“You’re the Number Two man in the Wardroom after me,” Grilley said softly. “I value your thoughts, Nate.” He picked up the phone and dialed the selector switch so he could speak to all compartments.
“Now hear this,” he said calmly. “This is Lieutenant Grilley speaking.
“We were attacked by heavy gunfire while we were on the surface, a few moments ago. Captain Hinman sounded the diving alarm and we believe he closed the hatch in the bridge. We don’t know because none of the people topside got down below.” He waited, listening to the dead silence in the ship.
“I’d like to tell you that we’re going to go back up there and get our people back,” he said slowly. “But I cannot. There is a big destroyer up there, it was seen by a lookout and Lieutenant Cohen also saw it through the search periscope. We believe the destroyer was the ship that opened fire on us. If we went up there now, it might… it probably would… mean the end of the Mako and the death of all hands!
“We don’t know if the gunfire hit any of our people or not. I have to assume that some people were hit. Mr. Cohen heard some yelling that indicated someone was hit. All our people topside have on Mae West life jackets and as soon as we can shake this destroyer, or as soon as we can get into a position where we can attack it and sink it we’ll go up and start searching for our people.
“Until we have further information, as senior officer aboard I am assuming the duties of the Commanding Officer. Mr. Cohen, as the second senior officer, will act as the Executive Officer.” He paused and lifted his thumb from the transmit button and turned to Nate Cohen.
“Did you get the message off to Eelfish that we had sighted this convoy?”
“Yes, Captain. We got an acknowledgment that he had the message and that he was coming at top speed to join the attack.” Grilley nodded and pressed the transmit button again.
“Mr. Cohen has just told me that Captain Hinman’s message to Eelfish that we had a convoy in sight was received and that Mike Brannon, the captain of Eelfish answered that he was coming at top speed to help in the attack. So let’s all do our duty and if Eelfish gets here within the hour, as it should, we can have some revenge!”
Cohen stood with his head bowed for a moment and then he looked at Grilley.
“Do you want me on the sonar gear, Captain, or do you want to put Aaron on the gear?”
“I’d rather have your ears, Nate, if you don’t mind,” Grilley said. Cohen nodded and climbed the ladder into the Conning Tower.
“Four hundred feet, Captain,” Chief DeLucia said. His calm brown eyes looked at Grilley.
“Do you want me to go through the ship, sir, talk to the people?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Chief. I appreciate the offer.” He turned his face toward the Conning Tower hatch.
“Mr. Cohen, give me all the bearings you can get, please.” He stood at the plotting chart, marking in the bearings that Cohen fed down to him.
“That single-screw stuff, the slow ships we shot at, are breaking off in all directions, sir.” Cohen said. “Here’s what I’ve got.” He rattled off a half-dozen bearings.
“There’s a solid twin-screw bearing that I think is the destroyer the lookout sighted and I saw,” Cohen said. “It now bears two seven five and I’ve picked up one other twin-screw beat. It’s up ahead of us and it bears three five zero, sir. I think that we have two destroyers — repeat two destroyers up there!”
Grilley marked in the bearings on the plot, chewing his lip reflectively. Apparently the Japs had sent the convoy down the coast of Samar with the escort vessels trailing, hiding astern of the small convoy, inviting an attack.
“The twin-screw ship bearing three five zero is picking up speed, sir!”
A metallic ping rang through Mako’s hull and then a series of pings hit Mako’s hull.
“Ship bearing two seven five is pinging on us, Captain!” Cohen’s voice was calm.
Lieut. Don Grilley stood at the chart table, staring down at the plot he had drawn. This is where Captain Mealey had stood when the Japanese destroyers attacked Mako at Truk. This is what they meant when they taught you in Officer’s Candidate School that command is the loneliest job in the world. It was up to him to make the decisions that would result in Mako’s outwitting and escaping the enemy or being overcome. There was no one to turn to for advice. The ship, the lives of almost seventy men, rested on his shoulders.
He looked at his wrist watch. It would be at least forty to forty-five minutes before Eelfish could reach their area. Cohen’s voice came down through the hatch.
“The two ships out ahead of us are beginning to increase speed, Captain. I think this is an attack run!”
“Rig ship for depth charge attack,” Don Grilley said to Chief DeLucia.
Mako waited.
Chapter 31
Captain Mike Brannon leaned over the chart in the Control Room of Eelfish and looked at the plot his Executive Officer had drawn in.
“I think we left him too damned soon John,” Brannon said. “Art Hinman always did have luck! How far are we from him?”
“Twenty-one miles, sir,” Lieutenant Olsen said. “An hour and five minutes if we push it.” He pointed at the chart. “We can cut across the corner, sir. Plenty of water out here. This is the edge of the Philippine Trench. There’s over fifty-five hundred fathoms of water in this area.”
“We’ll push it,” Brannon said. “Damn it, I don’t want to miss out on the fun! Let’s send the crew to General Quarters now.” Olsen pushed the General Quarters alarm button and Brannon waited until the gong had stopped ringing and the reports had come in that the crew was at Battle Stations. He picked up the telephone.
“This is the Captain speaking,” he said. “Our friends on the Mako waited until we’d left and then they picked up a convoy! They were good enough to tell us about it and we’re going over and join their party. It will be an hour or so before we get there so stand easy on Battle Stations. The galley can serve coffee in the next fifteen minutes and all hands cross their fingers and toes and hope that Captain Hinman doesn’t sink all the ships before we get there!” Brannon turned to John Olsen.
“Set the course and let’s get going,” he said. “Doggone that Art Hinman, he always was a lucky sucker! I’m going topside, John. When you’ve got the plotting party organized come on up. If I know Art Hinman he’s going to attack on the surface and we’ll do the same. I’ll need you on the After TBT. We might be able to knock off one or two of the convoy if they’re running from the attack.”
Captain Brannon climbed up to the bridge and repeated what he had said on the telephone to the bridge watch and the lookouts. As he went back to the cigaret deck he glanced upward and saw the SJ Radar turning above him.
“Fifty-five hundred fathoms, you said?” Brannon said to Olsen. “God, that’s deep! Wonder if you’d have any layers in water like that?”
“I doubt it,” Olsen said. “The chart shows a strong current running there.”
“I wonder what that convoy’s doing, running without escorts,” Brannon mused. “Seems odd.”
“They’re pretty close to our patrol area, Leyte Gulf,” Olsen said. “Maybe they felt safe this close to a major port.”
A half hour went by and then the port lookout spoke up. “Bridge! I can see a flickering red light bearing three five zero! Looks like a little fire, sort of!”