Memories are short on HMS Royston - they have to be.

As mother ship to a battered, war-torn bunch of MTBs she must carry out her vital role whatever the conditions, whatever the risk.

Sub-Lieutenant Royce is newly assigned to MTB 1991, joining a crew already seasoned by death and fear.

Now with only three months'' sea-experience behind him, Royce must learn the job the hard way - in the tough school of combat.

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A classic tale of naval warfare from Douglas Reeman, the all-time bestselling master of naval fiction, who served with the Royal Navy on convoy duty in the Atlantic, the Arctic and the North Sea. He has written dozens of naval books under his own name and the pseudonym Alexander Kent, including the famous Richard Bolitho books set during the Napoleonic Wars.