Читать книгу Deeper into the Darkness онлайн

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The British media kept largely quiet about the sinking to begin with – refraining from aiding the enemy. But the large number of witnesses to the sinking and the inevitable loose tongues made the task of keeping the secret all but impossible. It proved difficult enough to persuade the neutral passengers who had been aboard the Olympic during the attempts to save the battleship to keep silent – but some of the crew themselves also let the cat out of the bag.

The Daily Mail published a letter proclaiming that a masseur from the Olympic had openly boasted to his barber that he had seen Audacious sink – and that the authorities had ordered everyone to say nothing. The publication of this letter led to the Admiralty being deluged with enquiries from anxious relatives of the Audacious’ crew. If the deception were to be maintained then the fears of the families would have to be assuaged.

None of the crew of Audacious had been lost during the sinking – so when an enquiry was received the Admiralty could reply with a reasonable degree of truth: According to the latest information, 85 is well and serving with the Fleet.’