Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 08:42:22 +1000
From: james robinson <justjames17@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Atlantic Express, Chap 5

This tale is fiction and bears no resemblance to real life, any similarity
to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. The story contains sex
between men and if you don't like this type of material please leave, if you
are under the age allowed to read this story please go away, if it is
illegal where you live to read this type of story you'd better leave as
well.

Your comments and ideas are eagerly sought and can be sent to
justjames17@hotmail.com. All emails will be answered except flames they are
extinguished on arrival.
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                  The Atlantic Express, Chapter 5,
    justjames17.


The convoy fled to the South each ship fleeing at their best speeds as the
flash of gunfire lit up the horizon, the heavy cruiser signaled for three
destroyers to leave the ships and race back to assist with the attack on the
Graf Spee. We were one of the chosen ones so we put the helm hard over and
careened about straightening up our course to head towards the battle.

The Orontes was still steaming towards the area her massive hull standing
high on the water as the shells raised tall columns of spray about her as
she weaved from port to starboard trying to dodge the fall of the massive
15inch shells. The enemy seemed to be concentrating on her probably
misidentifying the heavy cruiser as a light cruiser so not a particular
worry to her heavily armored decks. The poor old Merchant Cruiser began to
suffer hits, as she steamed closer to the action, while the heavy cruiser
began to fire at her maximum range trying to distract the heavy fire from
the unprotected liner.

The Orontes was now close enough to open fire with her 8inch guns and her
decks clouded with the smoke from the discharge of her guns, she was taking
many hits to her massive hull as the raider attempted to locate her
magazines if a shell penetrated those she would blow apart in an instant.
Her huge hull made it difficult to locate where her munitions were stored so
the enemy kept savaging her mercilessly, fires glowed through the huge rents
in her hull but her guns kept firing. The Cruiser was now finding the range
and her shells were lighting up the dark superstructure of the Battleship,
the Graf Spee realized that she had a desperate enemy, which could inflict
damage on her so she began to turn away opening the range.

The Cruiser kept firing while the Orontes charged valiantly towards the huge
hulking raider her worn guns keeping up a rapid rate of fire as the cruiser
raced off to one side dividing the enemies fire. We were signaled to carry
out a torpedo attack from behind the raider so we increased speed and
steamed off to reach a position from which we could attack. The Orontes
began to slow as her hull began to take on water from the many shell holes
punched into her waterline, her guns continued to fire but the range was
opening further as the raider raced away, her shells falling uselessly into
the creamy wake of the capital ship.

The old liner slowed further until she wallowed still taking hits from the
enemy, her interior a mass of fire smoke wreathed her hull as she rolled on
the swells, her guns still firing into the distance as her valiant crew
still endeavored to hit the massive ship. We drew rapidly away as the
cruiser pummeled the battleship now drawing heavier fire as the enemy
switched targets, she was almost totally obscured by the spray of falling
shells but her luck held and she remained intact and unharmed.
The Graf Spee raced for the horizon, at our speed we were slowly overhauling
her but it would be a long chase, the Cruiser's captain signaled us to
desist in our pursuit and return to assist the Orontes. We turned as a group
and headed back towards the stricken liner when there was a sudden increase
in smoke and a huge explosion as the fires reached her magazines. The once
proud liner blew apart into myriad pieces the sound of her demise deafened
us from two miles away and the flash blinded us momentarily, by the time the
smoke cleared and the splashing pieces of ship ceased she was gone as if she
never existed. She had sacrificed herself against insurmountable odds but
her brave efforts had saved the convoy from destruction.

We steamed to the patch of disturbed wreckage strewn filthy water to search
for survivors but there was no sign of any bodies and the hungry sharks were
cruising around the area, these denizens of the deep were now trained to
home in on any explosions as they had learnt there were bodies to feed on in
the water. We searched for some time hoping against hope but no luck the
ship and her crew, were gone from the face of the ocean as if they hadn't
existed. We left the area when the cruiser appeared over the horizon
ordering us to return to the convoy, we turned away and increased speed to
locate our errant charges.

