- Author
- William F. Cook, MVO, Captain, RAN (Rtd)
- Subjects
- Ship histories and stories, History - WW2
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Nizam
- Publication
- December 1994 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
It was estimated that the centre of the typhoon passed 4050 miles to the west of WAKAYAMA.
The mystery of the seized capstan was revealed later. While weighing, the anchor had twisted and both flukes had caught under the forefoot of the ship. The poor capstan then, was trying to haul the forefoot up through the hawsepipe. No wonder it refused duty!
No dawn, grey, windy and wet as it was, ever looked so beautiful to me! It had been an “all nighter” on the bridge, but I seem to remember that I was more worried about grounding than colliding with the small vessels swarming round – after all, I was bigger than them.
We returned and anchored in the harbour at 1130, and by sunset it was beautifully calm. It was a magnificent evening with a glorious moon to mock us.
My “escape” did not precipitate any diplomatic coup such as that of CALLIOPE in 1889, but I knew how her Captain felt. I imagine that his satisfaction was the more in the saving of his ship than in the assistance it gave to his political bosses in Whitehall in annexing Western Samoa.
