One U-boat against one destroyer would have been a fair—if deadly—match. But Captain John Murrell’s H.M.S. Hecate was towing a crippled tanker whose cargo was as dangerous as it was precious—four million gallons of high-octane gas! The U-boat commander was his career depended on sinking the tanker. If he failed, the Luftwaffe would send new long-range Heinkels to destroy the Hecate and her tow. Murrell’s cunning fight against incredible odds soon became a nightmarish eternity of cat-and-mouse moves and countermoves. His agonizing duel to the death makes this one of the most brilliant and memorable sea sagas to come out of World War II. About the Denys Arthur Rayner was a Royal Navy officer who fought throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft.

DUEL AT SEA From the moment the radar indicated a German sub, the captain of the destroyer Hecate knew he would achieve his life’s ambition—a duel to the death in deserted waters between his ship and an enemy submarine. Below the choppy sea sped the U-121 commanded by Kapitan von Stolberg, an efficient, brutal sailor who also welcomed a fight to the finish—but for a different reason. His submarine was entrusted with a mission that could prove catastrophic to the Allied war effort. Nothing—least of all a British destroyer—must stand in his way. Plotting his strategy like a deadly game of chess, the destroyer captain doggedly tailed the elusive sub. Depth charge answered torpedo, cannon matched gun and finally man faced man in a climactic battle for supremacy at sea. THE ENEMY BELOW was the basis for the Academy Award winning 1957 movie starring Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens. About the author: Denys Arthur Rayner was a Royal Navy officer who fought throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft.