[Targan]

In my last campaign the players were aboard a ro-ro ferry for the voyage back to the CONUS. The ship's bow doors were damage when it struck submerged rocks north of Scotland during a storm. One of the PCs was a USN Lt Commander and he took command of the vessel after the accident. Unfortunately there was another storm some days later and the damage kept getting worse until the vessel was taking on more water than the pumps could handle.

They were a couple of very tense (and enjoyable) gaming sessions. Once it became clear the ship was in trouble panic broke out among the passengers. Some of the PC's group were commanding from the bridge, some were supervising damage control and others had to put down an attempted mutiny by panicking troops.

Eventually Lt Cdr Tadeusz Jones ordered that the ship be abandoned. Many passengers made it off the ship safely but some (including Gunny Lamont, one of the group's important long-time NPCs) were trapped below decks when the ship finally foundered and capsized. The Lt Cdr (who was a SEAL) then donned SCUBA gear and dived back into the ship to rescue the Gunny.

Once the PCs were back in Norfolk it was a powerfully emotive period of roleplaying. All through the European part of the campaign the PCs would regularly talk about how great it would be to get back home. Once the reality of the very poor situation back in the states became a stark reality there was a fair bit of depression among the characters. Then started a long period of political conflict as some senior brass pushed for the party's CO and XO to be court marshalled while others (particularly in the spec ops community) pushed for them to be hailed as heroes and decorated. But that is a tale for another time.