Preface: The following was first posted on January 20.....2016....the post below it....December of 2014. Just as with this ship in the first post....America has experienced one disaster after another since then. We have lost the capability to communicate....we have lost our rudder....as a perfect storm is approaching.
Captain Miller was leaning over weather reports that had come in over an hour earlier. There was some concern on his face but if the ship remained on schedule they might outrun the winds. It was 2100 hrs and he had just returned to the bridge from dinner where he shared the Captain's Table with some very influential stock market brokers heading to London on what else....money business. The waves were about ten feet and the winds calm at the moment. They were exactly half way across the Atlantic....the ship....its 300 passengers and 45 crew.
The hatch opened quickly and Lieutenant Crosby entered appearing very annoyed. "Captain.... we have lost all radio transmissions capability.... we cannot send out anything. The problem appears to be electrical and we are on it but I'm told that if the transformers are shorted out as they appear to be that it could take up to 24 hours before we can transmit again!" "24 hours!" The captain repeated his last words..."24 hours without contacting anyone? Well, let's hope that we do not have any emergencies Lieutenant."
Captain Miller ran his fingers through his graying hair and just as Lieutenant Crosby left the bridge Lieutenant Smith entered...."Captain...we have a rudder problem. After we completed the 15 degree turn north the rudder froze in place." Captain Miller walked up to the wheel, look over the sea and nodded his head...." I can see that....all engines stop." A seaman repeated the order to the engine room. Miller turned and looked at the four men with in the bridge...."No radio transmissions.....no rudder....this trip was going along too smoothly."
First Officer Martin Malkin spoke up...."Did you hear that?" The captain looked off to his left and then to his right and answered that he heard nothing but Smith nodded..."I did...it sounded like a muffled explosion." Captain Miller looked over at Seaman Thomas...."Have all stations report in." The Seaman did so and one by one answers came in. "Nothing from the engine room. Lieutenant Smith, go down there and see what's happening."
It was 2115 hours. The captain had been back on the bridge for only 15 minutes and the ship was falling apart. A young officer entered the bridge with a returning Lieutenant Smith. He was covered with dirt and oil and appeared in shock.....Smith spoke for him...."Explosion in the engine room Captain. Everyone is reported for but they can't even see for all the smoke right now."
Captain Miller walked back over to the weather reports he was reviewing only a few minutes earlier with then little concern...now there was great concern for they were not going to be able to outrun the storm even if the engine and the rudder were repaired quickly. Lieutenant Smith spoke first...."Captain, should I make an announcement to the passengers?" The Captain paused for a moment or two and said...."No....there's no need in worrying them."
Three other officers were summoned to the bridge and the group sat around a table to consider the problems and make a plan. The ship was now beginning to rock ever so slightly. Captain Miller stood up quickly and asked of no one in particular....."Gentlemen...are we listing a little to the aft?" Indeed it seemed so, that the ship's bow was a little bit higher than the stern. Just then another seaman burst through the hatch..."Captain....Captain....we are taking on water! A seam in the port side of the engine room has ruptured!" "How much water?" the Captain shot back immediately? "Sir.... a lot of water....we had to get out of the engine room!"
Captain Miller shouted to Lieutenant Smith...."Smith...radio an S.O......" he stopped mid-sentence for he remembered that there was to radio transmission capability. "Lieutenant Bonham....get the lifeboats uncovered....just uncovered. If anyone asks why, tell them....tell them it's a crew practice."
Seaman Waverly, the ship's cook knocked on the hatch unaware of the emergencies that were going on....""Enter!" Waverly spoke slowly....."Captain, we have a bit of a problem.....a serious one though.....a 6" water pipe broke in the stockroom....." he hesitated and Captain Miller roughly yelled....."And?" "Sir before we could get the leak isolated, all of the stock was destroyed.....the only thing that we have left is the refrigerated food and.....and...." "And what else"...shouted the Captain again. "And there seems to be an electrical problem with the refrigeration. Unless we get that fixed, we only have one meal left for all on board."
