A true story of the sea told by men of the Royal Navy
Collected and introduced by Margot Campbell
Summing-up by Admiral of the Fleet
Sir George Creasy
The aircraft carrier Implacable is caught in a sudden gale. Waves are sweeping the flight deck fifty feet up, and the great ship pitches and tosses violently. In a hangar, motor-boats break loose and career about on their steel trolleys. The bo'sun's pipe screeches, and through the ship's loudspeakers comes the call ' Man overboard, starboard quarter.'
On the bridge, while captain and navigator deal with this situation, there follow two more messages. An armour-plated door twenty-five feet high is loose, sliding to and fro, in danger of breaking out through the ship's side; and fire has broken out in a wireless office. The ship's company rally to deal with all these dangers, as they tell in their own words.
Edited and produced by Archie P. Lee