Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 09:29:35 +0000
From: Robert Me <winchesterbornbred@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: M/V Lady Jean Peterson/35

Meeting up with the O6 was like seeing an old friend again and of course
Captain Bob Taylor and Scott were indeed great friends.
After radio greetings Scott thanked Bob for his invitation to go to the
O6 for dinner the next day with Andrew.

They sailed a mile from the O6 enjoying the fact they would still be out
of pirate waters for another two days.
By now the crew knew they would be four down when they got home and
that's why they were all meeting in the saloon with Reggie, Freddy, Neil
and Colin sailing the ship.

"First thing to ask of course, is anyone else thinking of leaving,
Andrew?"

"Silly man, get serious." Andrew lent over and kissed Scott's left cheek,
the one on his face that is. As he kissed Scott he went down memory lane
and smiled to himself as thought of earlier that day as he laid on his
left side while Scott entered him and blew up! Andrew held Scott's hand
and got hard again! Scott already was, he was also thinking about
"blowing up" an hour before!

"We only leave if you fire us and we know you wont........, please!"
Paulina.

"We will be staying until your ships are safe without the Jean having to
escort them." Tommy was at least was being serious.

"I am staying until I can get you fuckers fit, so George has to stay as
well, not that he wants to leave anyway." Jerry was being serious, in his
own way.

Everyone looked at Marcel and Jon, the boys looked back at them, then
looked at one another and smiled. Marcel spoke for both of them. "We have
decided to leave Skip." Marcel and Jon waited for Scott's reaction.

"Ok, bye!" Marcel was in a panic! "We didn't mean it Skip!"

"Nor did I. RIGHT, as Andrew said, lets get serious.

"Ok, I had to ask and thanks all of you. This may come as a bit of
surprise, but I don't want to replace the guys. Now we are being rearmed
we are back to what we were, armed and much more of a threat to pirates
than they are to us or the ship we are escorting. We only have two on
watch now and that will help no end, two on and eight off as I will take
a regular watch with Andrew when there is just the ten of us. Andrew will
become our Chief Engineer and the two boys are more than capable to
support him. Paulina I know you are more than qualified to manage the
sick bay because Reggie told me and he also told me he would be on 24
hour call if you ever need advise. The only gaps that will need to
be filled is the winch operator and possibly a second chef and that's all
down to you George." George puffed his chest out and smiled at them all
in that condescending manner given by someone who suddenly finds
themselves in a position of importance. He coughed and smiled again,
which made it worse.

"Take it from me Skip and my fellow crew members, the Jean's
compliment will continue to dine to the high standards you have come to
enjoy and the winch will be no problem either. We will have time to
practise transfers to the O6 and back as well as rescue practises before
we get to pirate seas and by that time I will be as good, if not better
than Colin. Relax people, you are in good hands." He smiled at everyone
again.

"Finished?" Scott yawned.

"Yes Captain, please do carry on." Jerry put his head in his hands and
promised himself a good time when he and George got back to their cabin.
George was sure they would.

"Thank you Chef, that's it then, thanks everyone. I cant wait for the
weapons to arrive. I will ask for volunteers to fire the second machine
gun and Paul will select the shooter after test firing."

Paul took the Jean to the O6 and Colin transferred Scott and Andrew with
George looking on. After the transfer Colin began training George and
volunteered Marcel and Jon to be rescued. Jan and Paulina took them out
in the RIB two miles and dumped them over board. The exercise would go on
for hours and all of them having a great time. The boys would be dry in
their survival suits but very cold but as happy as punch as only these
two could be and both knowing they would have a great time back in the
cabin getting each shrivelled up dick back to normal and beyond!

Meeting up with Bob again was a great time as well and for the next six
hours they just relaxed enjoying the company and touring the O6 and Scott
meeting old friends again. They took their meal with the crew which was
fun made even better when Scott got a call from Paul.

"Skip we have just heard from HMS Edward and she is about a week
from Mumbai and wants you to contact and arrange a time to meet up. When
we are close she will send over our supplies by helicopter."

They were on the O6's bridge which like all ships was quiet with the crew
going about their work. The navigator came to his captain and handed him
a weather report. Bob and Scott read it together and knew that when they
came out of Mumbai in a weeks time they could have a Cyclone to sail
through if the report was correct. "Could be interesting Scott. Batten
down the hatches time me thinks."

