“Aye aye, sir,” the officer replied. Eric heard the RN officer repeating the information as Gordon stepped back from the sight and turned to look at him.
“Well, if you want to see how the other half lives, Leftenant Cobb, feel free to have a look.”
Eric hoped he didn’t look as eager as he felt walking forward towards the bridge windows. Bending a little further to look through the sight, he pressed his face up against the eyepieces. Swinging the glasses, he found himself looking at the H.M.S. Hood, flagship of the Royal Navy. With her square bridge, four turrets, and rakish lines, the battlecruiser was a large, beautiful vessel that displaced over four times the Exeter’s tonnage. Black smoke poured from her stack, and her massive bow wave told Eric that she was moving at good speed.
“You can change the magnification with the switch under your right hand,” Gordon said, startling Eric slightly. He followed the British master’s advice, continuing until he could see the entire approaching British force as it closed. Destroyers were roughly one thousand yards in front of and to either side of the Hood. Behind her at one-thousand-yard intervals were two large vessels, either battleships or battlecruisers, with another one starting to exit the mist like some sort of great beast stirring from its cave. After a moment, Eric recognized the distinctive silhouette as that of a Nelson-class battleship.
“That is the King George V, Prince of Wales, and Nelson behind her. Warspite should be next.”
Eric nodded at Gordon’s statement, continuing to watch as the final battleship made its appearance. A moment later, Gordon starting to give orders to the helmsman. Exeter’s bow began to swing around to port, causing Eric to step back from the sight with a puzzled expression.
“We’ll be passing between the destroyer screen and the Hood to take our place in line,” Gordon said. Eric turned back to the device, continuing to study the British battleline. A few moments later, there was the crackle of the loudspeaker.
“All hands, this is the captain speaking,” Gordon began. “Shortly we will be passing by the Hood. All available hands are to turn out topside to give three cheers for His Majesty. That is all.”
Eric stepped back from the sight, his face clearly radiating his shock. Gordon smiled as he came back up towards the front of the bridge with the officer of the deck.
“The King is going into battle?” he asked incredulously. “Isn’t that a bit…”
“Dangerous?” Gordon finished for him. “Yes, but much like your situation, circumstances precluded His Majesty’s transfer to another vessel.”
“What? That doesn’t make any…”
“His Majesty was apparently aboard the Hood receiving a briefing from the First Sea Lord when the Queen Mary was torpedoed,” Gordon said, his voice cold. “We were not expecting the German surface units to be as close as they were, and it was considered imprudent to stop the Hood with at least two confirmed submarines close about. Is that sufficient explanation to you, or would you like to continue questioning our tactics?”
Eric could tell he was straining his host’s civility, but the enormity of what was at risk made him feel he had to say something.
“I’m no expert at surface tactics…”
“That much is obvious,” Gordon snapped.
“…but the Hood is a battlecruiser,” Eric finished in a rush. “While I didn’t get a great look at the Germans before they shot up me and my commander, Rawles saw at least two battleships.”
“Your concern is noted, Leftenant Cobb, but I think that you will see the Hood is a bit hardier than a dive bomber.”
Okay, I’m just going to shut up now, Eric said. I may have slept through a lot of history, but I seem to recall the last time British battlecruisers met German heavy guns it didn’t go so well. A quote about there being problems with your “bloody ships” or something similar comes to mind. The Battle of Jutland hadn’t been that long ago, as evidenced by the Warspite still being a front-line unit. Eric sincerely hoped Gordon’s confidence was well-placed.
“Sir, we are almost on the Hood,” the officer of the deck interrupted. Eric turned and realized that the lead destroyer was indeed almost abreast the Exeter, with the Hood now a looming presence just beyond.
“The Hood, after her refit, is the most powerful warship in the world,” Gordon continued, his voice a little less frigid. “The Bismark and Tirpitz have only recently gone through refit, while the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have not been in the open ocean for almost six months. There should not be any major danger.”
If you’re looking around the room and you can’t find the mark, guess what? You’re the mark. Eric’s father’s words, an admonishment to always be suspicious of any situation that seemed too good to be true, came back to him with a cold feeling in his stomach.
The Germans would not be out here unless they had a plan, Eric continued thinking. Somehow I think that, much like the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy is about to receive a rude shock.
“All right lads, three cheers for His Majesty,” The loudspeaker crackled. “Hip… hip…”
As the Exeter’s crew yelled at the top of their lungs, Eric studied the Hood in passing. The two vessels were close enough that he could see a party of men in white uniforms standing on the battlecruiser’s bridge and the extraordinarily large flag streaming from the Hood’s yardarm. Picking up a pair of binoculars resting on a shelf near the bridge’s front lip, he focused on the pennant.
“That’s the Royal Standard,” Gordon said after the last cheer rang out. The device consisted of four squares, two red with the other pair gold and blue, respectively. The two red were identical, forming the top left and bottom right portions of the flag. Looking closely, Eric could see elongated gold lions or griffins within the squares. The gold square had what looked like a standing red lion within a crimson square, while the blue had some sort of harp.
“What do the symbols mean, sir?” Eric asked. Gordon shook his head.
“Leftenant, I could probably remember if I thought hard enough about it, but I do not think that is very important right now.”
Eric nodded, placing the binoculars back down as the Exeter continued to travel down the battleline. After Warspite, there were two more British heavy cruisers. At Gordon’s command, the Exeter finished her turn, taking her place behind the other two CAs. Satisfied with his vessel’s stationing, Gordon began dealing with the myriad tasks that a warship’s captain was expected to perform before battle. Eric observed these with a sense of detachment, noting that the bridge crew operated like they had been there dozens of times. Mentally, he compared the men to those he had observed aboard the American heavy cruiser Salt Lake City.
Things are so similar, yet so different. You can tell these men have been at war for over three years, Eric thought, feeling strangely comforted by the obvious experience in front of him. The feeling was fleeting, however, as the talker at the rear of the bridge broke the routine.