Convoy Homeward - Hardcover

McCutchan, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312081685 ISBN 13: 9780312081683

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1992

Synopsis

His ship laden with a cargo of German POWs, Brigadier Pumphrey-Hatton struggles to make it back to the British shores before the U-boats find him.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

The immensely prolific and thoroughly reliable McCutchan continues his WW II convoy saga with a sixth adventure for Commodore Kemp (Convoy of Fear, etc.). John Mason Kemp is the senior captain of a steamship line who, in peacetime, commanded UK-to-Australia cruises; but now he's been made a convoy commodore, the officer in charge of non-naval ships bringing troops and supplies to a besieged Great Britain. Sailing in his former command Aurelian Star, Kemp's present charge is to sail from Ceylon with supplies and then to pick up native troops, German POWs, and a handful of colonial refugees from an East African port, all for delivery in Liverpool. As usual, there'll be packs of Nazi U-boats in both the Indian and Atlantic oceans, but on this trip there'll also be the threat of a German heavy cruiser. Kemp's naval escorts will protect the convoy as best they can, but they won't be able to make the whole trip. Kemp will have to pray for the timely arrival of a battleship from home once he gets to the dangers of the North Atlantic. In addition to the German navy, the commodore is plagued by worries about his sailor sons and by the half-mad Brigadier Pumphrey-Hatton, who gave him so much trouble in the last Convoy novel. Among the passengers on this trip are a frail, retired army couple, a civilian lush, and a woman who is no better than she should be. Below decks, Petty Officer Ramm worries about his wife and sweetheart running into each other back home; Petty Officer Chatfield stews about his young wife and the anonymous letters he's been getting; and Seaman Biggar worries that Brigadier Pumphrey-Hatton will recognize him as his accidental assailant on a boozy liberty. As always, McCutchan runs a tight ship. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

The vastly prolific McCutchan--author of the Simon Shard series (12 books), the Halfhyde series (16), the Donald Cameron (13), the Commander Shaw (20) and 22 other books--here tells a sixth tale featuring Commodore John Mason Kemp. Once the skipper of a passenger liner, Kemp is now in charge of a convoy heading home from the Indian Ocean in WW II. Along with vital supplies, the convoy picks up colonial troops, civilians and German POWs in East Africa, encounters U-boat danger all along the way, and is unsettled by tensions among the crew, passengers and POWs. The "Upstairs, Downstairs"-like shipboard mix (including a mostly bonkers Brigadier, a girl no better than she should be and a sad old colonial military couple facing a penurious future) is handled smoothly, as is news from the home front (the chief steward hears that his young wife has been unfaithful to him and Kemp learns that one of his sons is missing in action). The climactic battle with a Nazi surface raider in the South Atlantic is terrific, and ends the novel with a satisfying, surprising bang.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0312081685
• ISBN 13: 9780312081683
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 182