letup.ItwasthesoundofElFarogo-
ingdown.Thelastwordsheardon
thebridge areDavidson’s. Heis
cryingouttoHamm:“It’stimeto
comethisway!”FROMVANIT YFAIR(APRIL2018),© 2018
BYWILLIAML ANGEWIESCHEThesinkingofElFaro, 685kilometres
southeastofMiami,wastheworst
USmaritimedisasterinthree
decades.Amassivesearchoverthe
followingweekturnedupliferafts,
immersionsuitsandotherdebris
fromElFaro, butnobodieswere
everrecovered.Theshipwasfound
resting 4695 metresbeneaththe
surfaceandthedatarecorderwas
eventuallyretrieved.
AUSNationalTransportation
SafetyBoardinvestigationconcluded
thata combinationoffactors
contributedtothecatastrophe,
includingCaptainDavidson’s
relianceonoutdatedweather
reports,thefailureofcrewmembers
toasserttheirconcernsaboutthe
ship’scourse,andlackofadequate
safetytrainingforcrewmembers
bytheshippingcompany.slanted deck of the bridge, but he
was exhausted from steering. He said,
“Can’t come back over!”
Davidson said, “Hold on a sec. Take
it easy there.”
A radio call came in, possibly from
Riehm. “Cap’n, you gettin’ ready to
abandon ship?”
“Yeah. What I’d like to make sure
everybody has their immersion suits
and, uh, stand by. Get a good head
count.” The radio said, “Mustered, sir.”
Randolph yelled, “All right, I got
containers in the water!”
Davidson said, “Ring the abandon
ship.” The bell sounded: seven pulses
followed by an eight-second ring.
Davidson said, “Bow is down. Bow
is down.”
Davidson radioed, “Everybody get
off! Get off the ship! Stay together!”
Hamm said, “Cap! Cap!” He was
having a hard time climbing the deck
Clinging to the high side, unable to
reach Hamm, Davidson kept urging
him to try.
Hamm said, “You gonna leave me?”
Davidson answered firmly, “I’m not
leaving you. Let’s go.”
A low rumbling began and did not
Word Play
An aptronym is a name especially suitedtotheprofessionofits
owner. Real-life examples include barberDanDruff,FelicityFootefor
a dance teacher, James Bugg for an exterminator,andmeteorologists
Dallas Raine, Sara Blizzard and Amy Freeze.Morefamously,wehave
William Wordsworth, the poet.WWW.WORDSMITH.ORG127
Into the Teeth of a Hurricane