ordered full left rudder and within 30 seconds ordered full right rudder. Hoefer rushed back onto Hobsons bridge when he realized what Tierney was doing and yelled "Prepare for collision!, Prepare for collision!" At that moment, Tierney ordered left full rudder, intending to race ahead of Wasp which was bearing down on the destroyer. Aboard Wasp, Lt. Herbst told Capt. McCaffree, "We're in trouble" as McCaffree ordered "all back emergency." At first it looked as though Hobson might escape the massive carrier as her bow and number-one stack passed from starboard to port, but then there was a horrendous, grinding crash as Wasp struck Hobson amidships. The force of the collision rolled the destroyer-minesweeper over onto her port side, breaking her in two. The aft section of Hobson trailed alongside of the carrier while the forward half was temporarily lodged in the Wasps bow. The aft part of the ship sank first but 40 of the survivors came from that section as men were literally shot out of a scuttle hatch they had managed to open, propelled by the force of water and expelling air. Aboard the carrier, life rafts were being dropped over and lines lowered. One set of double rafts fell on top of a cluster of five men who were never seen again. One lucky man, a chief petty officer in the bow, managed to grab a pipe protruding from Wasp, just as Hobsons bow began her descent under the waves and leaped onto Wasp without getting wet. Survival for the rest of Hobsons crew in the thick, glutinous fuel oil was incredible, yet it happened for some. Rodman and Wasp pulled aboard 61 oil-coated survivors, but the destroyer and 176 of her crew including Tierney, who dove from the bridge into the sea moments before the carrier plowed into Hobson were lost in less than five minutes. Most of the deceased crew were recovered by Ross and placed on the blood soaked main deck. This horrific incident brought about the tragic end of the destroyer-minesweeper's valiant service. The sinking of Hobson was the worst non-combat accident for the U.S. Navy since the disappearance of the collier with 306 crew and passengers en route from Barbados to Baltimore, Maryland, in March 1918, during World War I. Aftermath and findings A court of inquiry performed an investigation into the sinking of Hobson in an effort to determine the