Capt.Hill of the LEDBURY,Ignoring the sea of fire the young Lieutenant edged his small destroyer as near as he could to the spot where the ship had gone down and lowered the boats,they could hear the screams and cries of the trapped men caught by the flames and they were forced to leave those furthest from the inferno until later. The courage of these survivors was fantastic,many of them shouting encouragment Three bombers turned their attention to the Waimarama,the first missing wildly as the flak exploded around the nose of the aircraft,but she was unable to avoid the next attack,two bombers screamed down on her,the first releasing a five bomb stick which was extremely accurate,four of them scoring direct hits,no cargo ship could survive such punishment,all four bombs hit close together about the bridge which disappered as the ship blew up with an enormous explosion,a huge ball of flame being followed by a gigantic column of smoke,through which her masts could be seen collapsing inwards into the heart of the furnace. The Waimarama was carrying a deck cargo of petrol stowed in tins which at once ignited in a searing blast which swept the mutilated ship from bow to stern,and spread in a roaring sheet of flame as the ship disintergrated,in seconds she listed to starboard,righted herself,and went down leaving only a huge area of flaming sea and a dense oily cloud of smoke,it was reported that the second Junkers caught in this mighty blast,itself disintergrated in mid-air.In all eighty seven of Waimaramas company were lost in that shattering explosion. Thirty three of the ships company were rescued,due in no small measure to Roger as the destroyer with scrambling nets rigged,moved past them into the blazing sea.