the story into focus.! 4.75 Stars!

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not a WW 2 fiction. It takes place in post Communist China in the early 1950s. The Chinese, who have taken over the mainland are attempting to take over the islands around. The British gunboat is sent to evacuate British citizens from one of those islands and encounters a Communist invading force. Reeman always has a romance in each book, where an officer meets a woman and immediately falls in love. In this book the officer risks his life to go back and save his new love. Reeman knows his ships and how they operate.

[Trever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollicking naval adventure with a stiff upper lip. Loads of fun for those into this sort of thing, with interesting characters discovering strange sorts of bravery amid insane situations. Very, very British... For example:

Hero captain has been captured, tortured, swam miles through perilous seas, starved, had only a bit of raw fish to eat for days, thought he was going to die many times, baked on a rock sticking out of the reefs off-shore, etc, until he's finally back on his ship, bandaged and exhausted.

Captain: "Get the guns ready and bring up the boiler, we'll be making full speed to get past their destroyer, and I'll be on deck to give directions."

Number One: "Ehhh... Are you certain, sir? Scuse me for sayin' so, but you look all done in, right?"

Captain: "Hmm. Perhaps you're right, Number One. I'll have a shave. That should set me right!"

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a straightforward action-adventure full of intriguing characters and last-minute maneuvers. If you enjoyed Kirk's stratagems in "Wrath of Khan", you'll enjoy this.

[Mark Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bit like one of those MOVIES you watch on a Sunday afternoon.....

YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES, you still haven't quite woken up yet and there are parts of the night before that you don't really want to remember.....

Your sittin on the sofa and wondering whether that PIZZA slice is still OK to eat and the only option is to eat it, or go make a sandwich. Of course you CHOOSE the pizza. YuMMY

You fall upon a black and white WAR movie with a load of posh people pointing at maps and saluting eachother here there and everywhere and along comes the good old WORKING CLASS HERO type and off he goes to save the entire universe...
You sit and watch, you eat your PIZZA and when it's all done and dusted you agree that the whole experience was....well.....not bad.

That sort of sums up this book for me. Pizza on a Sunday afternoon.

One rouge alcoholic Captain who has to man up and save the day. But DOES HE?[? Well, what do YOU think?!

All of this PIZZA talk has made me quite hungry
Good day

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what it is but I love Reeman's books when he writes under the pseudonym of Alexander Kent and have read virtually all those books but when he writes under his own name they rarely seem to grab me in the same way. Perhaps it is the different ages when the books are set, the Kent series are set in the days of sailing ships and Nelson etc whereas Reeman's own are set during or just after WWII or perhaps it is because Kent's are part of a series so we see how the characters grow over several books whereas Reeman's are generally one offs. Who knows?

In many respects this book is stereotypical of so many in the genre. We have a honourable, brave,moody captain damaged by events in his personal life is given an aged ship to command, then fights and wins against impossible odds thus finding both love and redemption but when all said and done it is still a rollicking read, a boy's own adventure told at a breakneck pace. There is little character development other than what's necessary but you still feel for heroes hoping that they will ultimately succeed whilst still giving a reasonable insight into naval life.

If you are looking for some thought provoking, long living in the memory read then this is not for you but if you are looking for an escape into days when honour, duty and comradeship had real meaning then give it a whirl.

[Philip Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Douglas Reeman: 'HMS Wagtail' is an antiquated Royal Navy gunboat with a new skipper, a recent divorcee with a drink problem who pranged his last ship. The mission - rescue British subjects from a remote island in the South China Seas from an imminent Communist invasion. His first lieutenant's a timid 'up from the ranks' veteran about to retire while another officer is a career-minded upper class twit. What could possibly go wrong?

I admit to a soft spot for these tales of naval adventure. It is v. much of its time and the love element is swoony Mills & Boon stuff that contrasts with the gritty, authentic action. It's a familiar formula (this novel was v. similar to "Path Of The Storm") but that's part of the appeal. Few handle conflict at sea better than this author and the customary climactic 'David vs Goliath' battle is terrific. I'm not ashamed to say I was moved by the characters' fates and the ending was perfect.

PS. My 1979 Arrow paperback (not listed on Goodreads) with Chris Mayger's cover art - as featured on the hardback - is a lovely book.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, this isn't 'World War 2' fiction as in the title, it's set in post war Hong Kong with the Chinese regime threatening to annexe small independent islands. The British 'send a gunboat' to evacuate expats, but the Wagtail is destined for the scrapyard, most of her crew due to either leave the navy or move to other postings and her captain under the cloud of a court martial.

