Navy boys behind the big guns

The narrative follows a group of young naval apprentices from a small coastal port who, after serving aboard a destroyer and earning furlough, pursue placement on a new superdreadnaught and training as gunners. Their leave and return journeys lead into episodes of coastal mystery, submarine sightings, fogbound searches, sudden accidents, explosions, and a climactic gun duel at sea. Interwoven are scenes of camaraderie, technical instruction in gunnery, and urgent special orders that drive a race to engage enemy U-boats and protect convoys, with explanations and reckonings that resolve several dangerous encounters.