The Last Paladin by P.T. Deutermann is based on the true story of the USS Hayward (DE-24), a World War II Atlantic Fleet destroyer escort which has spent the past two years in the unforgiving battle for survival against the German U-boats of the North Atlantic. Summoned to relieve destroyers that are bogged down by escort duty in the escalating Pacific Theater, the Hayward is met with a rather cold reception. In the eyes of Pacific Fleet sailors, North Atlantic convoy duty pales in comparison to the bloody, carrier-sinking battles of Savo Island and Guadalcanal. However, Atlantic Fleet ships have had to specialize in one thing: anti-submarine warfare. The Hayward is sent off into remote South Pacific operating areas with orders to find and destroy Japanese submarines-but with little expectation of success. Her commanders take the mission literally; using radio intercepts that are being ignored at higher levels, they determine that the Japanese have set up a 1000-mile-long picket line of seven submarines, an entire squadron's worth, to act as a moveable barrier against the expected American advance into the next set of islands. What happens next is one of the legendary stories of the US Navy.