When they got back to the Jean, Scott and Paul read the same report and
Scott informed the crew and told them they maybe in for some very heavy
seas on the next sailing. "At least it will keep the pirates away for a
while." He did not have to tell them there would be a need for extra
security in all departments, particularly in the Galley, Hanger and
workshop.

As soon as the O6 was approaching Mumbai and in safe waters, Scott turned
the Jean and headed towards the rendezvous point to meet HMS Edward 50
miles off the coast. The need for extra aviation fuel was now forgotten.
The Royal Navy ship was spotted as soon as she came on radar and Scott
had the Jean turned 180 degrees and slowed to 8 knots waiting for the
Edward's helicopter to arrive and transfer the weapon and ammunition. But
as soon as the helicopter was loaded it had to respond to an emergency
call some 100 miles south of the Royal Navy ship, the Jean would not get
the weapon after all. It was going to be a busy time for the
international navy and for Scott and his ship as well.

The Jean laid off the coast at five miles waiting for the O6 to came back
out of Mumbai and fell in behind her and so the escort began but already
the sea was picking up which would stop any boarding practises and sea
rescues. Instead the crew went about making doubly sure everything was
secure and just waited for the full storm to turn up and for Scott to
change course and head into the waves which was expected to reach between
10 and 15 feet. The O6 would follow and together they would ride it out.
To make it safer all navigation and deck lights would be turned on. As
the seas became heavier Scott took the Jean further away from the O6 and
ordered all crew into survival suits including helmets and headsets, at
least there would be no pirates to worry about.

In all walks of life, no matter what, the unexpected can turn up and the
Jean was no exception on this particular occasion. The Cyclone was at its
height, the most severe in years and the Jean and every other ship was
being thrown about and no crew of any ship was able to stand up, everyone
hung onto grab handles but at the same time go about their work keeping
their particular ship safe, but the most vulnerable would be container
ships.

The first distress call came on the radio and Scott had the Jean turned
towards its last known position but already knew there would be little
chance of being able to help. He could not sail at more than 5 knots in
this sea and now he could not sail into the storm the Jean was being
tossed about even more.

The ship calling the Mayday was 50 miles away from the Jean and when the
second distress call came in he altered course knowing he had a better
chance of getting to her as she was much closer, 10 miles. But the SS
Harmony was in deep trouble, the chains securing the containers to the
deck were at their limit and when his ship slammed into the next wave he
knew they were lost as the Harmony was forced even further over to port
at 35 degrees and just about every chain failed and hundreds of tons of
containers and their contents began to fall overboard, followed by many
more as their chains also failed. With the containers sliding off the
port side the ship was held at the 35 degrees which soon became 40. The
Harmony's captain ordered "abandon ship" but also knowing full well that
nobody could get to the life boat and he knew that no one would survive,
it was a Captains worst nightmare, "every man to themselves."  The ship
was doomed as were the whole crew. Of the 30 crew only 9 would be able to
throw themselves over the starboard side and it would not include the
captain.

Captain Moralise Mondez's last conversation would be with Scott.

 "SS Harmony, this is Captain Scott Peterson of the MV Lady Jean
Peterson, we will be with you in two hours captain. We are a search and
rescue ship sir and are fully equipped  to assist."

"Thank you Captain Peterson, this is Captain Moralise Mondez of the SS
Harmony but I think you will be an hour too late sir......... I have read
about you captain, your ship and your story. Keep up the good work, but
please come to my location and I pray you can save SOME of my crew, I
have ordered them to abandon ship, we are going down............goodbye
and God bless you." The speakers went quite. Nobody said a word, there
was nothing to say anyway, they all knew there would be no survivors.

Scott took the helm and when the stern was at its deepest he would open
both throttles in an attempt to keep the Jean at 5 knots. He knew all the
crew could do as he was doing, but he needed to be focussed and try to
get to the last known location of the Harmony, it took his mind off the
reality of men already dead or dying. The sea would always be master and
she had not finished yet as the waves became even bigger and Scott had no
choice but to turn into them or risk being turned over.

Down in the engine room Neil and Andrew had literally tied themselves to
grab handles while keeping watch on the monitors and the only good thing
was the engines and other essential equipment were still in good shape.
They looked at one another as Scott spoke and again held on for dear
life.

"THIS IS THE BIG ONE, HIT THE DECK AND HOLD ON!" In fact no one hit the
deck as they were all transfixed looking out at this MASSIVE wave as it
came at them. It reached the Jean and lifted her almost 40 feet up as
though she was a bit of drift wood. Up and up she went and everyone
wondering what was on the other side of this monster.

