Warship

- Season 2

(1974)

Hero is assigned a mission off the Norwegian coast. The Royal Marines lead by Lt. Palfrey, the son of a highly decorated officer, attempt to take key instillations but are captured. Palfrey escapes but doesn't realise it's an exercise.

Lt. Palfrey escapes Norway and returns to Hero, only to discover the horrific truth of his murder. Nialls successfully pleads, with the Norwegians, for Palfrey to be court martial but he shocks everybody by pleading not guilty.

HMS Reliant rescue a lone lifeboat but have fallen into a trap by the Special Army Squad for Freedom who want to use their Polaris missiles. As the closest ship Hero is ordered to the area but not to negotiate with terrorists.

Whilst at a party in Plymouth Bob Last, navigating officer of HMS Hero bumps into Timothy Penn who he later finds, when he reports on board that he is the new deputy weapons officer. Although Penn knows his subject he is disenchanted with a career in the Royal Navy. He therefore proceeds to walk a fine line to gain a discharge for being unsuitable for service and that way he gains his university education for free. His immediate target is the first lieutenant Derek Beaumont but it is Commander Mark Nialls who ultimately has to try to persuade the wayward Timothy Penn.

After 3 weeks shore leave, HMS Hero needs an extra 6½ hours for repairs. Reg. Fuller has been with Constable Munk's wife and he wants revenge. Lt. Last has invited a stripper for lunch while Niails superior Captain Calder invites himself.

Hero is dispatched to find a Boeing 707, containing 99 passengers and 10 crew, which was on fire and ditched in the sea. Once aboard, Nialls has to decide whether to save a young woman or stop and remove to Venezuelan revolutionary.

Beaumont has a near miss with a tug boat while piloting Hero into port, losing Nialls trust. On leave he is considers a new career with a yacht builder. Mark Nialls visits girlfriend Sarah and discovers she may marry someone else.

Hero gets a message that there is mutiny on a nearby fishing trawler. When Beaumont boards the trawler he finds the captain locked in a cabin armed with a gun. Once the door is opened they find him seriously ill needing help.

Two new sailors, L/S Steele and Ord. Jones, join Hero. They quickly come into conflict with AB Radcliffe, who'd had a bad history with Steele in a previous ship. The situation worsens when Steele is promoted and reports Radcliffe for insubordination. When Steele disappears overboard, suspicion naturally falls on Radcliffe as the crew, knowing that Steele's chance for survival in the cold North Atlantic water is dwindling with each passing moment, desperately search for the missing man.

Lescher, a former U-Boat commander, now a West German minister, joins Hero as observer but he starts to have flashbacks. Nialls becomes concerned that he is suffering a complete mental breakdown as the manoeuvres begin.