Clear the Bridge! by Richard O'Kane

Author:Richard O'Kane [O’Kane, Richard H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-87428-3
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 1977-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

9

Ballinger had four men standing by, and they manned the scope for a moment each. It was the best way for the troops to get the picture of the final results. No embellishments would be needed. The escort’s severed stern had gone down immediately, and now two minutes and 20 seconds after the torpedo’s detonation, the tip of her bow disappeared in the frothy boil of the sea. We searched carefully through the area, but there were no survivors, probably because of the detonated explosives aboard her.

A glance at the chart showed that the larger freighter was very probably caught between third base and home, for she was approximately 100 miles from the Korean coast. Should her track veer at all to the south, it would lead to Sealion and Tinosa, perhaps between them. As agreed, we were obligated to send a contact report, but we would have done that anyway. Dick prepared the message, but it would have to wait, for the enemy was still close and we did not wish to tip our hand.

Tang’s batteries still showed nearly a full charge, for our submerged running and speed had been minimal during the approach and attack. Now we were trailing the freighter at 6 knots, which we could maintain handily until dark and still have enough juice left for a possible submerged attack.

The freighter pulled away steadily, with an estimated speed differential of 5 knots. At least the book said her top speed was 11, and under the circumstances she would hardly make less. The time for the next hourly contact schedule with Tinosa and Sealion was coming up, and with the freighter still in view on the horizon, I was hesitant about surfacing to send a contact report. The freighter had certainly stationed lookouts, just as had the naval tanker, and they would be searching westward, where Tang would be a silhouette. As a compromise, Hank brought us up to SJ depth and then eased Tang skyward till the lead to our flat antenna would drain free of salt water. Radio was ready, and Bergman keyed the message through twice, blind. There was no receipt, and Hank eased Tang down again, surely unsighted by the freighters lookouts now peering through her smoke.

Dick had the con and with volunteers waiting in control manned the scopes continuously. Vibrations at our speed made searching difficult, but they were looking for only two things, a change of course by the enemy and the air patrol that would surely search down the freighter’s wake. No planes arrived, and the enemy continued on a straight course for the coast. We wondered about this ship, for she seemed to be a Japanese version of our Hog Island freighters, which had been designed to carry Allied supplies during World War I. They had eventually been sold for scrap, mainly to the Japanese, who ran or towed them to the Far East. It seemed that out of each four they had put together three operating ships. Since

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