Commander Graham Martineau was awarded the Victoria Cross for pressing home an attack against impossible odds. Few survived, and crimson ribbon remains a haunting symbol of the sacrifice of ship and men.

Now, as captain of the crack Tribal Class destroyer H.M.S. Hakka, Martineau must once again call from ordinary seamen the ultimate in courage, and prepare to defend to the death vital convoys to Russia. There is no hiding place in these bitter Arctic seas, where a pitiless enemy awaits a fatal rendezvous. All are heroes, and no man and no ship is immortal.