HAMMOND INNES, RALPH

born July 15, 1913, Horsham, Sussex, Eng. died June 10, 1998, Kersey, Suffolk pseudonyms Ralph Hammond, or Hammond Innes English novelist known for adventure stories in which suspense and the forces of nature are prominent features. Hammond Innes began his career in teaching and publishing. He worked on the staff of the newspaper Financial News from 1934 to 1940 and was in the British Royal Artillery from 1940 to 1946. He traveled widely, and in 1978 he was made a Commander of the British Empire. His books often pit his characters against an extreme environmentsuch as the sea, polar regions, or the desertin some trial they must endure in order to be redeemed. Hammond Innes' best-known books are The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1952), The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1956), The Doomed Oasis (1960), Atlantic Fury (1962), The Conquistadors (1969), The Last Voyage: Captain Cook's Lost Diary (1979), The Black Tide (1982), Medusa (1988), and Isvik (1991). He also wrote television and motion-picture scripts.