Scimitar—a new ship with a green crew—was already at 25 knots and in the ridged sea she could take no more. Her nose was pointing straight at the Jap cruiser’s bridge. Snelling’s eye caught the flicker of tumbling numbers on the range-repeat dial. Five thousand yards. God, why hadn’t the Jap opened fire? Five thousand yards! He couldn’t miss. And then the Japanese cruiser opened up, and a storm of high-explosive burst all about them.Then the captain looked at his first mate, and the first mate would never forget the sight of his captain for as long as he lived. With his left hand clutched round his throat, red as though he had hauled it, dripping, from a tin of red paint, he bent over the voice-pipe and ordered, “Full ahead together.” Then he turned to them and spoke as if he tasted every word.“Stand by to ram!”
