True stories of hurricanes, World War II German submarines, naval battles, world cruises and stunning portraits of fish are a good barometer that nonfiction still dominates the marine publishing scene.

There seems to be some question as to whether the Sussex was in fact torpedoed and sunk at all, but in any case, the American government issued an ultimatum, and the German government was forced to acknowledge that the Sussex had been sunk by a German submarine and to agree that henceforth German submarines would abide by the rules of "cruise warfare," a severe restriction which seriously handicapped the submarine as a strategic weapon.

When German submarines increase their activity off the coast of Venezuela, Philip's mother insists that the two of them leave the island of Curacao where his father works for an oil refinery, but she refuses to fly and they take passage on a ship.