Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 09:39:04 +1100
From: james robinson <justjames17@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Atlantic Express, Chapter 10

This tale is fictional and bears no resemblance to real life, it is a
figment of my imagination. The story contains sex between men and teenagers,
if you don't like this content or if you are underage to read such material
please leave now, if it is illegal to read this where you reside then it is
your decision. Although this chapter contains no sex at all it is purely
about a fictitious sortie by our captain's ship into dangerous waters.
Your comments and ideas are eagerly sought and you can send them to
justjames17@hotmail.com. All emails are answered except flames, which will
be extinguished on arrival.
Please keep Nifty free by donating a few dollars to their coffers.


            The Atlantic Express, chapter 10,
    justjames17.


The small group of eight ships sped through the blackness, only their white
arched bow waves visible as their knife sharp bows thrust through the cold
water, the North Sea was in a benign mood and the seas stayed calm as they
tore up towards Norway. Daylight began to lighten the eastern skies as the
dawn approached, bells rang through the silent ships demanding their crews
close up for action stations. Tin helmets donned along with life jackets saw
the men scurrying about as they rushed to their positions.

The bridge speakers sprang to life as the guns were declared closed up and
all the various departments reported their readiness. The dull light
gradually increased as the sun finally made it's appearance beaming a long
bright pathway towards the speeding ships, the upper works glistened with
the morning dew as the sunlight hit the metallic structures while the water
remained black. The tall steel masts lit up in the light their antenna wires
looking like spun gold until the sun rose fully and the ships returned to
their normal somber hues on the blue seas. The small white caps crisply
showing in the gentle breeze as they raced past the small fleet, no visible
enemy in sight above or below the surface the ships' crews stood down as
belay to mess was piped.

Only the duty turrets were manned and they weaved to the command of the
gunnery control, as the circuits were tested and the hydraulics moved the
heavy gun turrets about.
The ships sped on towards their destination undeterred and so far unsighted
by the enemy, the day passed quietly as the crews went about their business
until sundown when action stations sounded once more and they took up their
positions again. Night closed in hiding the small cluster of ships once more
and they made good time, as the seas were still calm, an occurrence not
usually seen in these latitudes where huge deep lows came howling down from
the Arctic to stir the seas into slavering monsters.

The ships sped on through the night's blackness hiding them from the
searching eyes of enemy aircraft, they reached the Norwegian coast just
after dawn and steamed along the mountainous coast till they reached the
Fjord they had been directed to investigate. They moved up into the
narrowing waters under the frowning brows of the snowcapped mountains their
binoculars searching the land for any signs of the enemies' movements.
Nothing stirred on the land and only the circling sea gulls showed any sign
of life, they could see the villages of scattered houses along the shore but
no sign of any inhabitants, troops or vehicles. They moved deeper into the
enclosed waters as they nervously searched for their targets, many miles
passed as they steamed along, then away in the distance smoke was seen
rising into the sky.

The Captains warned the crews to be on their toes as they approached the
smoke's origins, it was the burning hulk of a steamer beached on the rocks,
listing heavily as she burned. It looked as though she had been bombed from
above and not shelled by the enemy, they inspected the hulk to ascertain if
anyone was still aboard her but her davits were empty except for one, a
destroyed lifeboat hung there with it's back broken. They steamed on quietly
until suddenly a roaring was heard and a German Ju88 came screaming from
behind the mountain and flew straight over the fleet, by the time the guns
were swung around the plane was again hidden by the mountains.

The situation was now much more dangerous as their position was known to the
enemy the Luftwaffe would almost certainly be arming to attack them in a
short time. The ships were on high alert as they moved further into the
fjord, more smoke became evident ahead and the binoculars were turned ahead
to see a town under fire from a German destroyer. The cruisers guns elevated
and four 8inch projectiles spewed from the forward turrets, at maximum range
the shells peppered all about the lean vessel although no hits were
observed. The small fleet increased speed to close the distance as the
cruisers kept up a steady rate of fire and soon hits were observed as the
destroyer turned tail to run, although where she was going to run to was a
mystery she could only run further up the fjord and she couldn't escape that
way.

The cruisers now had closed the range and hits were battering the ship as
she fired ineffectually back her guns unable to reach us, she took a heavy
pounding then as a last resort she headed towards the shore to beach herself
in the shallows. She rammed herself onto the rocks like the steamer we saw
before but once aground, the troops of the Norwegian army took up the
assault and all resistance was soon quelled. The destroyer was obviously
softening up the positions of the defending army, which meant that the
German forces were not too far away.

