A tough life full of adventure awaits Tom Chatto.

At the age of seventeen, he embarks upon his first voyage under sail.

Queen Victoria’s empire is growing fast and the good ship Pass of Drumochter is bound for the seven seas to trade the empire’s goods.

But the glamour soon falls from Tom’s eyes when he finds himself the unwitting eye witness to a foul murder.

There is a stranger on board, and suddenly the harsh waters are no longer the most deadly thing threatening the lives of the ship’s men.

Earning his master’s ticket is going to be as much about learning to cope with the terrifying ne’er do wells on board ship as it is about sails and navigation.

The first in a series of adventures spanning the sixty year career of an officer in Queen Victoria’s merchant navy, Apprentice to the Sea describes the first steps into a life at sea.

Praise for The Tom Chatto Series

‘Splendid fun’ – Kirkus Reviews on Apprentice to the Sea

‘Another fine sea story from a master.’ – Kirkus Reviews on Second Mate

Praise for Philip McCutchan

‘A first rate adventure series.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A nautical war buff's feast...[McCutchan] keeps an authoritative hand on the wheel and his descriptions of battles at sea ring with laconic truth.’ — The New York Times Book Review

‘His character conflicts are well organised.’ — Daily Telegraph

Philip McCutchan grew up in the naval atmosphere of Portsmouth Dockyard and developed a lifetime's interest in the sea. Military history was an early interest of his, resulting in several fiction books about the British Army and its campaigns, especially in the last 150 years. He served throughout WWII in a variety of ships, including the cruiser Vindictive, the ocean boarding vessel Largs, and the escort carrier Ravager, ending the war as a lieutenant, RNVR. He is also the author of Drums Along the Khyber.