Edwyn Gray
DIVING STATIONS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
British local time, i.e.: Hong Kong or Singapore time, has been used throughout the book
ONE
The Admiralty official who first suggested the posting probably received an MBE in the New Year’s Honors List in appreciation of his services to the Royal Navy and the nation. And, if he failed to win an award, it certainly wasn’t the First Sea Lord’s fault. Many civil servants were known to have been knighted for less.
Not that Lieutenant Nicholas Hamilton DSO RN was a bad submarine commander◦– his seamanship and courage in dangerous situations were invariably highly commended in his personal reports.
But he had a reputation for being difficult and at least half a dozen flotilla commanders had breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief when his tour of duty with them came to an end. On the other hand, there were many submarine captains who would have willingly shouldered the burden of Hamilton’s unenviable reputation in exchange for some of the brilliant successes he had enjoyed in his brief career.
His exploits in rescuing the captured British merchant seamen from the prison ship Nordsee, in the early weeks of 1940, had made him a national hero◦– although his ruthless destruction of the Vichy French submarine Gladiateur had been hushed up for diplomatic reasons. Nevertheless, it had not gone unnoticed in the right places.
Yet for all his undoubted ability Hamilton was regarded as a nuisance. His habit of only obeying orders when they suited his own particular purposes infuriated his superiors; while his total lack of scruple worried the more responsible Admirals who took the trouble to think about such matters. And, despite the success of the unusual missions to which he had been entrusted, he had proved an inexplicable failure on routine patrols. In fact, he was probably the only captain in the entire British submarine service to have survived two years of war without sinking a single enemy ship in the course of normal patrol operations.
Even a three-month tour in the Mediterranean combat zone had failed to reflect an improvement in his record although, as the Sixth Sea Lord readily admitted in his more charitable moments, Hamilton had carried out two further special missions with complete success. But as these operations remain subject to the restrictions of the Official Secrets Act even today, more than thirty years later, the details have never been revealed to anyone outside a select circle at the Admiralty.
And so, when William Strong, the Deputy Under Secretary, suggested that the addition of a submarine to the China Squadron might be a good thing, the vice admiral responded with unusual enthusiasm.
‘Send Rapier out to Hong Kong, eh? How soon can we do it?’
The Deputy Under Secretary was no stranger to the labyrinthine channels of decision at the Admiralty. Formal approval of transfers between stations could take several months. And, with the foresight of experience, he had arranged the pieces of his jig-saw with infinite care.
‘Fairly quickly, sir,’ he said. Strong had the usual civil service aversion to committing himself too precisely. ‘Rapier was pulled out of Malta two weeks ago for a minor refit at Alexandria. That means she’s the nearest submarine to the Far East◦– assuming we route her via Suez.’
‘I wouldn’t have regarded that as a particularly strong recommendation,’ Gresham observed doubtfully. ‘The DNO usually prefers to create maximum chaos by finding the most inconvenient and impractical posting possible. In my opinion, the fact that Rapier is the shortest distance from Hong Kong is probably a disadvantage. Do you have anything better?’
‘Well sir, in 1939 we had a complete flotilla of fifteen submarines at Hong Kong. As you know, they’ve all been withdrawn for service nearer home. And now, just when Japan looks like turning nasty, the C-in-C China hasn’t a single boat available to defend the colony.’
‘I doubt if that will cut much ice with the DNO either,’ Gresham sighed. ‘The 10th flotilla was withdrawn from the Far East because we had a shortage of submarines in the Med. And, since we’ve now lost at least half of the poor sods, I can’t see anyone agreeing to release a much needed boat to a station that’s not directly engaged in combat operations. Don’t forget, they’re even pulling out the old Yangtse gunboats to form an Inshore Squadron to cover the 8th Arm’s seaward flank in North Africa. And that’s really scraping the barrel.’
The civil servant nodded his agreement and remained silent for a few minutes◦– his eyes fixed on the large wall chart behind the admiral’s desk. He still had his trump to play.
‘Just supposing the Japs did launch an attack sir,’ he said slowly. ‘What do you reckon their chances of success?’
Admiral Gresham gave a short laugh. ‘Not much, Strong. If we send a couple of fast battleships to Singapore, as the War Cabinet proposes, the Japanese will end up with a bloody nose. They haven’t got a single well-designed ship in their Navy◦– and the RAF’s Spitfires will run circles round their aircraft. They’d be on a hiding to nothing◦– and they know it.’
The Deputy Under Secretary made no comment. The admiral’s views did not fit in with what he had heard from officers recently returned from the Far East, but he knew that Gresham was only reflecting the general opinion of the War Cabinet and the IGS. He wondered whether the US Navy entertained a similarly complacent underestimate of the Japanese war machine’s capabilities.
‘Of course, I’m not denying that we might lose Hong Kong in the event of hostilities,’ the admiral continued. ‘The land frontier with the Chinese mainland is virtually indefensible. But the Yanks certainly won’t let them take over the Philippines and the Jap bombers haven’t the range to operate against Singapore from their bases in China.’ Gresham had fallen neatly into the trap the Deputy Under Secretary had so carefully prepared. Strong seized his chance without hesitation.
‘But if they were to secure air bases in French Indo-China,’ he pointed out, ‘it could create a very different situation.’ He walked across to the map and indicated the distances involved. ‘It’s only about six hundred miles by air from Saigon to Malaya◦– and we know they’ve got bombers with that sort of range.’
The admiral looked up at the chart and shrugged. Why did these damned civilians always think they could run the war better than the service chiefs? ‘The French wouldn’t grant the Japanese landing rights. And,’ he added defiantly, ‘if they did the Royal Navy would soon go in and settle their hash!’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure, sir,’ Strong warned him gently. ‘Oran and Dakar didn’t go down too well with our people. Even Jimmy Sommerville delayed action well beyond the set time-limit at Mers-el-Kebir to give the French a chance. And because he didn’t fancy mass murder. If the Japanese decide to occupy Indo-China, we’ll have no margin of time to allow admirals to come to terms with their consciences.’
‘Very well, Strong,’ Gresham yielded reluctantly. Much as he hated to admit it, he knew the Navy was opposed to further attacks on the French fleet. ‘I grant it wouldn’t be easy. But what has this got to do with Hamilton and Rapier?’
I wondered when you’d ask, Strong thought to himself. He smiled. ‘Everything, sir. Hamilton has already proved that he’ll attack the Vichy French without compunction. Don’t forget he has destroyed one French submarine already.1 And he has no scruples. He’s the one man in the Navy who can be relied upon to attack the French, if for any reason the Japanese should try to occupy Indo-China with Vichy approval.’ The Deputy Under Secretary paused for a moment and then added quietly, ‘And there’s another thing, sir. I doubt if any warships operating along the Chinese coast from Hong Kong would survive for more than a few days if the Japanese mounted a full-scale attack. And of all the officers in the Royal Navy, I would have regarded Lieutenant Hamilton as certainly the most expendable….’