McCutchan, Philip Convoy East

Commodore John Mason Kemp guides his convoy through the Mediterranean to Malta — with the convoy’s subsequent voyage leading to Alexandria, then on through the Suez Canal to Ceylon. A complement of Navy Wrens aboard his own vessel add extra tension to the endeavor. As with all novels in this series, the action comes fast and furious. A curious oddity: late in the novel McCutchan adds a supposed Orient Line passenger liner turned troopship, the ORDUNA, to the lineup of convoy casualties. In real life, the ORDUNA (properly, the ORDUÑA), was a Pacific Steam Navigation liner which really did see World War 2 troopship service. McCutchan picks of the Alexandia to Trincomalee thread of the story in his 1990 novel, Convoy of Fear.