When a new commander is assigned to a submarine chaser with an experimental engine, he finds the entire crew has as little experience as he does.

When Lt. John Harkness, a 90-day wonder with an engineering degree, is assigned as the new skipper of a submarine chaser equipped with an experimental steam engine, he hopes that the U.S.S. Teakettle's veterans will afford him enough help to accomplish the ship's goals. Unfortunately, he finds that the crew and its officers share his novice status or only have experience in diesel engines.—[email protected]