Donald Cameron 06.Cold War by Philip McCutchan

Author:Philip McCutchan [Philip McCutchan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2015-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Now the signal lamps were busy. Messages of welcome and enquiry came from the Commodore and from the Senior Officer of the escort in the flagship Belfast. Also messages of war’s grim toll: the convoy had been attacked by a solitary U-boat, and a merchant ship carrying machine parts had gone to the bottom before the depth charge patterns had been dropped. Hawkey, who had insisted on returning to the bridge when Cameron had passed the word of the radar contact, was glad to be able to report that he had despatched a damaged U-boat, almost certainly the attacker who must have surfaced after the submarine killers had withdrawn towards the convoy. The sinking of the merchant vessel apart, all was sweetness and light, congratulations and the happy proximity of big guns and fast ships.

Then the bombshell was flashed from the Belfast: a message received in cypher from the Admiralty had indicated to the Rear-Admiral that the German heavy units reported earlier had moved north between Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya in the Barents Sea and with their submarines were believed to be awaiting the oncoming convoy. In their own good time they would move south at speed. The Senior Officer had no current knowledge of the Home Fleet under Admiral Tovey but assumed, hopefully, that the C-in-C would be handy with the King George V and his heavy cruisers. In the meantime the only hard fact was that the PQ convoy appeared to be steaming into virtually certain attack by German sea and air forces, the latter likely to come in from the north Norwegian airfields referred to in the Admiralty’s earlier signal.

Hawkey looked immensely strained; he was still very tired and Cameron believed he had a temperature. He was shivering violently and could have flu; but he wouldn’t go below again, especially now attack loomed. The next signal came from Captain(D) in the destroyer flotilla leader:

Admiral’s intentions if engaged are for the convoy to remain together and not repeat not scatter subject only to Commodore’s discretion to take avoiding action. Escorts will stand between the convoy and the enemy. Convoy will be joined as soon as possible by reinforcing escorts leaving Archangel.

‘Acknowledge,’ Hawkey said briefly to the yeoman. ‘Add, What about my passengers?’ Then he turned to Cameron. ‘Why Archangel, I wonder? Why not Murmansk? It’s a bloody sight less steaming distance for the reinforcements.’

‘No availability there, sir?’

Hawkey nodded. ‘I expect that’s it, Number One. There never is, is there?’ He stared across the flat calm of the sea as the frigate rolled to the swell. Within the next few hours they would make a small alteration to starboard. That made, there would be some three more days to go for Murmansk, Sprinter's own destination. More, for the main body of the convoy to reach Archangel. Days of bitter weather and ferocious attack, days when hope would be all they had to keep them going. The leader was flashing again; shortly after, the yeoman of signals approached with the answer about the passengers, obliquely worded.

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