Petty Officer Franks arrived promptly with the Morse scope, doing the age-old mariner’s footstep on heaving decks.

An older bloke – 29 years on His Majesty’s ships – Franks was the only member of the 132-strong crew with a residual skill in the Morse code officially abandoned in 1999. Under the circumstances though, he was the only person on board who could be able to connect Cradoc with fellow mariners.

“Now, Franks, you should do a short Ahoy and let’s see if we can get anything in response,” the Captain said unbuckling his safety belt and standing gingerly next to the helmsman.

Cradoc rose and sunk under their feet, the wind speed indicator reading 60 (mph) the seas an endless expanse of shades of gray adorned by the horrendous white walls of frothing wave crests.

Franks was now positioned securely at the extreme porthole that had a built-in special receptacle for engaging the Morse scope, a fine detail of the naval engineering that had created Cradoc and her sister ships.

“Ready, Captain …”