Ninety Feet To The Sun

Description for NINETY FEET TO THE SUN by Eric J Collenette:

Submarines are Ben Grant's first love, and despite the crowded, dismal conditions on the British "Scavenger", the submarine is still the place where he want to be. As coxswain, Grant steers the "Scavenger"---on patrol off the coast of Norway in the autumn of 1940.

His nemesis is Chief ERA Welks, whose antipathy for Grant threatens the very safety of the ship. After a near-devasting attack by the Germans, Grant is forced to assume command of the "Scavenger" and quickly learns the burdensome lesson that every decision and every command carries the potential for dire consequences.

At first Grant considers his duty to be the safe return of the submarine to home waters. But it soon becomes apparent to him that the "Scavenger" has a vital role to play in the battle for the control of the Norwegian coast.

When they encounter German depth charges, Grant has to revise his plans for the "Scavenger"---survival becomes the number one goal. He gambles on taking the submarine into an area so treacherous that the German ships would be unlikely to follow. "strange that the prospect of becoming wrecked on pinnacles of scraggy rocks doesn't seem as bad as being crushed by depth charges---the result is the same an we will just be dead at the end of it all."

The tensions of command, the strains of continuous confined living at close quarters, the relationships between the motley assortment of characters that make up the crew, are all powerfully and subtly conveyed in this fast moving adventure of the war at sea.