The fifth Bolitho novel.
His Britannic Majesty's frigate "Phalarope" is ordered to the assistance of the hard-pressed squadrons in the Caribbean. Aboard is her new commander - Richard Bolitho. To all appearances the "Phalarope" is everything a young captain would wish for. But beneath the surface she is a deeply unhappy ship her wardroom torn by petty greed and ambition, her deckhands driven to near-mutiny by senseless ill-treatment . . .