Through fire and water

The average age of the 199 men on board HMS Ardent was 23 in May 1982 when she made a lonely midnight run into Falkland Sound, an hour ahead of the British amphibious group about to retake the Islands. In the crucial hours that followed, her naval gunfire support kept enemy troops and aircraft pinned down at Goose Green and Darwin. Despite a few scares it all looked good. Until 5.44 p.m.

At that precise moment, close to the sanctuary of darkness, Ardent came under the most concentrated attack of any ship taking part in the landings. She was hit 17 times in the space of 22 minutes and one in four of her ship's company was either killed or wounded. She lost a greater proportion of her men than any other fighting unit in the entire war. So why has the British public forgotten her name?

Through Fire and Water tells the frigate's story, from Christmas 1981 in Amsterdam, to her sinking in Falkland Sound - and beyond. It follows the families who waved off sons, lovers, brothers, husbands and fathers as Ardent left the dockyard. It explains what it was like for British soldiers in the Falklands and what it was like for the families waiting at home for the news. It describes the sickening fear of being in a defenceless warship singled out for destruction, the feeling of despair as those on board tried to save their ship and their mates - in that order - while bomb after bomb came crashing down. It is the story of men from the classrooms and factories of Britain who joined up to see the world, but instead became the focus of its short-spanned attention.

In a war so well documented, this book is the first to tell their story, the first to explain why it all happened, the first to tell the true story of the forgotten frigate.

Mark Higgitt is a forty-eight-year-old journalist who lives in South Warwickshire with his wife. They have two daughters.