I scrambled up the bulwark straight in front and sprang out as far as I could.

Before I struck the water I heard the roar of a mighty explosion behind, and dived to avoid the after effects.

When I came up, the sea all round was thrashing under a hail of falling timbers and fragments, but mostly beyond me because I was so close in to the ship.

I took one big breath and sank again, and then a mighty swirling grip, which felt like death itself, laid hold on me and dragged me down and down till I looked to come up no more.
It let me go at last, and I fought my way up through fathomless heights of rushing green waters, with the very last ounce that was in me, and lay spent on my back with bursting head and breaking heart, staring straight up into a great cloud of smoke which uncoiled itself slowly like a mighty plume and let the blue sky show through in patches.
After the thunder of the guns, and that awful final crash, everything seemed strangely still.

The water lapped in my ears, but I felt it rather than heard.