This little book is a great introduction to the World War II Navy movements and the British involvement against the Germans. It's all about action to keep a young readership interested with a nemesis to keep the intrigue going. A glossary and pictures at the end help contextualise the story and explain some of the vocabulary.
Aimed for a 9-13 year-old boy readership, I think it hits its target well. ( )

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

Peter Roger’s (Liverpool) father is in the merchant navy. He attends a school that is on a training ship and is preparing for a life at sea when war breaks out. His father’s ship is torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine and the German commander does not behave honourably. Peter joins up. The rest of the story involves Peter and the crew aboard the Arum. This was an untidy looking little vessel that formed part of a vital wartime service, U-boat hunting and protecting ships in the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean. They have some close calls, deal with bitter cold and face stormy seas. Tension peaks when they meet up with Peter’s hated German officer. ( )

Peter’s father is the captain of a merchant seaman when war breaks out. His ship is torpedoed but his father survives, so Peter decides to enlist in the Navy (lies about his age) to become a signalman on one of the small ships protecting convoys of merchants as they travel from England to America. He hears atrocious stories about the Wolf, a german u-boat commander who shoots survivors and he vows to do everything to hunt him down.p.120- 126 where a German boat tries to pretend it is a neutral Swedish tanker.