"Ah," he said suddenly, and the others looked at him. "The target is turning," he announced with a tight smile, and there were gasps of surprise.
The target was zigzagging and one of her movements was bringing her closer to the I-58. But how close? he wondered. Would he be able to fire his torpedoes at her, or would she just tantalize him with her presence and then race away?
Hashimoto ordered down periscope and directed the sub's full submerged speed toward where he thought the target was headed. And then he waited. If fate was with him, the target ship would be drawn close. If not, then he would swallow his anger and seek another.
Half an hour later, he again looked through the periscope. The target was markedly closer and still moving at great speed. Perhaps that was why she was alone. She could move more swiftly than any escorts. Better, she truly was a great ship. The dazzle camouflage painting on her hull and upper works broke up her design so he could not determine what she was, although she lacked the boxy shape of a carrier. She was, however, simply the largest ship he had ever seen.
Then it dawned on him. The massive target drawing closer to him was an ocean liner, probably the Queen Mary or the Queen Elizabeth. The leviathans had sped across the Atlantic Ocean with passengers in peacetime and now carried soldiers, but he had never before seen one. He knew they'd made numerous solo Atlantic crossings without incident because they had almost twice the speed of a submarine and were much faster than most surface warships. Traveling in a convoy had been deemed much more of a danger than cruising alone. Yes, that's what it must be, and she was coming toward his position like a greyhound. Hashimoto plotted a new course to intercept her, one that presumed she would not change again. He feared that she would turn away before she came into range, but he had to make the effort. He peered through the periscope until his head ached but he couldn't stop looking. More minutes crawled by, and now the great ship was almost within range of the I-58's arsenal. The target was plotted and all four bow tubes were ready.
No! Hashimoto slapped at the periscope in fury. She was starting her turn. He wanted to scream. But then he smiled. She was so big that turning quickly was physically impossible. Soon her drift had carried her well within range, and she had presented him with virtually her whole length to shoot at. She had come close enough that, with the periscope telescope at full zoom, he could see dots that were people on her deck.
"Fire tubes one through four," he ordered. His voice was incredibly calm even though he wanted to exult aloud with the ecstasy of success. The Japanese torpedoes were superb and would do their work.
The submarine rocked in the water as four torpedoes, each with almost nine hundred pounds of high explosives, surged outward and underwater at speeds many automobiles couldn't reach on land.
Hashimoto's eyes stayed glued to the scene. As the seconds counted off, he saw an antiaircraft gun on the ship fire tracers toward him. Either the periscope or the torpedo tracks had been sighted, but it was too late for the liner to do anything but continue her inexorable starboard turn.
The first torpedo struck near the bow on the port side and was followed in quick succession by three more as explosions took in nearly the entire length of the giant ship. Her continued forward motion caused the ocean to surge through the gaping holes in the target's hull. The liner was literally driving herself into the sea.
The forward tubes were reloaded with incredible haste. "Fire one and two."
Again the submarine rocked as nearly a ton of death raced toward the stricken target. These torpedoes too exploded on the port side, and with the accumulation of wounds, the ship began to roll sickeningly on her side.
Then Hashimoto knew horror. The ship's decks were black with humanity. Thousands of men were on the target, moving and swirling like people in a crowded Tokyo street, and they were all trying to escape the dying ocean queen at once. The ship continued to roll on her side with astonishing swiftness. It was like watching a child's toy in a pond. Nothing that mighty should die so quickly, but she did.
Minutes later she had turned completely on her side. Scores of men stood helpless on her exposed hull as it bobbed and wallowed in the water. She shook them off her slippery hull like a dog sheds itself of water. Then her bow slid into the water, and her stern, with her propellers still spinning in obedience to her last instructions, followed until there was only gurgling white water where the great liner had been. On board the I-58, they could hear the creaking and groaning sound of the giant metal ship breaking up in its descent to the bottom. Hashimoto thought he could hear the death screams of those trapped belowdecks for her final ride.
A stunned Hashimoto looked on the sea where the ship had been. The handful of lifeboats and rafts were jammed with humanity. The sea was covered with dark dots that each represented the head of a desperate swimmer. The water wasn't frigid, but the men in the water wouldn't last long. He briefly contemplated surfacing and trying to rescue some of them, or even giving them his own rafts, but thought better of it. There were just too many and the danger was too great. There had been more than enough time for the ship to have gotten off a distress call, hadn't there? Help for the dead queen had to be on the way, wasn't it?
But what if there wasn't? The Americans hadn't missed his earlier kill, the Indianapolis, for several days after the sinking. What if this was a repeat ofthat incident? This was war and they were the foe. The I-5 8 had hurt the enemy of Japan and hurt him badly. Hashimoto still had a handful of torpedoes left and more targets to seek out before trying to sneak back to Japan.
But the sight of so many men thrown into the ocean sickened Hashimoto. He stopped looking through the periscope and pressed his forehead against the cold metal of the tube.
"Down periscope," he ordered, and gave a course that would take them away from this place of death. He grieved for the men he'd just killed. Hashimoto would continue the war, but he was now sick of the killing. The feeling had been growing in his soul for some time. He would report his success to Tokyo, but would take no joy in it. The joy he had felt at finding such a target had disappeared.
Then Hashimoto knew what he would do. The Americans were looking and listening for Japanese subs. He would radio his report in such a way that they would know exactly where to look for the survivors of the dead queen. Perhaps that way he could live with himself in a future world.
Chapter 52
President Harry Truman buried his face in his hands and would have wept if it would have done any good. The other man in the office, Gen. George C. Marshall, bit his lower lip and waited for the tirade he expected and in some way felt he deserved. But it didn't come.
"Why?" Truman asked softly. "Why on earth was the Queen Elizabeth sailing alone to Japan? Why weren't there any escorts with her?"
Marshall lowered his head sadly. Admiral Leahy or King ought to have been answering Truman, but Leahy had emotionally collapsed as a result of the sinking, as well as being in disfavor with Truman because of his increasingly pacifist views, while King was trying to coordinate the continuing but increasingly futile search efforts for survivors.