It took some time to locate our convoy but eventually we saw smoke on the
horizon and headed in that direction to see most of our charges still
together although spread out over a large area. We signaled the remaining
escorts so they knew we were friendly and raced towards them, signaling the
sad news that we had lost the Orontes.  The Cruiser remained stationed on
the horizon guarding against the return of Battleship but she never
reappeared and had sulked off to lick her wounds and repair the damage done
by the combined shellfire of the Cruiser and the poor old Orontes.

The weather began to deteriorate as the barometric pressure plummeted, those
huge swells were being triggered by a massive low pressure area situated
ahead of us, the sky clouded over and the calm air began to move as the wind
picked up. White caps soon appeared running across the surface of the
mountainous swells; the spray began to fly through the rapidly cooling air.
The swells caused us to lose sight of the other ships as we disappeared into
the wide troughs between the seas, then gyrating we would lift up to the
crest and be able to see some of the other vessels.

The conditions on board our small ships gradually got worse as the spray
insinuated into the air between decks, everything was damp to the touch and
the decks were unsteady as the ship rolled and corkscrewed through the rough
seas. The young inexperienced crewmembers began to turn green around the
gills as the movement increased and soon the stench of vomit permeated the
area, as they lost their equilibrium and spewed up the contents of their
queasy stomachs. The destroyer reeled before the onslaught as she climbed up
the glowering gray face of the massive rollers, she hesitated at the
crinkling crest then lurched over the shoulder of the sea her propellers
thrashing in the frothy water as they lifted towards the surface. The Chief
Engineer was on duty and saved the ship by slowing the engines to stop the
madly spinning prop shafts snapping or tearing the bearings in the shaft
tunnels to pieces, it was a constant battle and needed an experienced hand
to control the problem. Slow the engines too soon and the ship could be
rolled to turn turtle and founder, too late and serious damage would be done
also causing the engines to be stopped with the same result.

We labored along as the gale increased the wind screaming through the
rigging as we battled the implacable elements, the continuous rolling and
corkscrewing tired both the body and our minds we became like automatons
doing things by routine. The bridge crew had to use safety belts to avoid
being swept overboard as the ship after climbing the tall seas plunged down
the back of the wave to bury her bow deep into the troughs, the sea reaching
the base of the superstructure before she struggled up shedding hundreds of
tons of water over her bulwarks. The gun turrets were submerged as she dived
and they reappeared as she climbed upright again, the rain turned to sleet
as the temperature dropped the icy pellets cutting our tired salt encrusted
faces. Our faces turned to bloody masks and we had to send for scarves to
wrap around our exposed flesh, only our goggles visible.

The wind kept up it's relentless attack our convoy became scattered due to
the incredible weather, the only good point of the foul weather was that the
U boats would be submerged riding the storm out down deep in the calm water
below the wave action. The weather continued to pummel us until we reached
Ireland, here the winds dropped slowly and the seas reduced to a more
manageable size, the cloud base began to break up and watery shafts of
sunlight began to pierce the somber gray gloominess, the watery light
glistening on the layer of salt crystals covering the ships. The
superstructures looked as though they had been dusted with icing sugar as
they gleamed softly in the pale sunshine.

Tom Wilson, the 17year old seaman, who had been involved with Richard in New
York was the port lookout on the bridge, I watched him to see how he had
recuperated from the seasickness. He seemed to be fine although very dark
circles surrounded his gray eyes he was of slim build and the lack of food
through the storm seemed to have slimmed him even more. He stood there his
eyes locked to the binoculars as he searched the horizon, his body bent
slightly at the waist with his cute bubble bum protruding from under his
duffle coat. I could see why Richard had been delighted to have sex with him
after he found him in the toilets in Central Park; the lad was quite
attractive with his sandy blonde hair and his slender teenaged body.

I strolled across and stood leaning on the railing beside him, he felt my
closeness and glanced quickly at me to see who it was, he blushed bright red
when he realized it was me, as he knew I'd been with Richard and Henry in
the cab outside the Shore Patrol headquarters when he'd been marched out to
the truck. I nodded to him and asked him how he'd got on during the gale, he
swallowed heavily and replied, " Ok thank you sir, I vomited nearly the
whole time, I was scared stiff all through it."

