Full Speed To Heaven: A military WW2 naval adventure by Terence Robertson

Author:Terence Robertson [Robertson, Terence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2023-05-24T22:00:00+00:00

In the early hours of the next morning — Boxing Day — it happened. Great seas ran before the hurricane. Boland and the Mid, waiting impatiently for the end of the middle watch, saw a huge, white-streaked towering sea swerve in the wind and purposefully race towards the port side of the bridge. They were numbed by the fearful sight, unable to move or take any action to avoid it. The great wave shouldered the ship at masthead height with a thunderous roar.

Concord staggered under the mighty blow and began to rise up the wet, streaky wall of water. One minute Strong was sitting in his chair, dozing; the next second he was thrown to his feet and propelled through the open cabin doorway into the passage as a green flood poured in after him. He hurled himself up the bridge ladder in time to see the toppling seascraper gather, spread, and suspend itself momentarily over the bridge like a vast canopy.

Then it fell, beating men to their knees with its frightful force, tearing hands from their grips on solid objects and spilling them across the bridge. Slowly, Concord emerged from the flood, wounded but alive.

Dazed and drenched, Strong fought his way to the wheelhouse and took command while Boland looked for damage. The port side of the bridge was smashed into a mess of twisted steel; the heavy steel scuttle clamped hard over a porthole in Strong’s cabin had been wrenched from its hinges. Water streamed through it into the cabin. The for’ard bulkhead opposite the porthole had been stove in by the force of the water jet.

At 0330 Boland recorded the damage in the log book and made the entry: Met hurricane in position. Under Strong’s orders, the little destroyer reduced speed, turned into the sea and hove to.

Half an hour later the First Lieutenant and Sterling crawled up to the bridge to relieve Boland and the Mid. As they arrived, a startling crack pierced the night.

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