"This authentic account, based on contemporary notes, describes an exciting but little-known aspect of naval combat during the second world war - the small ships whose contribution was so large in the sea battles, largely against Hitler's U-boats. It centres on the unique 20-month voyage of the anti-submarine escort trawler HMS Wastwater, from Iceland to New York to Brazil to West Africa, at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic, amid the worst gales for twenty years. The ship and her company (four officers and twenty-eight men) come vividly alive, their trials, humour, courage, the convoys which saved a vital sector of the Atlantic lifeline, without which Britain and Europe could not have survived."--Provided by the publisher.