Yep to true. unless it was super rough at the tie, they would have known almost immediately, one the runaway chain, makes a considerable noise and anyone on deck, outside of the accommodation would have heard it, secondly it would have hit assorted snags and this would have also been obvious to anyone on the wheel as it would have immediately dragged to ship to port or starboard, depending on which side. It would have also made an impact on speed and the navigating officer would have realised after an hour or so that it something was amiss. My general rule of them is if something happens once, its just an incident, twice it becomes suspect third time enemy action.
