Twenty-five years ago HMS Terrapin was part of a crack hunter/killer
group in the Battle of the Atlantic. Now she is working out her last
commission in the Gulf of Thailand.
To Lieutenant-Commander Standish, the frigate seems to mark the end of
his hopes of a career in the navy. Then a new captain arrives, a man
driven by an old-fashioned, almost obsessive patriotism. And under his
stubborn leadership, Standish and the crew discover a long-forgotten
unity of purpose.