Operational Immediate

Captain Bentley

by J.E. Macdonnell

High speed in this murk had all the potentialities of bucking disaster. To try and lessen them he steamed in fine-abreast formation, with Swift on his starboard beam and Witch to port. There were dangers in this arrangement... was there one without?... but at least like this each ship had the whole length of her sister on which to keep station, instead of the narrow-gutted stern they would have been reduced to if in line-head.

In practice, there were so many possible and ugly variations of this theoretical theme that Bentley quite consciously refused to think about them.

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

During his fourteen years in the R.A.N., Queensland born James (Jim) Edmond MacDonnell (aka James McNell, James Dark, James Edmond Macdonnell, James Macdonnell, J.E.M., Jim Macdonnell, J. Macdonnell, Macnell, Kerry Mitchell, Michael Owen.) came up through all lowerdeck ranks to commissioned gunnery-officer. This experience is evident in his sea novels which have been published in many countries overseas, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.