The missile burst with a terrific report.

A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on the deck.
The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship.
That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the bridge of its occupants.

Striking high and forward, it had robbed the _Andromeda_ of her last chance.

Now she was rolling in the full grip of the tidal stream.

It could only be a matter of a minute or less before she struck..