The Terrapin is a worn out ship. Her crew is a motley group with the exec having survived his own naval trauma. She is assigned a new skipper who is anxious to prove his worth and who believes the higher ups don't appreciate the gravity of the communist threat. To show them his worth, he disobeys orders and puts his ship in harm's way.
There have been lots of books dealing with Captain Queeg-like commanders and the relationships that develop between a crew who thinks the captain is crazy, the Executive Officer, charged with supporting the captain and enforcing his will on the ship. The Caine Mutiny (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37814568?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1) is one of those classics and should be read by everyone who enjoys a good naval yarn or even a first-rate legal battle.
I read the Arnheiter Affair (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/764693235) several years ago, a book to which Reeman refers in his introduction. He suggests that Arnheiter was right and should not have been relieved. I recommend reading both books and drawing your own conclusions. The idea that any commander can willfully disobey orders is anathema to any military service, regardless of how righteous they may think they are. Thank goodness Curtis LeMay didn't just charge off and send the bombers over Moscow with atomic weapons. He wanted to.
Reeman is clever sympathetic to Dalziel, the captain, who refuses to stay within the guidelines of his orders and, in the end, achieves a measure of validation. The book will without doubt appeal more to nautical afficionados than the average reader, but it does obliquely raise some interesting issues.
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