The Wreck of the Mary Deare

Higgins and the surviving officers who made it to land first accused Patch of being a foolhardy commander who ordered the crew to abandon ship unnecessarily. They pointed to a lost boat containing non-dominant officers as evidence against him. This version of events, presented by the owner's lawyer at the inquiry, painted Patch as negligent and allowed the conspiracy to proceed without scrutiny.

Earlier hints of tension between Patch and some crew members set the stage for this accusation.

Higgins and the shipowner orchestrated a scheme to steal valuable American jet engines that were surplus from the Korean War. They planned to transfer the engines to a Glasgow-bound rival ship for sale to the Communist Chinese. To cover their tracks, they disabled distress signals, dynamited the Mary Deare's hull, and set a coal bunker fire to sink the ship while making it appear as an accident.

Captain Taggart's deteriorating steadness during the voyage hinted at the mounting pressure from this scheme.

When Patch and Sands entered the flooded hold through the dynamite hole, they discovered that the crates supposedly containing the jet engines were actually filled with ballast stones. This concrete proof that the cargo had been removed confirmed the conspiracy and exposed the scheme to steal the valuable military equipment.

The clue from Janet Taggart's letter about Rangoon pointed toward the cargo being the key to the mystery.

Patch grounded the ship in shallow waters near the Minquiers to preserve it for a formal board of inquiry in England. He believed keeping the ship above water was essential to maintaining evidence and ensuring a proper investigation could determine salvage rights and responsibility. Grounding prevented the ship from breaking apart in deeper water or being lost entirely.

Patch's insistence on an official inquiry from the beginning showed his intent to prove the truth legally.

Janet Taggart believed Patch's version of events because she had her father's letters from Rangoon, which hinted that something was wrong with the voyage. She lent Patch a page from one of those letters, providing the crucial clue that pointed toward the conspiracy. Her motivation was to find out what really happened to her father and clear his name as well.

Captain Taggart's apparent breakdown masked the pressure he faced from being aware of the criminal plot.

Patch and Sands hijacked the Sea Witch salvage vessel and dove into the wreck through the hole that had been blown in the hull during the sabotage. They wore diving suits to enter the flooded hold, swimming through the damaged section to investigate the cargo themselves when official channels failed them.

After being blocked at the inquiry, Patch's desperation to find proof drove him to take this risky action.

The board of inquiry did not allow Patch to read his full account into the record. The owner's lawyer presented Higgins' version as the credible narrative, and the judges sided with that interpretation. This effectively sidelined Patch's testimony and allowed the conspiracy to appear more legitimate, forcing Patch to seek other means of proving the truth.

The owner's lawyer's aggressive presentation hinted at powerful interests working against Patch.

When Patch and Sands entered the hold, Higgins spotted their underwater lights and trapped them deeper in the vessel. During the subsequent struggle, Higgins speared Sands. Patch and Sands managed to overpower Higgins and pull him into the water, where the French salvage crew and authorities took him into custody. His attempt to sink the ship in deep water to destroy evidence backfired.

Janet Taggart had warned Patch that Higgins could be aboard during the salvage attempt.

The Mary Deare was found adrift because Higgins and his co-conspirators had dynamited the hull and set a coal bunker fire to sink the ship while they transferred the valuable cargo. Patch had been knocked unconscious during the sabotage and the crew abandoned ship, leaving him as the only officer left aboard when the ship was discovered by the Sea Witch four days later.

Patch's account of being struck on the head and waking to find the crew gone explained his unusual situation.

Sands was offered a substantial payout for his role in exposing the conspiracy and future command of a ship, but he declined. He explained that his only goal throughout had been to prove the truth and clear his own name, ultimately wanting to preserve his master's ticket so he could command another ship himself. Justice and professional integrity mattered more to him than financial gain.

Sands' initial motivation was to claim the Mary Deare for salvage, but his character evolved through the crisis.