As 1794 draws to a close Richard Bolitho commanding the old seventy-four-gun ship of the line Hyperion leaves Plymouth to join a squadron blockading the rising power of Revolutionary France. After six months of repairs his ship is ready to fight again but her company is mostly raw & untrained. Unfortunately Bolitho finds himself under a commodore who is no match for the French admiral Lequiller whose powerful squadron uses guile & ruthless determination to elude him & vanish into the Atlantic. Hyperion as part of a small British force gives chase the desperate voyage taking them from the Bay of Biscay's squall to the heat of the Caribbean
- & for each mile sailed & every battle fought Bolitho finds himself being forced into the ever more demanding role of strategist & squadron commander.