There was no panic or even hesitation from Captain Miller...."Make the announcement Lieutenant Smith. Make the call to emergency stations and then tell the passengers that we are temporally stuck.....with damage that will require assistance.....don't mention the food or anything else."
Captain Miller did not hear the door open. He turned to look over the seas and Doctor Johnson, the ship's doctor, was behind him, also unaware of all the problems except the one that he had to report. "Sir, It appears that you are very busy but I have something you need to know." Captain Miller could not believe his ears. He didn't have any idea what problem the doctor had but it was obvious that there was one....yet another emergency....was this even possible. It was now only 37 minutes from the time that the captain was looking over weather reports and it seems like the world had caved in. Did he even want to hear the doctor's report? He did pause long enough for Doctor Johnson to continue....."Captain...we have had an unusually high sick call the past 24 hours. I did not think it necessary to mention it to you but it appears to be some sort of violent bacterial strain of some sort. One patient...a passenger.... has made a dramatic turn for the worse and is fighting for his life.....three others have the same symptoms. This seems to be highly contagious sir." He paused and then asked "Captain....is it too late to turn back to New York?"
The ship was listing more now...surely the passengers were aware of it. Surely they were aware that we were not going anywhere. There would be panic soon. The waves were nearing fifteen feet and getting worse by the minute. A young lieutenant whose name the Captain had not memorized as of yet ran through the already open hatch and almost slipped. Apparently he knew that the ship was taking on water and had been charged with removing the covers from the lifeboats....."Captain....I don't know how this has happened......I signed off on the papers in port.....I didn't visually verify it but was told in no uncertain terms that....." "Spit it out Lieutenant" shouted the Captain. "Captain. The guernsey chains had been removed in port to be weight inspected......somehow they were never put back on......we cannot lower the lifeboats if we need to!"
The following post is from December of 2014.
Damn The Icebergs.....Full Speed Ahead!
The mood on the bridge was somber. The Captain never said a word as the chief engineer detailed the damage to the hull from the iceberg. All of the ship's officers were present. Muffled voices from somewhere on the decks below were the only sounds. It could have been a painting or a photograph. The scene almost had a Civil War flair to it as some of the uniformed men faced left....some straight ahead....some with a hand neatly placed between buttons on their coat. The Captain turned from looking out over the dark sea....picked up his cap from a table and carefully placed it over his grey hairs....walked over and unlatched the hatch....and it swung open as the ship was listing fast. The muffled voices became loud shouts....and the Captain....knowing the imminent fate of the ship....stepped out into the chilly North Atlantic air....reserved and dignified as he had done thousands of times before.
As the hatch swung shut the voices once again became muffled and the officers seemed to breath for the first time. The First Officer spoke...."Gentlemen, I promise you that if I am made captain after this voyage I will restore the promise of this great ship." The Second Officer took two steps into the middle of the gathering and spoke next...."If I might interrupt sir, had you followed my advice we would have come to a stop hours ago at the first sight of icebergs." The Executive Officer cut him off "Stopped.....stopped! I would never have taken this route. Records are all you men are interested in....Fame!"
Everyone in the room was now shouting out allegations. They had all moved closer together and the scene was uncomfortable to watch for the one person not blessed by birth into the elite culture of the ship's staff officers. Throughout the entire meeting....the details....the captain's humiliation and the officers fighting over who might replace him....was a lowly ship's mate standing at the wheel....holding firm onto it as was his duty even though all engines had stopped. He turned suddenly to face the others....his face red as the ribbon across his cap just below the word HMS Inviolable. What was there to lose? "You are all daft! The ship is going to the bottom! None of you will live till morning!" The First Officer stared intently into his young face "Going down? Nonsense. This is His Majesty's Ship Inviolable. It is unsinkable!" At that point a pair of binoculars had slid off of a table and crashed onto the deck of the bridge. The lights flickered and a horrible groan emanated from the bowels of the ship. The officers, every one of them, for the very first time, realized what was indeed going to happen.
