Howes, Royce "Steady as She Goes"
Set aboard the American merchant vessel S.S. WYNCRAFT circa 1940 while en route from Lisbon to Gibraltar, and subsequently into the Mditerranean as far as Naples and then back into the Atlantic en route home to the United States. An interesting look at American neutrality issues, particularly as seen through the eyes of opinionated Captain D.F. (“Dewey Farragut”) Jones who refuses to be intimidated by the several German submarines (and their rigid Nazi commanders) that his vessel meets at sea. In the end, having unintentionally rammed and sunk one of the submarines, Jones outwits a German demand that one of his officers accompany them to Bremerhaven for a naval inquiry into the incident. He does this by quoting a non-existent order which he claims to have received regarding American mercantile conduct at sea during the current hostilities. Speaking with his 2nd Officer Morris Sands he subsequently explains:
“Always remember, Mr. Sands, that you can put anything over on a German officer by citing an order. Their heads are built that way.”--p. 68).
Captain Jones undoubtably echoed a sentiment felt by many of his American sea-going contemporaries, and many a landlubber, too!