CHAPTER THIRTY
8:15 p.m. Iran Time (12:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time)
Persian Gulf (West of the Strait of Hormuz)
“Sir, we’ve got trouble.”
Commander Brian Berwick stood on the bridge of the USS Winston S. Churchill, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer that had just passed through the narrows of the Strait of Hormuz. He had been interrupted during his evening meal only five minutes before by the Officer of the Watch, a young guy named Perry. Perry was a tall drink of water, maybe a little high-strung for life at sea.
Berwick peered into the darkness of night through the windows, though there was nothing out there to see. In his mind, he watched as his ship’s situation deteriorated.
“Tell me again.”
He already knew the story, and if it was true, he knew what he had to do. The USS Cole d
