Steven Jannaway, the son of war hero Frank Jannaway, joins the Royal Navy as a cadet and struggles up the promotional ladder, moving from the bridge of a destroyer in the Mediterranean to the pilot's cockpit of a carrier-borne aircraft flying night patrols over the Malacca Strait. Urging him along the way is an admiral's daughter, Julietta, who is the perfect wife for an ambitious young officer. But Steven tires of the political infighting and the race for promotion, and whatever success he achieves is not without high emotional cost-to him as well as the woman he loves. 'One of the best sea novels to appear in years."-"Publishers Weekly" 'A very fine, compelling, thoughtful novel."-"Cleveland Plain Dealer"