Haislip, Harvey "Asking for Disaster"

“An old head wins a new battle on the convoy lines” according to the Saturday Evening Post tag line. The old hand in question, 70 year-old retired Commodore Browning, signs up for duty as Convoy Commander aboard the troop transport ORANTIC sailing out of Halifax in an eastbound convoy. Haislip pulls out all the stops and by tale’s end Commodore Browning’s much younger colleagues all appreciate the man’s qualities and leadership. An interesting subplot has the pivotal May 1941 engagement between the German battleship BISMARCK and British warships HOOD and PRINCE OF WALES taking place in the vicinity of the convoy as it sails eastwards.