tales-of-Fogo-Island

On December 24, 1942, Mr. Decker and his shipmates were at port in Tobruk,Libya. The men were relieved of their duty on the HMS Amber and decided togo ashore. All around them, people hurried about, loading and unloadingships. As Mr. Decker and his friends made their way along the busy dock,they talked about Christmas and wondered what their families were doingback home.Suddenly, the crew of the Amber heard a loud whistling sound. They droppedto the ground and soon felt the earth shake as a bomb blast ripped throughthe dockyard. No one in their group was injured, but thirteen men unloading anearby cargo ship were not so fortunate. They would die on Christmas Eve.That night at 3:00 A.M., the crew of the Amber was awakened by anotherexplosion. They rushed to the deck and discovered that another bomb hadexploded only meters from their ship! The crew soon learned that two bombshad been dropped earlier, but only one had detonated when it hit the dock.The other bomb had gone into the harbour.The crew of the Amber soon realized their good fortune, they had escapedinjury twice in less than twenty-four hours! Once on Christmas Eve and againon Christmas morning. As it happened, the second bomb did not cause anydamage to the ship, it just made a big mess!Launching a torpedo from the ship.When the crew on the HMS Amber picked up a 'pinging' sound on sonar, theyknew an enemy submarine was in the area. When they were certain therewas a threat, they would drop depth charges. These charges were set toexplode after sinking to different levels. If the charge was at the right depth at