The report of proceedings sends Edinburgh and Belfast around Iceland and toward the Denmark Strait to find merchant shipping evading contraband patrols. Good visibility revealed only trawlers and their carriers, while the lack of an aircraft pilot sharply reduced the cruisers' reconnaissance reach. A heavy, short, confused sea then forced successive speed reductions and eventually heaving to. The captain weighed damage to boats and fittings, exhausted lookouts, solid water over the ship, and sewage backing into sealed forward living spaces, revealing the human and engineering limits behind a routine patrol order.
Chapter · 46:36-52:16
Edinburgh and Belfast patrol north of Iceland
A September 1939 report follows two Town-class cruisers searching northern routes, coping with missing air reconnaissance, and riding out a severe gale.