On 16 April 1945, a mere three weeks before German surrender, the submarine U-190 fired a single torpedo that sank HMCS Esquimalt, the last Canadian naval vessel lost to enemy action, in the approaches to Halifax Harbour. Tragedy compounded tragedy as miscommunication and a long-delayed rescue effort cost the lives of 44 of the ship's 71 hands. In The Last Ship, the final survivor of HMCS Esquimalt, one of the senior officers of U-190, and three crewmen of the rescue vessel HMCS Sarnia, united by their collective experience, share their memories of this traumatic event.