It was as if in slow motion as she was taken up this wall of sea and when
they reached the summit for just a few seconds all they could see was
cloud, they were almost vertical.

At long last they were taken over the top and once again the whole crew
on the bridge stared down in horror of what they saw and hoped and prayed
that the Lady Jean Peterson was strong enough to take what was about to
come their way.

"DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!" Scott screamed at them. "ENGINE ROOM, HOLD TIGHT!"
They all took one last look and what they saw, a massive trough and
realised the Jean could very well be the next ship to be lost. All they
prayed for was the work that had been carried out to strengthen the whole
ship would save them.

Not only was the trough so deep it was wide as well as the next wave was
some distance away and they knew that the ship would literally nose dive
into this canyon of water. They all hit the deck and held on for dear
life and grabbed anything they could reach.

The Jean was taken over the top of this monster and at one time was
completely out of the water as she dived at an angle that would take her
under.

The noise was deafening as the bow hit the lowest point of the trough and
within seconds the ship was engulfed and still going down, all the way to
her midships and she only stopped her decent after the sea had gone over
the helicopter hanger. Everyone clung on with eyes tightly closed and
prayed. There was a tremendous noise coming from the top of the bridge
as both communication pods, rotating scanners, searchlights, the camera
pod and whip aerials were ripped off.

Slowly and very gradually she began to climb back up and at least the
ship steadied for a short while as she came to the surface and they could
all get up to look at the next wave coming at them.

"Engine room, Andrew, Neil are you ok?" The relief was tremendous when
both replied they were.

Once again they stared at the next wave and could not believe that it was
only a quarter of the size of the last one and you could almost hear the
sighs of relief. The Jean rode this one easily and the many that
followed, but they still had to hang on and just wait for this to blow
itself out. An hour later it did and now they could check the ship for
damage, there was quite a lot of it.

They looked at all the blank screens and knew straight away the Jean was
now blind, no main radar, no Hawk radar, no navigational aids and no
weather screen and possibly no radio communication either. Scott called
the O6 many times, no reply. He and Paul went to the bridge top and
looked at the destruction and realised why they were now without any
contact outside their small ship. Even the firework tubes had gone and
the roof was bent and twisted and would have to be replaced but
fortunately there were no holes. Next they got to the hanger and also
realised the helicopters would not be flying again. The roll up hangar
door, the weakest part of the superstructure had been smashed in and the
water had done maximum damage, it was a complete mess, but that was not
all, the galley was like a war zone with every cupboard door ripped off
their hinges and the contents all over the deck. Every cooking utensil,
cutlery, spice containers and much more were scattered all over the place
as well as every bit of crockery, smashed to bits. Colin, George and the
two boys set too to clean the place up. "Anyone checked the freezer
room?" George asked. Colin open the hatch and they all stood there and
looked yet another disaster area. Every door off and the contents
scattered on the deck. As with the galley, all food would have to be
thrown over board and all they would be eating for goodness how long
would be canned foods which the crew would have to eat straight from the
tins. At least there was a lot of it.

Scott had to get back to the bridge and find out where they were and
attempt to get to the Harmony's last known position but he knew they had
no chance of helping anyone from her.

They did find the location and search as they did for four  hours all
they saw was a now calm sea. Now Scott's next problem he had to deal
with, where was the O6?

He remained on the bridge with Freddy and worked out a course that they
hoped the O6 could be located. Meanwhile the rest of the crew went to all
departments checking them and the good news was that no further damage
was reported, just in need of a clean up.

It was now night time and Scott worked out the new watches that would be
needed as they were blind and there would have to be four back on now
with two up on the bridge top with night glasses.

Finally Scott and Andrew had an hour off together and got into the shower
as soon as they arrived in the cabin. They did not say much, like the
rest of the crew, thinking about all those that had perished and there
was nothing they could do about it and offering thanks that they had
survived. They got into the bunk and just held one another very close.
All couples would be doing exactly the same when they got to their own
cabins. The search for the O6 would go on for two more days and nights.

"Skip to the bridge please." Scott ran up and saw the watch looking
through binoculars. "We have found the O6 Skip, I think you should look
at her."  Paul said. Scott took over the power binoculars and looked at
her and the first thing he saw were a couple of men with AK 47's standing
on the bridge wing.

The O6 had been taken.
______________________________________________________________________

winchesterbornbred@hotmail.co.uk