50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 497 The Curse of the Melbourne

Just as the captain went down to the deck and was about to walk to the helipad, the sailors in the cabin also noticed something was wrong. Why was there such a strong smell of heavy oil?

Many people began searching for the leak, and the news was reported to the captain's cabin.

Just then, another large wave crashed in, and the destroyer pitched again.

Just then, a sailor was playing with a Zippo in one of the cabins. In the instant the ship pitched, the Zippo flew out of his hand, the gears hit the ground, and the sparks ignited the lighter in his hand.

With a "boom," the flame ignited the heavy oil vapors that filled the cabin air.

The orange flames spread rapidly to each compartment, and flames and thick smoke billowed out from every door and window of the entire destroyer.

Seconds later, when the flames reached the engine room where the heavy oil steam was most concentrated, an explosion occurred, shaking the entire ship and knocking everyone on board to the ground.

On the bridge of the HMAS Melbourne, Sun Zhiwei and his team saw the destroyer burning in the distance.

The group of US soldiers who had boarded the ship earlier all stood up and nervously looked in the direction of their own warship.

The team leader hesitated for a moment, but still gave the order to everyone: "Everyone, come back with me immediately."

Upon hearing the order, the soldiers immediately rushed to the deck, where the helicopter they had just arrived in was parked.

After watching the helicopter take off with them, Sun Zhiwei said to the captain, "Start the Melbourne quickly and get it away from that destroyer. Don't let it get caught in the blast wave."

The captain understood immediately. The ship opposite them was a warship, and if it caught fire, it could endanger flammable and explosive materials such as ammunition. Getting close at this time would be suicidal.

The sailors quickly started the Melbourne and sailed a distance of 1 nautical mile (1.852 kilometers) before the captain ordered them to stop and observe.

They could have sent an ocean-going tugboat for rescue; those boats have high-pressure water cannons and routinely perform firefighting missions at sea.

However, they are short-handed right now, and it is impossible to operate both ships perfectly. If the sailors all go to tugboats, then the Melbourne will be unable to move.

Just then, the soldiers from the US country had been quite rude to them, and the captain and sailors were still angry, so no one brought up the matter.

More than half an hour later, the fire on the destroyer not only did not subside, but also showed a tendency to burn even more intensely.

The crew of the Melbourne found it very strange that the damage control team on that destroyer was completely incompetent, unable to even control a fire.

Only Sun Zhiwei knew that because heavy oil vapor filled the entire ship, most of the sailors suffered severe burns during the first wave of explosions, leaving no manpower to fight the fire.

After all, it's a sudden explosion of heavy oil vapor, and the resulting flame temperature is quite high.

Seeing that the fire was out of control and that some sailors had already jumped into the water to save themselves, the captain instinctively moved the Melbourne further away.

This is not the time to play the hero. That warship is fully loaded with missiles and shells. If it were to explode, who knows how far it would affect? ​​It's best to keep a safe distance.

Perhaps the captain's curse came true, for just as they were moving away from the destroyer again, a secondary explosion occurred on the warship.

Loud explosions echoed from the destroyer, and they could see from afar the overturned superstructures and human bodies.

Some deck debris was even blasted several kilometers away by the explosion, landing not far from them.

Ten minutes later, another secondary explosion occurred, this time particularly violent. Sun Zhiwei and his team saw from afar that the entire destroyer was thrown up from the water with the sound of the explosion, then broke in two in the instant it fell back down, and quickly sank to the bottom of the sea within the next few minutes.

The rapid sinking of the destroyer created a deadly underwater whirlpool, dragging most of the people who had fallen into the water with it.

As the sea gradually calmed down, only many wrecks remained floating on the surface, along with burning oil and a few survivors further away.

At this point, Sun Zhiwei said to the captain, "Captain, you can send some crew members to lead the tugboat to organize the rescue."

"Please leave the Melbourne with the bare minimum of manpower, just enough to get it moving. Then we'll part ways." The transport fee had already been paid in advance, so there was no need to bring up the money now.

The captain didn't ask him why he wouldn't let the Melbourne go to the rescue. He had seen the attitude of the American soldiers who had just boarded the ship; they were clearly prepared to detain the decommissioned aircraft carrier.

They're not stupid; they wouldn't go and walk right into a trap, so they simply slipped away.

“Mr. James, my mission this time is to escort your ship. I will stay behind and pilot the Melbourne.”

"Regarding the rescue, I will have the first mate take 20 sailors in a tugboat. Judging from the situation, not many people can be rescued."

Sun Zhiwei nodded, and the captain began to assign manpower. Soon, the first mate led a group of sailors back to the tugboat in a small boat.

They will drive a tugboat to rescue the surviving US soldiers at sea, but they don't know how many will survive.

The two ships then parted ways, and the captain re-planned the Melbourne's route, bypassing the sensitive Guam base and Saipan, heading straight for Sun Zhiwei's Anatahan Island.

Ten hours later, the Melbourne approached the Anatahan Island Marina.

By this time, the two-kilometer-long pier on the island had already been built, and the main buildings on the island were all completed.

The main construction team withdrew last month, leaving only a small number of workers to do the final repairs.

For the safety of future tourists, Sun Zhiwei not only needs to build service facilities, but also needs to do his best to ensure the safety of tourists.

Because this is, after all, a wild island, and there are many poisonous plants and animals in the mountains and forests on the island.

Therefore, Sun Zhiwei plans to invite a group of professionals to conduct a thorough investigation on the island and clean up most of the toxic substances.

Otherwise, he couldn't afford to compensate for every tourist who died.

At the dock, the Melbourne slowly approached the edge. Its hull is over 200 meters long, so it was placed at the edge so as not to block the way.

The nickname "Disaster Carrier" hasn't spread yet, so there's still time to prepare. Later, they'll definitely build a separate small dock for it to dock.

Otherwise, once this urban legend reaches the ears of nearby ship owners, no ship will dare to approach Anatahan Island again.

Sun Zhiwei had no doubt about the extent to which this terrifying legend was spreading in the vicinity.

Because today, the inexplicable fire and explosion of that destroyer will most likely be blamed on the curse of the HMAS Melbourne.

(End of this chapter)