We steamed up to the position and stared at the listing warship, the
remnants of her crew being marched off in a column to be interned. We
signaled the shore and found out that the invaders were only a few miles
south of our position so we prepared to shell them when we could see them.
All was quiet for some time then the sounds of heavy armoured tanks could be
heard and shell bursts were falling amongst the Norwegian positions, our
gunnery directors turned searching for the enemy and the guns followed the
directors to aim at the mountain just south of the small town. They belched
flame and smoke as they fired and the ship shook under the recoil, our
shells screamed away to burst on the side of the mountain, the foul stench
of the brown cordite smoke wreathed about the ships. Through our binoculars
we could just make out the shapes of the enemy vehicles, the explosion of
our multiple shells blanketed the side of the mountain with fire.

The enemy guns fell silent under the onslaught, and we pulverized the
column, tanks were seen flying through the air as the 8inch shells from the
cruisers landed devastatingly in their midst on the narrow mountain road,
while our 4inch shells were hitting and destroying many vehicles. Snow fell
in avalanches from the mountain tops adding to the problems of the invaders
and their neat column was thrown into complete disarray as the road was
blasted away beneath their treads and tires. Smoke and fire from the burning
vehicles stained the sky as we cruised up and down the fjord shelling at
will.

This destruction continued for some fifty minutes till there was nothing
visibly moving on the mountain and we ceased fire, the guns smoking hot and
the barrels blackened and the paint blistered with the heat. We began to
steam away back down the fjord when a covey of Stuka dive bombers appeared
howling down towards our small fleet, our guns firing as we rang on full
speed ahead. Our movements restricted by the narrow waters as we tried to
weave about to throw the bombers off, the aircraft were easy targets as they
dived vertically and three soon burst into flames and exploded but seven
flew through the hail of gunfire and unloaded over head.

The evil black eggs whistled down towards us, and two found their marks, one
hit the leading cruiser on the quarterdeck punching deep into her bowels to
explode amongst her steering gear. The plume of black smoke billowed up from
her shattered deck as she lost steering and began to veer away to starboard.
The second bomb struck the destroyer ahead of us and exploded in her engine
room blowing her guts open to the frigid waters. She stopped slewing to port
in front of us as we frantically spun the wheel to avoid her stricken hull,
flames and steam poured from her shattered mid ships as she slowed and began
to settle in the water.

Her crew began to abandon ship as the ship sank beneath them, as the attack
had ceased we turned about and returned to assist her, the damaged cruiser
was now circling out of control due to her rudder being hard over at the
time the bomb struck. Her consort moved to her aid as she slowed after
shutting down her engines, towing gear was readied and passed as they came
alongside her. We picked up what was left of the now almost totally
submerged destroyer's crew and set off again to join the remaining ships of
our small force.

We had to escape the trap of the fjord as quickly as we could but our speed
would be regulated by the towing speed of the cruiser and that would not be
very fast at all most probably about ten knots or the towing gear would part
under the strain. We set off again steaming at our best pace the five
destroyers grouped around the cruisers as we traveled further down the
fjord, as it slowly began to widen. We knew the bombers would return as soon
as they reloaded and it was just a matter of time till we saw them again. We
were left undisturbed for an hour then the drone of aircraft engines were
heard again this time high level bombers cruised into view far above our
struggling ships.

We opened fire with the main armament sending time-fused shells up to the
bombers altitude the sky became pock marked with red centered black blossoms
as the shells exploded amongst them. We fired at the maximum loading rate
and some results were seen as a few planes turned back leaking thin plumes
of black smoke in their wake, then we saw the strings of tiny black blobs
separate from the aircraft and wobble towards us, our hands clenched as the
bombs whistled closer. We couldn't do much but grit our teeth and pray to
the Lord.

The bombs arrived most missed, plunging into the water leaving small plumes
of spray but a few connected, one hit our bow and exploded in the paint
locker blowing a huge hole in the deck and setting fire to the paint stored
in there. The acrid smoke billowed out covering the bridge as we coughed and
spluttered unable to see anything till it cleared, the damage control crew
was on the job quickly pouring water into the area. A second missile hit
another destroyer on the bridge killing the captain and all those present,
she heeled over and away as she steamed out of control until her first
lieutenant established command and set up the emergency steering gear in the
stern. She limped away towards the open sea trailing a heavy smoke plume as
we all headed towards the open sea again.

A third bomb landed on the forward turret of the already damaged cruiser
exploding in the turret and setting off the cordite charges being loaded
into her guns. These erupted blowing the turret apart as they combined with
the disruptive force of the bomb; the gun crew was virtually vaporized in
the explosion. She was lucky the explosion didn't penetrate down the lift
shaft to her magazine, as she would have been blown apart instantly. We were
very lucky the airmen didn't attempt a lower bombing height or we would have
been in more trouble but they obviously didn't fancy the firepower of our
small fleet, the aircraft flew on, another limping away trailing smoke.

This operation was a poorly planned affair, ships trapped in these narrow
waters were at a very distinct disadvantage due to the lack of maneuvering
space, we should never have been sent up here to attempt the task and we
were paying the price for our superiors' bungling. Although we had destroyed
a portion of the German forces and sunk one destroyer we in turn had lost
one destroyer and had two damaged plus one severely damaged heavy cruiser. A
very costly victory so far and we still had to run the gauntlet of the
German Luftwaffe, which would hunt us down till we were out of their range.

