Falklands War: A Dull Thud, Extreme Heat, a Flash, a Fireball

Land, Sea & Air - Stories from the Armed Forces

“'I'm not going to lose my life…here'…I could just see a picture of my wife and my two boys in my mind thinking, 'No, I'm gonna get out.' That was my motivation.”

Chris Howe was deep down inside HMS Coventry, D118, “…a dull thud…followed by extreme heat…a flash and a fireball whipping around the Operations Room…we'd been hit…next thing I knew…I'm coming round…my right arm was on fire…water was coming in…fires all around…thick black smoke…I…managed to get up…very badly burned…in a lot of pain…”

Eventually struggling to the upper deck, “…I remember looking out and seeing this…flotilla of orange life rafts…I slid down the ship's side and into the cold, salty South Atlantic water…picked a life raft and swam…”

Chris was finally rescued, “…the winch was coming down…finally managed to pull me in to the Sea King…I still hadn't had any pain relief…I remember laying there in this stretcher…thinking, 'What are they going to do with me now?'”

Chris suffered 27% burns, “…nothing compared to others that sadly lost their lives...there's not a day goes by I don't think about what happened 40 years ago, on 25th of May…about 19 shipmates, that didn't make it. Why didn't they make it? Why did I make it?…that's a sad thing…very sad thing.”
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