September 1815: Captain Adam Bolitho carries on the Royal Navy tradition of his seafaring family. Summoned to the Admiralty by Sir Edward Pellew, Adam is ordered to sail his 46-gun frigate 'Unrivalled' into African waters to aid His Majesty's campaign against slave-runners. Preoccupied with avenging his uncle Richard's death while confronting an entrenched adversary and the aggressive opposition of the Algerian overlord, he fears he may be setting his crew on a course of doom.