We limped along at a steady ten knots and eventually reached the open sea,
darkness was descending as we left the fjord and we would be unmolested
during the short arctic night. We headed out due west to try to confuse the
enemy instead of heading directly towards England. We had only six hours of
darkness and that would only mean 60 nautical miles, which wasn't much for
an aircraft flying at 200 miles per hour, unfortunately we would be easy to
locate in the morning.

The weather remained calm and warmish as we limped through the darkness then
towards dawn there was a change in the wind and the temperature dropped
sharply, I prayed it would cause a thick fog as the cold air met the warmth
and soon it developed into a pea souper. Visibility dropped to a matter of
yards as we felt our way along shrouded in thick white vapor, I prayed it
would last a few hours and allow us to gain sea room from the coast. The
further we progressed the more difficult locating us would be and we steamed
steadily along invisible to one another and the hawks in the skies.

The fog stayed with us for most of the day and finally lifted as the sun
dropped below the horizon, we had been lucky and the good Lord must have
protected us, we were now 250miles from Norway and had another night to
escape the bombers. They would not find us now as we were too far out and
the search area would be immense, it would be exceptionally bad luck to be
located now. We steamed through the night and closed up for action stations
at dawn and as the sun rose on a new day we breathed a sigh of relief at our
lucky escape.

The sun was just above the horizon when there was a mighty explosion and we
jumped in shock turned our eyes to the cruisers to see a massive geyser of
spray dissipating on the port side of the already damaged cruiser. It had to
be a torpedo fired from a submarine hidden in the sun's glare, the
destroyers on that side turned away and raced towards the position from
which the submarine had fired. Our trauma was still not finished the enemy
was still trying to make us pay for our sortie, the cruiser was wallowing as
the tow continued the towing cruiser was frantically going astern to halt
their forward speed and take the pressure off the towing gear so it could be
slipped as the dying ship began to sink.

The stern of the towing cruiser was inexorably being pulled under as the
weight of her sinking sister began to pull her down, the forward motion of
the tow hastening her demise. The disaster looked to be complete as the
sinking ship stood on her bow the damaged stern vertical her crew falling
and leaping from her decks as she began to take her final dive, the ship
began to sink rapidly then with a huge cracking and snapping sound the wire
hawser connecting the two cruisers broke. The thick wire whipped through the
water killing many of the swimmers trying to escape the vortex as the ship
sank, the freed cruiser's stern lifted from the water her propellers
thrashing the air and then she crashed back onto the sea in a welter of
spray and foam killing even more of the frantically struggling men. Her
propellers sucked more of the swimmers under to be minced by the flashing
revolving blades, the Captain of the cruiser ordered engines stopped to
minimize the disaster.

We could hear the plaintive cries from where we were as we headed across to
attempt to rescue the struggling sailors, we reached the area and the stench
of fuel oil assailed our noses. The men in the water were swimming in the
filthy muck ingesting it as they swam and breathed, the caustic oil would
destroy their lungs and blind them if they weren't rescued quickly and
cleaned up, although those who ingested it were probably doomed anyway. We
lowered the boarding nets and our crew climbed down to assist the oil
covered men and boys to climb up onto our deck, they clambered aboard and
collapsed retching on the deck spewing the foul black muck from their guts
and coughing it up from already damaged their lungs.

We rendered what aid we could but having no doctor on board we couldn't do
much, the cruiser had a doctor and a well-equipped sick bay but we couldn't
transfer the patients under the circumstances. She too was pulling men from
the water some in terrible condition from both the oil and injuries and
wounds received when her consort was torpedoed. We collected all we could
find alive then steamed south towards England, leaving our two destroyers
hunting the submarine.

The trip home was much faster now we had no ship in tow although we still
couldn't travel at full speed due to our destroyer with the jury rigged
steering, she was unable to operate at full speed due to the heavy auxiliary
steering, 20 knots was her top speed so we settled on that for the rest of
the trip. We had rescued thirty men from the cruiser but we lost 22 on the
trip home only eight survived their swim in the oil. We docked and unloaded
them to the medical corps ambulances whence they were driven to the Naval
Hospital; our ship was to be repaired before we could put to sea again so we
had a week's respite to recuperate from the disaster. Our damage was only
minor and they would weld patches over the holes in the decks to keep us
seaworthy till our next major overhaul.

Tom came to my cabin after we docked and we chatted for some time about the
disastrous sortie, his nerves were as tattered as my own and decided to
again invite him to stay with me at my home. That way we could support each
other and mend our psyches together. He readily accepted my offer and we
left the ship separately, after Bradley obtained some provisions for my
leave, but we caught the same train and again traveled in separate classes
on the journey.


			      To Be Continued