Lynch, Rolland "Seasoned in Sail"

World War 2 tale. Honolulu saloon owner Lorimer Hildreth still had his master’s papers when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor and, despite his age (he’s 67), wanted “to do his bit.” Trouble was, the last time he’d been to sea it had been in the waning days of the age of sail. Still, he argued, “the sea’s the sea,” whether under sail or in steam. The Maritime Commission evidently bought his reasoning and eventually send him out as 1st Mate aboard the tramp freighter BERING. Derided by captain and crew alike as an outdated “shellback,” the old mariner comes into his own after the BERING, sailing in convoy to Jubal, is struck by a torpedo and her captain killed. Without missing a beat Hildreth takes command of the ship and, when it becomes apparent the vessel’s engines have been destroyed by the torpedo’s explosive impact, leads his men in jury rigging sails to power the ship which utilize the tramp’s cargo booms as masts and canvas hatch covers as improvised sails. The story ends optimistically with the BERING back en route to Jubal under sail.