What might have happened in Tiger came even nearer to happening to Lion. Her Q turret was hit by a 12-inch shell from Lützow at 4 o'clock, which killed everyone in the gun-house. One of the gun-numbers, as he died, involuntarily sent the loading cage of the right gun down into the working-chamber with cordite in it. A fire, spreading apparently down the turret's electrical cables, ignited the cordite in both the cage and the working-chamber; and fire then passed down the turret trunk towards the magazines. The turret officer, Major F. J. W. Harvey, managed with his dying breath (he had lost both legs) to order that the magazine doors be closed and the magazine flooded. The giving of this order, for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, saved the ship.
Lisa Hirsch's Classical Music Blog.
The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
Berce mollement sur ton sein sublime
Ô puissante mer, l’enfant de Dindyme!
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Valor
From John Keegan's The Price of Admiralty, chapter on the Battle of Jutland:
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