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Chapter 1

Intrepid

July 1948

Jack and Anna had been planning the family holiday at Chesapeake since war’s end when they discovered the entire family had survived the horrors of the shocking conflict in Europe and the Pacific.

Julie and Harry were taking time off from their medical practice in London and flying to New York then on to Washington. From there they would meet Tom and Peter and drive to Chesapeake. They decided to leave Lara with her nanny as they felt the trip would be too arduous.

Lucy, the matriarch of the family, was now seventy-one yet quite active, and had been living at the Chesapeake beach house since the death of her husband, Gene.

On 3rd July the family all arrived at the house; it was the first time in years that the clan had got together for a holiday.

At six that evening Anna summoned everybody to meet in the summer room overlooking the bay. She asked Peter to pop the corks on two bottles of 1928 vintage Krug. Joe, her first husband, had been storing it in the wine cellar below the house for many years.

‘I would like everybody to charge their glasses. Here’s to the Doherty family – long may we live.’

‘Hear, hear!’ They all raised their glasses.

‘Mother, this Champagne is magnificent where on earth did you find it?’ asked Tom.

‘My little secret darling. But I can tell you there’s more where that came from.’

Jack rose and proposed another toast.

‘Here’s to my father Joe and my stepfather Gene – may they both rest in peace.’

‘Thank you, darling.’ His mother smiled.

After the toasts were over, they moved into the dining room where Sarah, the maid had set a beautiful table.

The meal was excellent and included seafood and roast loin of lamb. The wine was Californian.

‘Well everybody, it wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting in the dust with my bowl and a handful of rice. When I was marched through the gates of River Valley Road Camp my weight was one hundred and eighty pounds. When I was liberated I was down to ninety pounds and here I am with the people I love most in the world eating fine food and drinking excellent wine. I thank God I am alive. By the way, I now weigh one hundred and seventy pounds.’ Tom had a tear in his eye.

‘A toast to Tom.’ Lucy held her glass up, and everybody followed her lead.

‘Unfortunately, Julie and I can tell a very similar story to Tom’s. All we would like to say is we are very happy to be with you all. And alive.’ Harry said.

‘May I suggest we retire to the lounge room? I have another surprise for you all.’

The family did as requested. Waiting for them were brandy balloons and a very impressive bottle of cognac.

Tom announced, ‘This bottle of cognac has been in our cellar for as long as I remember, unopened. It is Louis XIII. I quote Louis XIII’s cellarmaster Pierrette Trichet who said, as he held a crystal glass filled with amber liquid, “It’s one century in a glass. The idea is to be very humble in front of this glass and pay respect because it represents the effort and the know-how of one century.”’

‘Peter, may I ask you to pour a glass for each of us please?’

‘Certainly, Mother.’

‘Tomorrow I have arranged to take the launch out on the bay. We’ll enjoy our 4^th of July lunch cruising. I have asked Joe Wilcox to act as skipper so we can enjoy ourselves without worrying about steering the boat, as it were.’

Gradually the family retired to their bedrooms except for Peter and Tom.

‘How are your legs holding up, Pete?’

‘Yeah, they’re OK. I get pain when it gets cold.’

‘You’d better move to California then.’

‘That’s not such a bad idea, Tom. I’m seriously thinking of doing just that.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, I’m thinking of leaving the Marines and enrolling at Stanford. I want to do a post-grad in neurosurgery.’

‘Wow, that’s a big one. Why neurosurgery?’

‘I saw many head wounds in the war. I felt helpless not being able to help the poor bastards. I also look at Julie and Harry and the fantastic work they’re doing changing people’s lives. I’d like to make a similar contribution.’

‘Good on you Pete, I think it’s great.’

‘So how goes it with you, Tom?’

‘It’s been hard. I suffered like you wouldn’t believe under the Japs. When I was fighting, it all seemed worthwhile. You were doing something for your pals and your country. Once captured, you felt worthless, a failure somehow.’

Tom opened up and recounted the hell ships and his survival of the A-Bombe at Nagasaki.

Peter was aghast.

‘I knew it must have been hell, but I had no idea.’

‘Yeah, it was fucking horrible. Don’t tell Mum – it would distress her too much.’

‘OK.’

They hugged each other and retired for the night.

4 July 1948

The Dohertys had breakfast together in the summer room: Pancakes with strawberries, blueberries and vanilla ice cream; red white and blue to honour the day.

The men each took a bottle of wine while the women carried the food, which was to be their Independence Day lunch.

Once boarded, the skipper asked the Doherty men to cast off the ropes, and they were under way. The weather was perfect, blue skies with the odd puffy white cloud. The only negative was that the wind had picked up and was quite strong. Inclement weather was of no concern to the Intrepid; she was 100 feet long and powered by an 800 horsepower diesel engine.

About an hour out from the shore the women started to prepare the lunch in the galley while the men were on deck talking, smoking and enjoying themselves.

At 1p.m. Julie called the boys down to have their lunch. Harry had just lit a large Cuban cigar and was annoyed that he had to throw it over the side; however he did as he was told.

The group including Joe, the skipper, were seated at the yacht’s dining table and presented with various dishes, all decorated with the stars and stripes.

‘Well, who’d have thought this could happen just eighteen months ago, sitting down to a fabulous Fourth of July lunch on a luxury yacht in the middle of Chesapeake Bay’, said Tom.

Peter agreed. ‘We’ve all very lucky considering what we’ve all been through.’

‘I smell smoke. Can anybody else smell it?’ asked Julie.

‘It’s probably the smoke from Harry’s cigar still lingering about,’ replied Pete. ‘Bloody cigars – they’ll kill you one day, Harry.’

‘No, it’s not cigar smoke. I quite like the smell of a fine cigar,’ commented Julie.

‘The hot plates aren’t on, are they Mum?’

‘No, I haven’t used them today. We cooked up at the house.’

‘Look! There’s smoke coming in under the galley door. There must be a fire up on deck.’ Joe’s voice sounded panicked.

‘You ladies stay down here, and we’ll check out what’s happening!’ instructed Pete.

‘Shit, the door’s locked! No, that’s impossible. Must be jammed.’

The four men tried to push the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. They grabbed the fire extinguisher and began bashing the door with the heavy cylinder. Not what it was designed for in the case of a fire. The galley was filling with smoke and everybody started coughing uncontrollably. They tried bashing the portholes with the fire extinguisher, but it made no impact. Harry told the women to lie on the floor below the smoke cloud although that seemed to make no difference. The heat from the fire became intense, singeing the hairs on the men’s arms.

What Harry or any of the others hadn’t realised was that the cigar had blown back onto the rear deck. It landed on a loosely coiled rope and began to smoulder. The wind and the cruiser’s movement fanned the small fire and within a few minutes it had become a major outbreak. Unfortunately, the blaze was located over the reserve fuel tank setting off an explosion that could be heard miles away. Intrepid burned furiously and within thirty minutes was a smouldering wreck barely above the waterline.

All aboard perished.

The Dohertys had survived the war, POW camps and the Titanic. Now they were gone, apart from Lara.