[2] A British Army officer, Ivan Lyon, who is promoted to major and decorated for his bravery has the eccentric idea of commandeering a dilapidated old fishing boat and with a hand-picked team of commandos, sail it into Singapore and destroy the Japanese warships in the harbour.
When Lyon receives the awful news that his wife and young son have been killed on board a ship bombed by the Japanese, his superiors feel that he is unhinged and refuse to consider his foolhardy plan.
Returning to Australia, Lyon wanting to come up with a way to hit back at the Japanese who have captured his wife and son, concocts a plan to attack enemy shipping in Singapore harbour.
Led by Captain Sam Carey and Lieutenant Ted Carse the commandos paddle in canoes into Townsville harbour, planting explosives on the docked vessels.
Initially Lyon and Mott receive resistance from their superior officers but eventually are given the greenlight to launch the attack using the Kofuku Maru, now renamed the MV Krait.
On the journey back the men on the Krait must endure a nerve-wracking run in with a Japanese destroyer, again in the Lombok Straight, before finally entering Exmouth Gulf to a heroic welcome.