In "The Fire Ship," Siegfried Lenz creates a situation where the pressing issues emerge almost naturally; it deals with terror and resistance, duty, responsibility, and the guilt of the individual. It also addresses the failure of violence when it is forced to respect the rules of order.

A fire ship: a navigation point for incoming and outgoing vessels, an anchored symbol of safety bound to its unchanging position on the seabed. What happens when a conflict erupts on such a ship between armed and unarmed power, when three armed men are taken aboard as shipwrecked survivors, and soon manage to gain the upper hand on the ship?.