William Mcfee

William McFee (b. London June 15 1881, d. July 2 1966) was a writer of sea stories.

He was born on the Erin's Isle, a three-master owned by his father, a sea captain. Educated at Culford School, he became a mechanical engineer at Richard Moreland & Sons and W. Summerscales & Sons in the City, before going to sea as a marine engineer in 1906. He rose to chief engineer in ships of the Woodfield SS Co.; went to the United States in 1911 and wrote books, afterwards going to sea in ships of the United Fruit Company. During World War I he served in the British Navy as engineer in transports on various ships after which he returned to the United States to live in Westport, Connecticut. He was with the United Fruit Co., as chief until 1922, when he turned definitively to writing.

His first book was:

• (1908) Letters from an Ocean Tramp. Cassell & Company, Inc. ASIN: B00085TFRQ. 

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William McFee

His most famous novels were:

• (1916) Casuals of the Sea. Doubleday & Company, Inc. ASIN: B000ID1FPS. 
• (1930) North of Suez. Doubleday Doran. ASIN: B00085CCP8. 
• (1933) No Castle in Spain. Doubleday Doran. ASIN: B000GQYO3W. 
• (1935) The Beachcomber. Doubleday Doran. ASIN: B00085M7VM. 
• (1938) The Derelicts. Faber & Faber. ASIN: B000KT722K. 
• (1940) The Watch Below. Random House. ASIN: B000FLT9X8. 

Great Sea Stories by William McFee

Other novels included:

• (1919) Aliens. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B000HYTJFG. 
• (1920) Captain Macedoine's Daughter. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B00085M7VC. 
• (1920) A Six Hour Shift. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B00085KV88. 
• (1922) Harbours of Memory. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B000FAB74I. 
• (1922) Command. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B000BK26EC. 
• (1924) Race. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B000J53ZF8. 
• (1925) Sunlight in New Granada. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B00085PNMW. 
• (1925) Swallowing the anchor: Being a revised and enlarged collection of notes made by an engineer in the merchant service who secured leave of absence from his ship to investigate & report upon the alleged superiority of life ashore. Doubleday, Page & Co.. ASIN: B000JCXOCA. 
• (1928) Pilgrims of Adversity. Doubleday, Doran & company, Inc. ASIN: B00085K5MK. 
• (1928) Life of Sir Martin Frobisher. J. Lane, Bodley Head. ASIN: B00085M8AM. 
• (1930) Sailors of Fortune. William Heinemann Ltd. ASIN: B000JV2EOK. 
• (1931) The Harbourmaster. The Sun Dial Press. ASIN: B000GRC8MK. 
• (1935) Sailor's Wisdom. J. Cape. ASIN: B00087448Y. 
• (1935) The Beachcomber. Doubleday, Doran & company, Inc. ASIN: B00085M7VM. 
• (1936) Sailor's Bane. Ritten House. ASIN: B00085TFSK. 
• (1940) Spenlove in Arcady. Random House. ASIN: B0007HI8EG. 
• (1942) A Conrad Argosy. Doubleday, Doran & company, Inc. ASIN: B000AUYPDS. 
• (1944) Ship to Shore. Random House. ASIN: B0007DZFFA. 
• (1946) In the First Watch. Random House. ASIN: B0007DO2Z4. 
• (1949) Family Trouble. Random House. ASIN: B0007DZCS0. 
• (1950) The Law of the Sea. J.B. Lippincott Co. ASIN: B0007F2A9C. 
• (1952) The Adopted. Faber. ASIN: B000I82KB6. 

He wrote several collections of reminiscences; his hobby was making ship models.

References

Everyman's Dictionary of Literary Biography, English and American (1958)
Who Was Who 1897-2006 (2007)

External links

• "The Market"
• William McFee papers at Charles E. Young Research Library, Los Angeles

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