Against the blazing backdrop of the Mediterranean war, an aging Australian destroyer named Pelican becomes the last ship anyone expects to survive—let alone fight. Rust-streaked, outgunned, and mocked by the sleek warships around her, she is commanded by the fiercely independent Lieutenant-Commander John "Dutchy" Holland, a passed-over officer whose career is as battered as the ship he loves.
When the order comes to "Abandon and Destroy," Holland refuses to surrender either his ship or his pride. Instead, Pelican and her rough-edged crew of pirates, misfits, and hardened sailors plunge into a merciless naval campaign against Nazi U-boats and relentless Luftwaffe attacks. Beneath the blazing skies of Malta, where every convoy run could become a floating graveyard, the crew must fight not only the enemy—but exhaustion, fear, and the knowledge that they are expendable.
A gripping World War II naval adventure of courage, sacrifice, and defiance against overwhelming odds.
