Captain Kettle on the War-path

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Captain Sir Owen Kettle, the one-legged seaman who chafes at being kept from the war, leaps at a secret mission to intercept a German submarine and outwit official caution with sheer nerve. In New Orleans, he and politician Martin Carnforth adopt aliases, trail the suspicious tanker Grüda, and are drugged and shanghaied aboard, where Kettle's hard-handed ingenuity quickly turns survival into a contest of wills. From forced labor and humiliating deception to a tense Atlantic crossing, the novel builds a brisk wartime adventure of comic dialogue, patriotic mischief, and rough seamanship. As the Grüda becomes a floating refueling station for a U-boat, Kettle prepares for close combat with whatever weapons the ship can offer. He then seizes the moment, rams a submarine, survives a catastrophic torpedo explosion, and faces fresh danger from another attacker. Later, trapped with Dr. Mary Brown, he uses bluff, calculations, and improvised torpedo controls to destroy a second target, while their sparring reveals the story's gender tension and affectionate wit. Brown's wish to bring a captured submarine in under a suffragette flag clashes with Kettle's practical caution, and his stubborn confidence extends even to a minor wound and a dubious patent medicine. The tale closes by introducing Lieutenant John B. Plough, R.N., recalled from romantic leave to duty, signaling another lively turn in this naval romance-adventure.