He was stationed in the radio room and could hear the communications from the radar operator to the bridge.
A contact had been acquired and the distance and bearing were being called out. "Contact 4000 yards, dead-ahead"
The ship made no deviation from course.
A little while later: "Contact 2000 yards, dead-ahead"
The ship made no deviation from course.
Then: "Contact 1000 yards, dead-ahead"
The ship made no deviation from course.
"Contact 500 yards, dead-ahead"
The ship made no deviation from course.
At this point the radio room crew started to discuss the situation and wonder if the target was real or why the ship was not turning.
When the call of "Contact 250 yards, dead-ahead" was heard the radio room guys got tense and started to secure themselves in case anything were really in their path.
A short while later the ship started to turn but it was too late. A jolt was felt and a grinding noise was heard throughout the ship.
The contact was indeed real and was dead-ahead and now had been struck. The Sarita had struck a marker buoy and had torn a hole in the port side of the ship, high up on her bow.
My dad speculated that the bridge didn't believe the target to be real so took no evasive action. Radar technology, at the time, was new and untrusted.
The ship was repaired, but was left with a large steel plate patch on her port side for the rest of the war. A prominent battle scar on the visage of the fair Sarita.
I have one photo showing the repair (see above) but, the quality is not good enough to see the patch clearly.
If anyone can substantiate this story, I would love to share your evidence.
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