In the 1970s Reeman's fiction was a staple of airport and railway station bookstalls, but he's rather gone out of fashion of late (the author died in 2017). This book does feel a little dated in parts, but the characters are engaging and there's plenty of tension as the story races to its dramatic climax.

[fred jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not Douglas Reemans best work, it starts slowly with unlikable characters, a drunken captain and ineffective officers on a obsolete river gun boat are sent to a small island off Communist China in the early 50's to evacuate a few British citizens. the story overall is good but the language is dated and very colonial British and the characters are obnoxious and self important until they find themselves during the last third, a full on daring escape and battle for survival which really builds the tension. The narration is great helping lift the beginning and nails the climax.

[David Lowther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another very entertaining yarn from Douglas Reeman. This time a knackered old gunboat is sent to evacuate UK citizens from an island near the Chinese coast. Mao's people are after this land. The gunboat captain, who is also knackered, has a final chance at redemption. There's a beautiful woman as well. Great fun.

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily readable old time action & suspense with romance thrown in …all aboard the tiny gunboat HMS Wagtail called back into service to carry out an evacuation of British subjects from small island of Santu in the China Sea ahead of Chinese Communist invasion.
A storyline for an ole time black n white film maybe…

[Gordon Popular · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have a British naval officer with a good future but he wrecks a ship and his future looks bad. He is sent to the far east and his given command of river boat about to be decommissioned. The thing is that this riverboat is needed for a rescue mission, so starts the tale of the last mission for HMS Wagtail. If you like sea tales you'll like this one. Recommended.

[Mike Whitehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thriller

There is not much to say about Douglas Reeman that hasn't already been said, His books are required reading for all naval fiction fans and this is no exception,brilliant story and well written as we have come to expect.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, but thrilling at times and occasionally even moving.

The novel is mostly the angst buried under "Keep Calm & Carry On", stiff-upper lip, "Aye, suh!" veneer of British Naval officers as they try to save some UK expats on an island from invading Chinese Communists.

[Ondřej Šefčík · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reeman at his best! A desperate situation, a true love, a coward, a traitor... a man has found his proud.

[mike lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story.

A great read. Unable to put it down. Typical Douglas Reeman, full of action and human interest. Well worthy of kindle

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

It ain't WWII naval fiction.. more like Quemoy & Matsu.. late 50s

Kind of dull

[Des Pemberton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, but is let down by being totally unfeasible. But, hay-ho, it's fiction and I enjoyed James Bond and Mickey Mouse films.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The underlying plot of this Reeman novel could easily be dismissed as it is typical of all of Reeman’s naval stories I have read. Unpopular /incompetent naval officer and a dilapidated /outdated ship join forces to carry out critical mission. But to dismiss Send a Gunboat because of this would be a mistake. The story is set in an unspecified date after WWII when communist China is trying to expand its empire. A small island of Santu appears to be next on their list for conquest. There is however a small British contingent on the island that needs to be evacuated to Hong Kong for safety. Captain Rolfe recently court martialled for crashing his last command is given command of the river gunboat Wagtail and charged with the evacuation.
Can Rolfe mould his crew over half of which are Chinese and of the other most are looking forward to new postings or retirement into an effective unit that can take on the mission. Rolfe knows his only chance is a covert extraction of the British to avoid the attention, which will lead to a crush of other people trying to join the evacuation. His aim is thwarted by the Laker the leader of the community who is a pompous and officious ruler of his fiefdom who believes only his opinion counts and that everyone should jump when he says so. His indiscretion leads to the whole island knowing of the Wagtail’s true purpose putting the crew and the mission at risk. When forced to leave Laker departs only after setting fire to his estate further aggravating the population.
Disaster strikes when the Chinese arrive before the last of the British are on board and Rolfe feels duty bound to return to the island to affect the rescue vowing to be pick up by the Wagtail in 24 hours at the tip of the island. Can he survive the now war torn island? Now the Chinese know about the Wagtail how will an aging river gunboat survive being hunted by more modern Chinese warships?

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, last night I judged a book by its cover. What drew me to this particular Reeman novel is the unusual setting and time frame.

Like many Reeman novels this is more about the people than the military action, but there is a generous portion of that. The characters are interesteing, and in many cases conflicted. However, the star of the book is the aged British gunboat. Doc and Kent will like this.

[Geoff Woodland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished re-reading this novel. The author has a smooth way of telling a story and manages to add excitement at the appropriate points.