Even the massive build-up of Japanese forces on the Chinese border cannot dent their carefree optimism. Yet one man suspects the truth. Lieutenant-Commander Esmond Brooke, captain of HMS Serpent and a veteran of the cruel Atlantic, sees all too clearly the folly and incompetence of Hong Kong’s colonial administration. To Brooke, attack by Japan seems inevitable. But, in war, there will always be some who attempt the impossible, even in the face of death.

This is the story of one ship and her company who refuse to accept the anguish of defeat and surrender to a merciless enemy.