The Helmsman Series by Bill Baldwin

One of the few survivors of a League sneak attack on his poor and miserable homeworld of Carescria. Wilf Brim sets out to settle the score. Were it not for the attrition from the war that followed, Wilf would never have escaped his lower-class status and been accepted into the Academy. Now, freshly graduated, young Sublieutenant Wilf Ansor Brim, Imperial Fleet, begins his first assignment, Helmsman of the I.F.S. Truculent.

12 CDsUrsis nodded soberly out the Hyperscreens toward the merchant ships, then turned to Brim. "Out there, Wilf Ansor," he brooded, "are real heroes of war. To fight from behind disruptors of warship is something anyone can do. One can always count on lucky shooting to save him from disasteror heavy armor plate at least... more12 CDsUrsis nodded soberly out the Hyperscreens toward the merchant ships, then turned to Brim. "Out there, Wilf Ansor," he brooded, "are real heroes of war. To fight from behind disruptors of warship is something anyone can do. One can always count on lucky shooting to save him from disasteror heavy armor plate at least. But to face enemy with only black void and thin sheet of hullmetal separating you from disruptorsand then stay in formationthat is kind of bravery we Sodeskayans record in Great Books." less

The long-ranging war for galactic domination finds valiant Helmsman Wilf Brim down on his luck and out of a job. To survive, and to keep the love of the Princess Margot, Wilf enters the great Mitchell Trophy race--and faces a series of death-defying challenges to save the Empire from utter tyranny.

As the ravaged postwar Imperial Fleet stands helpless, nearby worlds fall to the League of Dark Stars. Commanding a squadron of Starfuries, Wilf Brim sets course to save the star kingdom of Fluvanna. If he fails, the Empire is doomed.

When the treacherous League of Dark Stars launches an attack against the Empire's helpless systems, Helmsman Wilf Brim and young Emperor Onrad must rally the surviving Starfuries in a desperate counterattack against devastating odds. Reissue.

Rear Admiral Wilf Brim and his old comrade General Ursis must rally Sodeskaya's archaic ships in order to repel Triannic's vast star fleet and overcome overwhelming odds. By the author of The Defenders.

Admiral Wolf Brim's new assignment to secure the space lanes between Hador-Haelic and the Pentad asteroids of Gontor will enable the Empire to launch Operation Spark, a massive invasion to free Occupied Fluvanna, thus ensuring the Empire's remaining source of faster-than-light travel fuel.