Sea of Wolves by Philip K. Allan

Author:Philip K. Allan [Allan, Philip K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-14T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 8 Dolphin

It was May now, and off the coast of Iceland the days had lengthened to almost twenty hours. Even the brief northern night was barely darker than twilight further south, as the sun dipped fleetingly below the horizon. But winter had not entirely surrendered. The cold Arctic water battled with warm air from further south to produce banks of billowing fog that drifted across the jade green water. Through the murk slid the dark grey hull of HMS Berber, one of the Royal Navy’s big tribal-class destroyers, parting the tendrils of mist like a dragon emerging from its lair.

Up on the bridge her captain, Lieutenant-Commander Williams, stared out into the fog and muttered an oath. ‘Can’t see a bloody thing in this murk,’ he exclaimed, his accent pure Swansea. ‘Not that you can tell me much about what we’re looking for,’ he added, turning to the two civilian men in raincoats and hats who stood at the back of the bridge. ‘Weather ship, is it? That could be bloody anything from a trawler upwards.’

‘We will recognise her when we find her, Captain,’ said one of the men. ‘Then it will be your job to scare the crew with a bit of gunfire, and come alongside to allow Lieutenant Rose and his marines to board her.’ He indicated where a party of soldiers lounged by the foremost of the destroyer’s gun turrets, smoking and chatting or checking over their weapons. Most wore woollen hats or berets instead of the more usual steel helmets.

‘And then you two gentlemen want to go across along with my best radio operator,’ said Williams.

‘Only once the ship and crew are secure. When we have concluded our work, you and your men can forget that any of this ever happened,’ said the older of the two civilians, his look severe.

‘I daresay we can manage that,’ said the captain. ‘Although it will not be easy. Those buggers on the Cossack are always boasting about how they boarded the Altmark. It would have been good to have some bragging rights of our own, but I’ll see the lads hold their tongues. To be honest, it’s quite reward enough to get away from Scapa for a bit of a burn, instead of being tied to the Home Fleet’s apron strings all the time.’

‘Contact, sir!’ shouted a voice from the back of the bridge. ‘Ship bearing red forty. Range fifteen miles.’

‘Size?’ asked Williams, coming across to look over the operator’s shoulder. The man sat at a console with two circular screens. On one was a flat line with a single spike, while on the other a wand of light swept around, illuminating a point near the edge as it passed.

‘Small I should say, without much superstructure,’ said the operator, adjusting a dial. ‘Well under a thousand tons.’

‘Bloody marvellous, this radar,’ enthused the captain to the two civilians. ‘We’ve only had it a month. Finding your ship would have been like hunting for a white cat in a blizzard, what with this fog.

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