Paths of Courage by Mike Woodhams

Author:Mike Woodhams
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 781783067381
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

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Hugging the rugged south Chilean coastline in the shoals, 150 nautical miles and fifteen hours later, K449 cautiously approached the narrow stretch of water between Penin and Brecknock Islands at the western end of the sixty-mile long, gently curving, doglegged Cockburn Channel. It was deemed necessary from here on in to make way at periscope depth to see where they were going and to lessen the use of active sonar to detect underwater objects in their path. Since his encounter with the American submarine, Captain Kamani worried that even in these back channels and waterways, enemy submarines could be lurking. He worried too that American military satellite coverage may even exist in these more remote regions to detect the wake of the periscope as it sliced through the cold, grey waters. However, the likelihood of submarines outweighed the presence of satellites.

“Proceed to periscope depth,” he ordered.

Minutes later, “Up periscope.”

The hiss of hydraulics faded and the viewer came to eye level. Captain Kamani lowered the bar grips and looked through the lens for the first time on leaving Heard Island.

Morning sunshine bathed the green slopes of the two islands to the fore and beyond them the white-capped mountains filled the lens in a blue grey-haze as they rose majestically out from the sea. This was indeed a stark and beautiful land, lost in splendid isolation and a far cry from the brown desert regions where he was born.

“Come left 2 degrees. Reduce speed to five knots. Keep her trim,” said the captain as he lined up K449 to go through the centre of the narrow channel between the islands. He was thankful he had more than 400 feet of water below him and would have much more once he was through.

Fifteen minutes later, they came out of the 1,000-foot wide stretch of water into the main Cockburn Channel without a hitch and continued on a westward course at periscope depth, increasing speed to ten knots. Before them, the channel widened to three miles or so. Steep slopes of the surrounding mountains formed a corridor dominating the scene, plunging straight down to the channel floor some 1,400 feet below the water’s surface. The charts gave no indication of dangerous land formations below the surface, but nevertheless Captain Kamani was taking no chances. He ordered intermittent use of active sonar to ensure no underwater rocky outcrops lay in their path. The deep waters created a confusion of currents, strong and treacherous, and course corrections had to be continuously made. Both the captain and his XO shared the periscope making sure they kept to the middle of the channel at all times. However, as they progressed down the stretch of water, becoming more accustomed to the tidal currents, they allowed themselves to relax a little and even enjoy, to a certain extent, what they could see of this foreign land through the periscope lens.

Several hours later, after bisecting the southern Andes, K449 reached the dogleg three quarters of the way through the Cockburn Channel.

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