Over the Hill by Craig DiLouie

Author:Craig DiLouie [DiLouie, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, books, hara-kiri, submarine battle, naval war, submarine, battle, adventure, usa, navy, Novels, World War Two, Men's Adventure, book, Fiction, submarines, silent running, kindle, US, action, pacific war, submarine crew, wolfpack, american submarine, men's adventure fiction, Pearl Harbor, WW2, 1942, war, sub, pacific, contact!, Charlie Harrison, Series, e-book, crash dive, wolf pack, battle stations, novel, torpedos, Historical Fiction, Sea Stories, War & Military
Publisher: ZING Communications, Inc.
Published: 2018-07-27T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

SPINNING WHEELS

The Navy reposted Braddock to the submarine tender Proteus at Pearl Harbor just in time to prevent Relief Crew 202 from blowing themselves up.

After stowing his sea bag in the locker under his bunk, he’d headed to the machine shop to re-familiarize himself. Tenders were floating bases for provision and repair. The Proteus housed a foundry, machine shop, and warehouse that stocked everything from radio transmitter tubes to toilet paper to torpedoes.

Sweaty men labored at lathes, presses, surface mills, welders, drills, and saws. Steel shavings littered the greasy deck. The warm, sticky air smelled like burned metal and lubricating oil. If the ship didn’t stock a replacement part, the men could make one here in hours. If a boat being serviced needed new piping, the sheet-metal boys whipped it up. The Sandtiger had kept these guys plenty busy whenever she’d limped back into port.

For a gearhead like Braddock, it was like coming home.

A huddle of shirtless sailors behind the vertical boring machine caught his eye. He approached them wearing his winning smile. “And what do we have here?”

The men jumped, revealing a makeshift Gilly, which was a distillery designed to make torpedo juice. Its heat struck Braddock’s face.

A sailor raised his hand and yelled, “Hi, Chief!” while another shoved his hands into his dungaree pockets and muttered, “Aw, shit.”

His first day back aboard, and he already had to deal with chuckleheads.

The Navy knew its sailors swilled ethyl alcohol from torpedo motors. To discourage it, the Bureau of Ordnance added methyl alcohol to the ethanol. The sailors strained the mixture through stale bread to separate it. So BuOrd added croton oil. Since ethanol had a lower boiling point than croton oil, the sailors boiled it and captured the steam in a condenser, distilling it out.

“Turn that goddamn thing off,” Braddock said.

“Sure thing, Chief,” a sailor said and jumped right to it.

“You boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”

Glummer now: “Yeah, Chief.”

“I could smell the vapors all the way on the other side of the room. Vapors that, by the way, are heavier than air and liable to sink right into your propane burner. I’m surprised you didn’t blow yourselves to hell. Make sure it’s properly sealed, and get a fan to push any escaping vapors away. Preferably somewhere an officer won’t find it. Then we’ll give it another go. All right?”

The men brightened. “Sure thing, Chief.”

This act of leadership accomplished, Braddock went topside to take in the Armorhead lying alongside with her mooring lines doubled up. The refit crew was attacking the submarine’s innards and hull with mops, chippers, scrapers, and paintbrushes. Next would come the more complicated repairs. And after that, if Relief Crew 202 wasn’t too drunk, they’d take her out for a shakedown cruise.

The whole process of turning around a submarine took about two weeks.

A squat officer approached and leaned against the coaming beside him. “It’s ‘Chief’ Braddock now, is it?”

Braddock recognized the man as Lt. Commander Harvey. “Yes, sir.”

“Good to have you back, Chief.”

“Thank you, sir.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.