1794 . . . As the year draws to a close Richard Bolitho, commanding the old seventy-four-gun ship of the line, Hyperion, is despatched from Plymouth to join a squadron blockading the coast of Revolutionary France. Unfortunately there is little time for Bolitho’s raw crew to settle their new duty before the French Admiral slips past into the Atlantic with a powerful squadron. Hyperion must give chase from the squally Bay of Biscay to the sultry heat of the Caribbean. Soon Bolitho finds himself not only in command of the Hyperion but strategist for the entire British force. Success or failure in the coming engagement falls on his shoulders.