Control system requirements for highly automated and survivable future electric warships are presented herein to stimulate and unify interdisciplinary research conducted under the joint NSF/ONR Electric Power Networks Efficiency and Security (EPNES) initiative. This ONR challenge problem focuses on continuity of control for interdependent shipboard engineering and damage control systems under hostile conditions. The mission statement for these Hull, Mechanical, Electrical & Damage Control (HME&DC) systems may be summarized as: Provide continuous mobility, power, and thermal management for shipboard combat systems despite major disruptions involving cascading failures. This challenge problem is prototypical of analogous complex, interdependent systems including the national power grid, military and civilian infrastructure, and transport systems. These nonlinear, distributed, heterogeneous, variable structure systems contain dynamically interdependent subsystems. Mission/life critical system integrity and fault tolerance requirements demand dependable continuity of service. Innovative, dependable, and affordable control system architectures, strategies, algorithms, methods and tools are sought. After a brief problem statement and discussion of shipboard control systems, the ONR control challenge problem and reference system are presented.