It was a fortunate accident because he didn't hear the horrible moans and creaks the ship made on its fatal plunge to the bottom. And his limp body wasn't further injured when, moments later, the cruiser slammed into the soft mud. Even so, when the captain awoke in the darkened cabin, it was to an even more terrible sound, the cries of his men. Soon after he regained consciousness, a beam of light had stabbed the darkness and revealed bloodied and pale faces among the jumbled bunks and sea chests. The ship's chef, a short, round man named Lars, called the captain's name.

“Over here,” Petersen croaked.

The flickering light came his way. Lars crawled up beside Pe- tersen holding an electric torch.

“Are you all right, Lars?” the captain asked.

“Some bumps and bruises. My fat protected me. How about you, sir?”

Petersen managed a wet laugh. "I'm not so lucky. Broken left arm.

'What happened. Captain? I was sleeping.“ 'A ship slammed into us.”

“Damn,” Lars said. “I was having a sweet dream of good things to eat before I got tossed from my bunk. Didn't expect to see you down here, sir.”

“One of the crew said you were in trouble. I came to help.” He struggled to get up. “I'm not much help sitting here. Can you give me a hand ?”

They fashioned an improvised sling from the captain's belt and went around the cabin. With the help of a few men who hadn't been severely injured, they tried to make those less fortunate comfortable. The damp, biting cold was the worst immediate danger. They might be able to buy time, Petersen thought. The bunkroom had a supply of immersion suits used for cold-water protection if the ship went down.

It took awhile to round up the suits, which were scattered through- out the cabin in bags, and to get the injured men into them. They slipped on their gloves and pulled down the hoods. Then they rounded up spare blankets and clothes and wrapped themselves in several layers.

With the cold temporarily held at bay, Petersen turned his efforts to the air problem. One of the aluminum lockers held breathing de- vices to be used in case of fire or other emergency. These were passed around. They, too, would buy time. Petersen decided to use up their canned air first because it was purer than the air in the cabin, which was making the men sick.