A similar thought had crossed Hamilton’s mind. He looked at O’Brien, the submarine’s engineering officer. ‘Any ideas, Sean?’
‘Well, so long as they’re not heading for Belfast I’m not especially bothered. But whatever they’re doing I’d be after thinking they’re up to no good.’
Hamilton grinned. He was about to say something when the wardroom curtain was suddenly pushed aside and Jamieson, the wireless room runner, entered breathlessly and snapped to attention.
‘What is it, Jamieson?’
‘Message from the Leading telegraphist, Murray, sir. The Japs have started bombing Hong Kong, sir. And some other places. He says all hell’s been let loose, sir.’
‘Thank you, Jamieson. Tell Murray I’ll be along to the Radio Room in a few moments.’ Despite the atmosphere of electric excitement which the news had created in the wardroom, Hamilton seemed totally unflustered. ‘I think we should adjourn our meeting until I have clarified the situation, gentlemen,’ he told the others calmly. ‘You’d better go up and keep an eye on young Villiers, Alistair. He’s probably hiding in a corner being sick.’
‘Very good, sir.’
‘And remember◦– any vessel flying the Japanese flag is to be regarded as hostile. However, no attacks are to be carried out until we receive confirmation from Singapore.’
‘Will you be needing me, sir?’ O’Brien asked.
‘Not for the moment, but we’re short-handed so I’ll probably have to rope you in for some watch keeping. You’d best get some sleep while you can. I shall want you in the Radio Room with me, Number One. I may need a second opinion.’
Murray was busy with his receiving equipment as Mannon and the skipper squeezed into the tiny cupboard that did duty as Rapier’s radio room. He turned in his chair, but kept one pad of the headset pressed against his ear.
‘What’s the scare, Sparks,’ Hamilton asked.
‘Japanese aircraft are bombing Hong Kong, sir. And there’s been a raid on Singapore,’ Murray leaned forward, took a pink signal slip from the pad alongside the main transmitter, and handed it to the captain. ‘This came through about two minutes ago, sir.’
Hamilton glanced down at the message. It was brief and to the point: ‘From C-in-C Eastern Fleet to all ships. Commence hostilities against Japan’.
He passed it to Mannon without comment. ‘Have you verified the source?’ he asked Murray.
‘Yes, sir. It’s definitely genuine.’
‘And those other reports◦– where did you get them from?’
‘I picked up the Singapore raid from general traffic, sir. There was a hell of a flap on. Mostly plain language transmissions. I got the second on the other set◦– news announcements on Hong Kong Radio.’ Murray paused for a moment. ‘Every station in the Far East seems to be transmitting, sir. It’s bloody chaos. I’ve been picking up several reports about an attack on a place called Pearl Harbor – but there’s so much going on it’s difficult to sort out the facts.’
Hamilton looked up sharply. The name obviously meant nothing to Murray, but Pearl Harbor was the main base of the US Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. No wonder everyone was in a panic.
‘Can you pick up any of the Australian stations?’
‘I doubt it, sir. The Aussies mostly use low-power local transmitters. I think I could get Saigon radio◦– but they’ll be broadcasting in French.’
‘I can speak French,’ Mannon said quietly.
Hamilton nodded. ‘See if you can find Saigon, Sparks.’ He thrust his head out of the compartment as Murray began turning the dials. ‘Jamieson! Tell Kingham to report here at the double!’
‘Aye aye, sir.’
Hamilton turned back into the compartment. The second operator would be able to listen out on the main communications channel for instructions, while Murray was busy making his way around the dial searching for news from the civil stations. A crackle of atmospherics spat from the loudspeaker above the main receiver and the voice of a French newscaster was gradually distilled from the noise, as Murray twiddled the fine tuner. Mannon listened intently, while Hamilton idly leafed through the wireless signals received during the morning. He could pick out odd words like ‘Washington’ and ‘Roosevelt’ but the rest meant nothing and he waited a trifle impatiently.
‘Got enough yet, Number One?’
‘I think so, sir. Japanese carrier aircraft and midget submarines hit Pearl Harbor at dawn. They caught the Yanks by surprise. According to Saigon◦– and their reports are based on American news agency wires◦– the entire US Pacific Fleet has been destroyed!’
‘Bloody Hell!’
‘There’ll be bloody hell for you, Murray, if you don’t concentrate on your job,’ Hamilton snapped curtly. ‘You are not to repeat what you have just heard to anyone◦– understand? I will tell the ship’s company in my own good time. Meanwhile, stay tuned to Singapore and send all signals to me personally.’
‘I suppose we ought to call up Singapore and ask for fresh orders, sir.’ Mannon suggested diffidently.
‘Well, you suppose wrong, Number One. To hell with bloody orders◦– I’m making my own decisions from now on.’ Hamilton glanced sternly at the radio operator. ‘And remember, Murray, you didn’t hear that either.’
SEVEN
Although nightfall had brought the Navy a welcome relief from the air attacks that had raged without respite throughout the day, the land battle for Hong Kong continued into the darkness. The men on the gunboats could hear the sharp chatter of machine guns echoing across the black water and see the flicker of gunfire against the night sky, as the Japanese invaders maintained pressure on the exhausted and outnumbered troops falling back towards Kowloon. And, as they gathered at the rails with their mugs of steaming cocoa, they considered themselves infinitely better off than the soldiers struggling for survival in the holocaust ashore◦– even though most of them had been continuously at action stations for nearly twelve hours.
It was a sentiment shared by the officers. Standing at the starboard bridge wing of his gunboat, Ottershaw tried to follow the progress of the battle through his night glasses. But without adequate communication links to the troops ashore, it was impossible to make sense of the chaos and confusion on the darkened mainland. And, although it had always been a proud tradition in the Navy to give what help it could to the Army, there was little the ships could do until dawn….
‘Reduce to half-speed, Number One. I want to be in the vicinity of Castle Peak Bay at first light, in case the Japs try to make a landing. And if there’s any trouble during the night at least we’ll be close at hand.’
While Forsyth was passing his instructions to the helmsman and engine room, Ottershaw examined the situation further to the east. It was not very encouraging. Victoria Island seemed fairly quiet, but large fires were still burning in the center of Kowloon and the dense pall of smoke hanging in the sky over the Colony’s only airfield at Kai Tak boded ill for the next day. If the RAF had been knocked out, air supremacy would pass to the Japanese and, with no fighters to drive off enemy bombing attacks, the prospects for the Navy’s little ships looked decidedly gloomy.
He turned to the gunboat’s bosun standing to the rear of the wheelhouse. ‘Secure from Action Stations, Mister Phillips. Tell the cooks to get some grub ready and pipe all hands to dinner in thirty minutes.’
The chief wondered what the cooks would use for food. Firefly had left for sea at short notice and the stores waiting on the quayside had been left behind in the rush. Dinner, for all the promise of its name, was likely to be cold bully beef and ship’s biscuits. Still he supposed it could be worse and, acknowledging Ottershaw’s order with a salute, he made his way aft to the galley.