Lieutenant Commander Widmark had truly earned his nickname 'The Butcher' in mediterranean waters. He derided the Geneva Convention and the pusillanimity that sometimes delayed action against the enemy for diplomatic reasons. In his view war was a rough and bloody business in which those who stopped at nothing would be victorious.

This is the exciting story of Widmark's greatest adventure, the organization and execution of a private cutting-out operation designed - regardless of any consequences - to strike a single telling blow for his own side. Widmark plans to seize and sail the 8,000-tonne German vessel, Hagenfels, from the neutral East African port of Lourenco Marques.

All these events and fantastic developments thereafter, are brought to life by the author's knowledge of sea-going and the power of narrative that brought him worldwide success.