‘What’s the score, Harry?’ he yelled as soon as the gunboat was within hailing distance.
‘The Army’s falling back on Kowloon. The Japs will probably be there in another two days◦– we’re completely outnumbered.’ He turned to pass an instruction to the helmsman as the two boats began drifting apart and then continued his report. ‘Kai Tak airfield has been knocked out and we’ve nothing left to stop the bombers. It’s sheer bloody murder. We were under attack all day yesterday.’
Rapier rolled suddenly as the gunboat’s rubbing strake rode up over the bulge of the starboard ballast tank and forced it under the surface. Ottershaw yelled something to the coxswain and Firefly backed off gently. Hamilton peered down over the side, but fortunately the collision had caused no damage.
‘If you touch me there again I’ll scream,’ he grinned across at the gunboat commander, who rewarded his humor with a two-fingered gesture. He waited for the two vessels to drift together again. ‘Where do you suggest we go◦– and no cracks, Harry!’
‘Anywhere in the Straits once the Japs succeed in taking Kowloon. They’ll have to use boats to get their troops across to Hong Kong.’
‘What about the gunboats?’
‘We won’t survive that long if the air attacks continue. But we’ll do our best to support you while we can. If you run to the south and he on the bottom for forty-eight hours you should be just in time for the big show.’ Ottershaw paused for a moment as Forsyth joined him at the bridge rail and handed him a message. He nodded. The submarine and the gunboat were drifting apart again and he cupped his hands to his mouth so that his voice would carry across the water. ‘If you’re after bigger game, Nick, try the south-west approaches. Thanet has reported seeing a cruiser and destroyer in the offing. Collinson has nothing he can send out against them. And if they find any of our gunboats it’ll be a massacre.’
‘Three aircraft astern, sir!’ Rapier’s starboard look-out reported urgently. ‘Five thousand feet and approaching!’ Hamilton pressed the diving alarm. He made no effort to confirm the report. If Jacobs said aircraft were approaching that was enough for him. Geysers of water erupted along the side of the submarine as the main vents swung open and, almost before the two look-outs had slid into the hatchway, Rapier was dipping beneath the surface. Hamilton waved a hasty farewell to Ottershaw as he made for the open hatch.
‘See you around, Harry! And don’t get your feet wet.’ The hatch cover shut with a bang and within seconds the submarine’s conning tower had vanished into the bubbling cauldron of foam.
‘Action Stations! Bandits astern◦– range 2000◦– height 4000. Full ahead both!’ Ottershaw watched the three Mitsubishi dive bombers coming out of the sun. ‘Starboard helm! Pass air attack signal to Circala, Number One!’
Forsyth raised his head above the level of the bridge screen in time to see the other gunboat open fire and circle to the west with bombs exploding on all sides. Firefly shuddered from stern to sternport from the effects of a near-miss and, as he crouched on the deck, he could hear the shrill shriek of more bombs. He gritted his teeth and waited. Damn that bastard Hamilton! It was bloody unfair. Why should he be able to escape the bombs? Why couldn’t Rapier stay on the surface and fight it out alongside the gunboats? Damn it all◦– they were all in the same bloody Navy….
‘Thirty feet and diving, sir,’ Mannon reported quietly as Hamilton slid down the ladder into the hushed brightness of the control room.
‘Take her to sixty feet, Number One. Fortunately for us it’s only an air attack. If the japs had sent in destroyers it wouldn’t have been so funny.’
‘Planes to dive. Group up◦– full ahead together. Level at sixty feet, Coxswain.’
Mannon felt pleased with the smooth efficiency with which he had taken Rapier out of danger, but he looked for no compliments. Hamilton did not regard efficiency as meriting commendation. He expected nothing less.
‘What now, sir?’
Hamilton was leaning over the chart table in conference with Scott. The navigator was making some calculations on a note-pad and he passed the results to the skipper for approval.
‘We’re going cruiser hunting, Number One,’ Hamilton said casually. ‘If Harry Ottershaw is right, it will take the Japs two or three days to reach Kowloon, so there’s nothing much we can do until they try crossing the Straits to Hong Kong. According to the Staff Appraisal Snark showed me, they reckon the island can hold out for fourteen days◦– so we’ve plenty of time.’ He glanced up at the calendar hanging down from one of the deck head high-pressure air pipes. ‘It’s the 9th today. That means we’ve got a fortnight to send Tokyo our Christmas cards!’
O’Brien came through the bulkhead door. He was sweating heavily and wiping his glistening face with a piece of the engineer’s traditional cotton waste. ‘I’ve been checking the fuel stocks, sir. The bunkers are down to sixty tons.’
Hamilton did a quick calculation. They’d used up a quarter of their stocks already and that meant about twelve day’s supply left at economical cruising speed. It was his own fault for making that high-speed dash back to Hong Kong.
‘Thanks, Chief. I’ll take her back to the dockyard to top up once we’ve run down this cruiser.’
‘How long’s that likely to be, sir?’ O’Brien enquired. ‘And when do we get topside for a breath of air◦– it’s like a damned furnace in the motor room.’
Hamilton nodded sympathetically. His own clothes were wet with sweat and his underpants were sticking to his body. ‘I’m afraid it’s something we must learn to live with,’ he said unhelpfully. ‘I’ve no intention of showing myself on the surface in daylight. Unfortunately these S-class boats weren’t built for the tropics so we’ll have to lump it and like it.’
Mannon glanced at the control room thermometer. It was standing at iio°F.
But it wasn’t just the heat. The humidity was worse. Everything was wet to the touch and beads of water continuously dripped from the deck head as the condensation built up. Reacting to an irresistible impulse, he pushed his hand up inside the waistband of his shorts and scratched violently.
‘When you’ve finished doing your monkey act, Number One, I want you to go for’ard and check the tubes and the mouldies. If we meet up with that cruiser tonight I don’t want any slip-ups. Young Villiers is doing his best but he’s no expert, so go along and see if he needs any help.’
‘Aye aye, sir.’
Ernie Blood was busy scratching his ample stomach and, as the skipper looked in his direction, he withdrew his hand guiltily like a child caught stealing sweets from a tin. He tried the old sailor’s trick of sucking his teeth but it did nothing to ameliorate the persistent irritation of the heat rash. Hamilton moved across to the chart table. He kept his voice low so that the men could not overhear what he was saying.
‘I reckon that Jap cruiser force must be to the southwest, Alistair. The trouble is we don’t know where it’s heading. Could be a bombardment support squadron to back up the invasion of Hong Kong◦– or a covering force for another troop convoy heading for a fresh landing somewhere to the south.’ He looked down at the chart as he weighed up the alternatives. ‘We’ll carry out a two-hundred-mile box search centered on Gap Rock.’ He pointed his finger at a small black dot some forty miles to the southwest of Hong Kong and Scott nodded. ‘Fifty miles due south from the rock◦– then fifty miles east and so on. It’s only a small area, but it will take us across the main shipping channel into the Pearl River.’