112 CHALLENGER 



Torpedoman had work to do. The corvette with the faulty asdic 

 gear lay alongside ; a corvette's resources are small and everything 

 possible must be done to have her anti-submarine equipment in 

 order by next day, when the ships would face the U-boats again 

 together. Sharpey-Schafer had a talent for anything mechanical or 

 electrical, his name being a byword among surveyors for his many 

 inventions ; once before during the war he had worked at sea in 

 an asdic compartment for 36 hours to repair an asdic set to such 

 good effect that a successful attack was made on a U-boat the 

 very next day. His knowledge and initiative in this matter resulted 

 in the corvette's equipment being put right, and it was a more 

 confident little party that set sail for West Africa after dark that 

 evening. 



