THE CONVOY COMMODORE

by Philip McCutchan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 17, 1986

The author of the overmined Halfhyde and Cameron series shows his best stuff in this realistic and absorbing tale of a WW II North Atlantic convoy, told from the viewpoint of the commodore. Mason Kemp, one-time captain of the liner Ardara, is again on the ship's bridge. Recalled to the Navy at the outbreak of the war, Kemp is now a convoy commodore responsible for the safety of more than a score of merchant ships headed from the United Kingdom to Canada to pick up men and material. Transit of the Atlantic is at its most dangerous; vast numbers of U-boats lie in wait, tipped off to convoy routes by long-range German patrol planes that track the ships well out of gunfire range. But this particular transit is made even more dangerous for Kemp and his ships when their naval escort must be diverted to protect the warships carrying Winston Churchill to a conference with President Roosevelt. Time and again the thoroughly kind and decent commodore is forced to weigh his own well-being and that of the men and ships in his charge against the safety of the Prime Minister and his mission. And after at last gaining the safety of Halifax, the convoy is thrown immediately back into the fray, returning to England with its vital cargo in a still more important and more dangerous voyage. Good, workmanlike, wartime sea story.

Pub Date: Feb. 17, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION