at the same time , veronica nodded to shay who was still peering up at her from the companionway and just as horsas men were swinging their grappling hooks and about to release them into the air , the port side of the ronnie exploded from bow to stern as each 1,500 pound carronade hurled a 32 pound iron ball at the steel hull of the baslatmak with deadly force and at a forty-foot , point-blank range .