Final answer:
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is often considered the first true English sea novel, setting a precedent for the genre with its themes of survival and adventure.
Step-by-step explanation:
Literary scholars often consider Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to be the first true English sea novel. Originating in the eighteenth century, this genre gained popularity among British readers, offering adventures on the high seas and encounters with distant lands. Defoe's work, which tells the story of a shipwrecked mariner's survival and self-reliance on a deserted island, established many of the themes and motifs that would define sea novels and adventure stories for centuries to come. It was an immediate success due to its vivid storytelling, detailed description of life at sea, and exploration of human solitude and resilience against the backdrop of nature.