As anyone who as ever done a "trick" at the wheel of a large ship   could tell you, even if he put some "wrong way" wheel on, and then they realised he was steering into the danger and not away, putting oppposite wheel on would not instantly stop the movement of the ships head, in fact with large ships if you start the head moving (for instance) to Starboard, even putting on a lot of Port lock it could take a substantial amount of time to halt and reverse the movement of the ships head. That is why big ships are difficult to handle in in or near port, unlike a car which respond instantly a ship 882.75 feet long 92.5 feet wide and weighing 46000 tons and with a top speed of 23 knots might take a little longer to respond. So maybe the story is true but not relevent much, except to sell books.