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The Exocet’s solid fuel jet engine propelled it at three hundred and fifteen metres per second, skimming two metres above the ocean’s surface.
Weighing more than six hundred kilograms, it punched a hole three metres by four amidships of the Penfold Son, just above the waterline. The missile had travelled only a fraction of its one hundred and eighty kilometre range, so when the warhead detonated, the fireball it created was fuelled and expanded by unburned fuel. Aided by the impact of round after round from the Talana’s main gun, the Penfold Son’s fuel ignited and an explosion ripped through the ship.
After the second Exocet added to the inferno, the Penfold Son began to sink.
Alex and Jane were pushed aft, away from the stricken ship, on a bow wave caused by the force of the blast.
