Force Ten (song) worked with Rush on their song "Tom Sawyer", had sent Neil Peart some lyrics for the song, and Peart would add more verses to it. Lyrically, the song describes the "storms of life," making a reference to a very high level of the Beaufort scale ("force ten" is defined as a 'storm', being near the scale's maximum of 12) as an analogy, according to the book "Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United". Musically, "Force Ten" is composed in A minor, with changes into A major scale occurring in the song. The song is set in common time at a
USS Beaufort (ATS-2) towing to Ream, Cambodia. Beaufort departed Naha on August first and shaped a course for Ream, however Beaufort encountered a storm and all three barges broke their tow lines so Beaufort Gunnersmates sank all three barges so they were not floating around the open ocean. While in Ream Beaufort came under attack from the jungle. Gunnersmates Day, Kelley Reed, and Seabo returned fire with the 50 caliber machine guns. At the time there was a disabled Cambodian ship so the Captain of the Beaufort directed the Captain of the Cambodian ship, and a minor argument ensued the Captain of the