Secret Cargo (The 5 series Book 1) by John Day

Author:John Day [Day, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-22T23:00:00+00:00

Stranded.

Benny continued to read through the Logbook.

“It is now the 15th August…”

Logbook entry.

The repairs to the casing are complete. Today, at high tide, we attempted to float off into the deeper water of the lagoon, but with the weight we are carrying, we remain stranded.

I have told Grupenfurer Kaltman that all his cargo and some of our ballast must be unloaded. I know of no other way to break free.

The Grupenfurer has taken Herman Vogel with him to find out what happened to the 8 men I sent into the jungle. I fear they are all lost or dead. He will also try to locate food and water, but mainly to find a suitable cave to conceal his cargo. I doubt such a place exists.

-----

Flashback

The repairs to the casing were the best they could be without the tools of a shipyard. According to Helmut’s calculations on timing and the phase of the moon, high tide was approaching its peak. With clear skies, both day and night, the full moon increased their chances of being spotted. He knew their good luck couldn’t last for much longer.

In preparation for moving into deeper water, the diesels were running to fully charge the batteries. The roll of the vessel as the waves pushed rhythmically against the side of U-159 was encouraging. They decided that the electric motors provided finer control over the propellers, so close to the sandy seabed. There was no way of repairing damaged or broken blades.

Helmut hoped to reverse gently into deep water, while the men used poles cut from trees to prise and lever the vessel free. The stern would then swing out and away from the shore, dragging the bow with it. Theory and practice were not singing from the same hymn sheet. The submarine was not floating in deep enough water and remained beached.

When the engines shut down, Kaltman boarded and headed for the conning tower. He wanted to know what Witte planned to do next. Caracas was still the place he had to be, his new life was on hold till then. “Are we stuck, Helmut?”

“For the moment, Franz. I will get the men to dig a deeper channel and try again when the full moon exerts the strongest tide. We must also lighten the boat, considerably. Your cargo will have to come off, also some of the ballast. The bilges are dry, so we cannot do more there. I will unload all the ammunition, but there is nothing I can do about the 33 tonnes of torpedoes. I cannot handle them at 1.5 tonnes each and they will be needed when I get back on mission.”

Franz snapped back. “You can’t just abandon my cargo on the beach, it is far too important.”

To you maybe, Helmut thought.

He tempered his thoughts with a helpful reply. “May I suggest you find a cave to put it in and come back for it by boat from Caracas.” Franz had to face up to the fact the cargo was never going back on board.

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.