Lt Commander Ericson is the commander of HMS Compass Rose, a Royal Navy corvette. It is January 1940 and Compass Rose has the task of escorting merchant ships across the Atlantic. The main threat comes from German U-boats but initially these are few and their attacks uncoordinated. Over time, however, the U-Boats gain the upper hand and life on an allied ship is one of constant danger. Ericson and his crew endure everything the Germans have to throw at them but the ultimate enemy appears to be the sea, the cruel sea.
—grantss