WIN in the Gulf An hour before dawn, in the Straits of Hormuz: a dark and dangerous time and place. The air was a chill mixture of sea and sweetness, giving no hint of the heat that would be generated once day took over. The massive Japanese-registered oil-tanker Son of Takashuni slowly ploughed its way towards the Gulf of Oman and parative safety. Its vast deck rolled gently; the tall superstructure, rising from the stem, looking like a block of flats, appeared to tip more violently than the deck because of its height. Every officer and rating aboard could feel a tightening of the stomach muscles, the sense of urgency
