T. E. Lawrence Correspondence – Page 13

LH 4/13/42 25th June, 1931. Den F/Lt. Beauforte Greenwood By all means keep the Seven Pillars as long as you feel inclined. I feel guilty of its length and dullness. Then it was a dull subject, too. The two mishaps to 200 worried me rather, so I have got Corpl. Bradbury to tell me about them. The windscreen went of Portland Bill. We had warned them to hug it (at high tide) or give it 5 miles. Instead they cut through the worst of the race, about 2 miles out and tried to juggle her over the seas with the throttles but were not skilled enough, so they opened her right up into a trough, and took it heavy. If they would steer by engines when going slow, and steer by by rudder when going fast ..... however. The gear box was sheer misuse. A civilian on the instructing staff was practising approaches to buoys, and got his "ahead" engine at 2200 revs. To balance this, with the lower reverse gear, his "astern" engine ahd to go to 3300 revs. Corpl Bradbury went up and told him it was unfair, after a minute, and aft... 5 minutes. The gear box stood it for nearly ten minutes and then died. I wish the training staff at Calshot knew more about handling boats, and less about how boats should be handled: too much theory and no practical gift,