It had sailed into Weymouth harbour on September 30, 1959, to be laid up for the winter. His battered face and head were covered with blood, which was also spattered on the companionway and funnel. Denying murder, Wilson appeared at Hampshire Assizes on December 7 when prosecutor Peter Rawlinson QC told jurors Harrison had suffered eight blows to the head. Yet nobody has said these two men were quarrelsome or were enemies, and the testimonial is that they were friendly on board ship." It has saved you from a verdict of murder, but at the same time it leaves a very brutal killing, for which drink is no excuse."