At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan 12, the little (643-ton) Swedish motor tanker Divina was plowing out of the Thames estuary, four miles from shore, between Red Sand Tower and the Shivering Sand banks. Second Mate Franz Leipelt, officer on watch, and a British pilot were on the bridge. At the helm, Swedish Able Seaman Herbert Tonning guided his ship at a cautious 10 knots through a calm, moonless night. From the bridge came a shouted order. Tonning spun the wheel, hard. He heard the crunch of steel on steel. Captain Karl Hammerberg, hunched over...
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