Shoal Hope, Torpedo Room
Chapter 42
Shoal Hope, the sinking of the S-4
Cooper sits on the deck in the torpedo room, Somebody’s knee jammed in my back! The Lieutenant orders the men quiet, “Everybody lie down!” What’s happening! Can’t forget what the Lieutenant’s said, “Stay still, stay quiet, we’ll need all the air we have if we’re ever gonna see the sun again!”
“What happened? Was wonderin’ if we’d be headin’ back to New London. They blew ballast. Getting ready to ventilate the boat and start the engines once we surfaced. Guys turnin’ valves. The Chief-of-the-Boat calls out his orders.”
“The noise of air bubbles. Motors whinin’. Boots clangin’ on the deck plates. Heard a Whoosh whoosh, WHOosh WHOosh, WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH! Got louder and louder till the sound was comin’ from everywhere.”
“The skipper stood at the periscope. Could make him out from my station lookin’ aft through the battery room. He swung around fast. Heard him yell out, ‘Hard a-port!’ Before he gets the words out a second time there’s a Smack! A grindin’, crumplin’ noise. The whole boat shudders. Trembles. There's a new sound of rushin’ water.”
“Like a fire-hose, loud, warble-y. A fine mist filled the air. Was the last thing I saw aft, before the Lieutenant closes the hatch. Guys pushin’ past each other, shovin’ stuff against the flow. Water comin’ in somewhere up high on the starboard side.”
“WHOOSH WHOOSH! Keeps gettin’ louder and louder. Straight over us. It passes. The sound goes lower. Gets quiet again. The lights go out, flicker, and go out again. Lieutenant’s got an electric torch. Got Kelly and Thomas screwin’ down the dogs on the hatch. By then, we’re laid over on her starboard side. First the boat listed to port then came back and kept goin’ over to starboard.”
“The deck angle changed. We’d been bow-up. Now we went bow-down. The deck got steeper. Tools and loose machinery fallin’ everywhere. Somethin’ scraped my leg and crashed to the deck. Somebody dropped the torch. It got real dark. The deck so steep we all piled against the torpedo tubes at the forward bulkhead. Heard a loud, soft Thump. We settled back onto an even keel. Just a little list to starboard. On the bottom for sure. No movement at all.”
“I put my face up against the little port in the hatch. Saw a light flickerin’ in the battery compartment, spinnin’ around and around, an electric torch. It got real green and finally it went out and it was real dark. All I could see was my cheek and eye reflected back at me in the thick, cold glass. Before it went out. Thought I saw some fellas movin’ around back there. Maybe it was just stuff floatin’ around. I don’t know…. The last I saw, water was about halfway up in the battery compartment.”
“Lieutenant got our torch goin’ again and had us sound off and sit down on the deck. Didn’t take long. Only five of us and him. He took the light all around. Looked for damage. What a mess. Lookin’ for water comin’ in. None of that, Thank God.”
“Everybody sat on the deck like he told us; but we wasn’t real calm. Everybody breathin’ hard, lookin’ around.”
“It got real cold. It’s always dank mostly, except in the engine room when it’s runnin’. Or sittin’ at the dock in the summertime. ‘Specially if there’s no awnin’ rigged.”
“This ain’t summer, December and all…. The mist, like a fog — only indoors. Got thicker. All that metal beaded-up with condensation. Where the light hit it, it sparkled. Wasn’t long before everythin’ was covered in ice.”
“We was in our work fatigues. Some guys had sweaters. We started pilin’ on the clothes. Anythin’ we could find. Watch caps pressed down over our ears. Still, you’d catch yourself shiverin’. Mostly we stayed quiet. Didn’t feel right to talk out-loud. Not close enough to whisper much.”
“Lieutenant gave a little speech, ‘We’re alive. Our job now is to stay that way. The Navy’s sure to know we’re down here. It’s not that deep, maybe 75 feet, maybe a hundred. Divers can hook up airlines. They can raise the sub. Remember what they did with the S-51? Not sayin’ it’s a sure thing, but there’s a chance. A good chance…’”
“Said all this standin’ forward with the torch on the deck next to him pointin’ the other way. Looked at each one of us in turn. Lookin’ at me when he said we had a chance. I believed him. I think we all did.”
“He went on, ‘Mostly we got to wait. Might be a day, maybe longer before we hear anythin’ topside. We got to save our air. Just keep still and breathe normal. We got to watch out for gas. Make sure none seeps in from the battery space.’”
“It’s cold. No doubt about it. It’ll feel colder the longer we’re here. So try to keep warm. You guys get close together. Keep each other warm.”
“We looked around kinda sheepish. Like we was at a dance hopin’ to pick a good partner.”
“’OK, just move forward there and lay down side by side.’ He said.”
“’We’ll use the space up here between the torpedo tubes as a latrine. Let’s keep the place as clean as we can manage.’ Pointin’ way forward, behind where he stood.”
“I know there’s some food around here. Take anythin’ you have in your pockets or squirreled away and pass it up to Morrison. I’ll see what canned goods I can find and we’ll set up a ration.”
“Don’t know how long all this took. Was late afternoon when we was hit. Must be dark by now. Not that it matters much down here; but still, the night…. Knowin’ it’s night up there. Don’t make it any easier.”
“Some gurglin’, groanin’. The pressure hull gettin’ squeezed pretty hard. Went on for a while. Then it got real quiet. Didn’t hear any more ship sounds up above. Not sure what to think about that. The bastards sunk us. Must-a been a-accident? We ain’t at war? If they didn’t sink too…. Must be callin’ for help? Lead our guys to us. No sign either way. No sign at all….”
“Right after the chief finished talking we heard a strange noise. A scrape and a clang. Somewhere forward and a-bove. Hard to tell really what it could be. That was it. Didn’t think much of it till we heard the same sound again the next mornin’ and then again when the divers came….”
“Lieutenant wanted to know for sure if anybody was alive aft. Asked me to grab a big spanner-wrench and go up into the fore-hatch bell and pound on the steel with it.”
“Wasn’t easy! The air was still pretty good then, but I was huffin’ for breath as soon as I got going”
“Not sorry when he asked me to stop. We listened. Heard some other bangin’. Could hear it all through the skin of the submarine!”
“He asked me to answer. All a dumb-show really. Not like I was tappin’ out a message. Just bangin’ with that wrench like it would break us all out! Like if I hit the steel hard enough we might get out. Go home.”
“Didn’t think it through! None of us did. Could see when I got back down. Everybody smilin’. Like they was hopin’ ’long with me…”
“Wasn’t till later I got a chance to ‘talk’ with that wrench!”
“Gettin’ ahead of myself. The rest of that night was quiet outside and inside. Just our breathin’. A few muttered words. Some coughin’.”
