Attack of the Minesweepers
HMS Harrier was one of four minesweepers in Kola Inlet when a radio message came in that the cruiser HMS Edinburgh had been torpedoed and was trying to reach Murmansk. The Harrier and other minesweepers quickly got under way to help. The little minesweepers just had time to deploy around the Edinburgh when three German destroyers opened fire from a distance. Cdr. Eric Hinton immediately turned Harrier toward the enemy, put on maximum speed, and opened fire with his single four-inch gun. Two British destroyers soon joined him, and, together, they caused the Germans to break off the attack. One of Hinton’s subordinates later wrote:
Seeing gun flashes from five separate directions, the Germans probably imagined that they were confronting a superior force. Each of these heavy destroyers was armed with five 5.9 inch guns in addition to torpedoes, so had they pressed in they might easily have sunk every ship in our force. However, Harrier and the other ‘fleet’ minesweepers looked not unlike destroyers when seen end-on, so probably the Captain’s action in heading straight for the enemy had saved our lives.92
Commander Hinton’s attack saved his own ship and the others at the scene of this battle. He showed what a small force could accomplish with determination and decisive action, even against great odds. This story is an encouragement to all who follow Jesus Christ. Our numbers are often few in the midst of a culture apparently going in a different direction. However, we know the power of a “small force” that is on God’s side. We need to take action with confidence when we have opportunities to serve him, even when we have doubts that we can make a difference.
The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong.
—Ecclesiastes 9:11