This is the story of a duel at sea in 1943; of a long-drawn, bitter fight between a solitary British destroyer and a single U-Boat that it intercepts in the remote expanses of the Atlantic; of two captains, who, struggling for supremacy, read each other's thoughts in a contest in which the loser will pay with his life—and the lives of his crew. In this first novel the story moves from crisis to crisis as each vessel brings into action the weapons at its disposal.
They are very evenly matched. The reader is " present " aboard the destroyer when the U-Boat's torpedoes are released; and aboard the U-Boat when the answering depth charges explode. He gets to know the officers on both sides, and especially the captains of the two ships, Commander John Murrell and Korvettenkapitan Peter von Stolberg. He learns of the attack on morale that can be waged by psychological means; and why, just because war is war, the struggle must be carried on to the bitter end.
Factual, authentic, exciting, this novel gives a dramatic account of men in extreme danger, fighting for victory and their lives.