On the last day of May 1916, a decisive naval battle of World War I is fought as a vast array of warships confront each other at sea. One hundred fifty ships and sixty thousand men under the command of Sir John Jellicoe engage the German High Seas Fleet of one hundred ships and forty-five thousand men. Young Nicholas Everard is a sub-lieutenant serving on a British destroyer, and this is his first naval action.
Nick's older brother, David, is his father's preferred son. He is also present at Jutland as navigation officer on a cruiser; their uncle, Hugh Everard, is the captain of a battleship. Nick has already incurred severe punishment as a midshipman -- twelve cuts with a cane and a dozen blows with a rope's end as well as extra duty and stoppage of shore leave -- for striking a superior officer. He would have been court-martialed, but was shown leniency as theirs was a naval family. It seems doubtful that this hot-headed younger son will amount to anything in the navy. But in this battle he has the opportunity to demonstrate talent and courage, the very qualities needed as the Royal Navy meets the German challenge to its supremacy on the high seas.