James has challenged Daniel Fogarty to a race from Foochow to Liverpool. The winner will gain control of the Onedin Steamship Company. But with Anne's news, James has another reason for a fast passage to Liverpool....

A tea merchant is to sell his Onedin Line shares to the highest bidder. If Fogarty can buy them he will gain control of the company.

Paris is in the hands of Citizen Communards who are fighting a civil war with the rest of France. Nevertheless, James insists on going to Paris to collect an old debt ...

Elizabeth finds that Albert has visited Carrie Harris again and she decides to leave him. Albert, furious with his wife, threatens to sue for divorce and to make public Elizabeth's unchastity.

James discovers a derelict schooner and decides to take her in tow. Mr Baines considers the schooner is hardly worth the trouble, but James is intrigued by the mystery of the abandoned vessel.

James and Albert Frazer sail to Turkey to inspect a steam engine well in advance of its time.

Captain Baines is deemed responsible for the loss of his ship and has to face a board of Nautical Assessors, while James plans to sail around the Horn, the last testing voyage left to a sailor....

James has an uneasy feeling about the Pibroch and her curious cargo. But he discovers the secret of the vessel's voyage too late. For James is aboard her-and in grave danger.

Sailing from Foochow in his chartered clipper Osiris, James picks up the lone survivor of a wrecked ship. The survivor has a strange story to tell...

James and Albert are responsible for bringing yellow fever into Liverpool. They are shocked to learn that the enquiry into the outbreak will be headed by Albert's father...

What is the mystery surrounding the voyage of the Samantha? In Ireland, a woman asks James to get her damaged ship, the Samantha, with its cargo of guano, home to Liverpool. James is convinced there is something suspicious.

Anne has left James and is determined not to return. But James has warned her that she'll not survive as a woman alone...

Discontent is rapidly mounting aboard James's clipper The Star of Bethlehem. Led by sailmaker Jessop, the crew plan a seamen's strike on their return to Liver-pool.

Anne is increasingly torn between loyalty to her husband and her principles.

James Onedin is in need of quick profits to regain control of the Onedin Line which Callon has wrested from him. But when James sails for the West Indies he has a troublemaker aboard...