I grinned at him and said, " Don't worry you aren't the only one scared, I
know I was and I think most of the crew were as well."

He looked back into the glasses and studied the horizon then he said, " I
can't believe you were scared sir, you're the Captain, you've been through
storms before I'm sure."

I laughed and said, " Seaman Wilson, I have been through stormy weather
before but I can guarantee you I've never been in one as severe as the one
we've just survived. I was on a heavy Cruiser the last time I saw really bad
weather and she was five times the size of our little destroyer. I was
scared all through this storm I felt as if we were going to drive straight
down into Davey Jones's locker on many occasions."

He lifted his handsome young face from the rubber eye sockets of the
binoculars and looked at me then grinned saying, " That makes me feel a lot
better Sir, if you were afraid too then I can't be blamed for being
frightened can I?"

He obviously felt a lot better in himself as I patted his shoulder and
walked across to the chart room, the Navigator was plotting our course so I
watched over his shoulder for a while then returned to the bridge sitting on
my stool and leaning my brow on the cool glass of the spray screen. The seas
had dropped off and our loose convoy gradually began to take shape as the
ships rejoined their lines, we were still in U boat territory although the
Sunderland flying boats helped keep their heads down during daylight hours,
it was when darkness descended they would creep up to attack stealthily from
the blackness.

My eyes kept returning to the pert little arse of young Tom as he bent to
the binoculars and he noticed several times my staring when he looked my way
to relieve his stressed tired eyes. I noticed his lips curl up at the
corners as he smiled to himself, he was a handsome young guy but he wouldn't
be interested in an old fart like me I was sure, I think he was flattered
that his commanding officer was perving on him.

Time passed and the sun was lowering in the western sky when young Tom
called out loudly, " Periscope ten degrees off the port bow."

I jumped up and brought my binoculars to my tired eyes and studied the
turbulent wave tossed surface, I couldn't see anything that remotely
resembled a periscope and I said, " Are you sure Wilson? I can't see
anything."

He replied, " Definitely a periscope Sir it is moving from port to starboard
as I'm watching it. It is three quarters of the way to the horizon Sir."

I realized his glasses were more powerful than my hand held pair so I called
the signalman to advise the other escorts of our sighting, as I sounded
close up for action stations, he leapt to the Aldis signal lamp and began to
rapidly click the shutters, the other escorts soon acknowledged our message
and the Cruiser dispatched two of the more modern better equipped destroyers
to deal with the threat. They broke away from the convoy their bow waves
creaming up level with their decks as the raced to intercept the skulking
submarine. The sound of running feet sounded on the decks as the crew closed
up. The reports came through the voice pipes as each department advised of
their readiness.

We continued on our way slowly leaving them behind as they hunted for the
now submerged U boat, they were soon lost in the darkness as the sun
descended below the horizon. Our nerves on edge in the black night, the
clouds had again covered the sky as we steamed on towards England. The night
was fraught with danger although nothing occurred we stayed at action
stations, as the U boat would have certainly radioed our position to her
base, which would have then advised the wolf pack of where we were.

Dawn broke damp, cold and gray our tired bewhiskered faces looking gaunt and
exhausted as the sea turned from black to a sullen slate colour, the mess
steward brought a welcome tray of hot sweet tea to the bridge and I was glad
to wrap my frozen fingers around the warm enamel mug. I sipped the hot
elixir and swilled it around my mouth washing away the foul taste of the
nervous all night smoking, then felt it burn it's way down my throat into my
belly, it was the greatest feeling after a nerve wracking night on the
freezing open bridge.

The detached destroyers hove over the horizon signaling rapidly they had
succeeded in locating the submarine and after many hours of hunting and
depth charging had finally sent her to the bottom of the Irish Sea. I
smiled, one less to worry us next convoy. We felt no sadness for the sailors
manning these craft as they didn't fight fairly but relied on stealth and
sneak attacks on defenseless merchant ships. We respected the sailors on the
Graf Spee even though they were trying to kill us they were out in the open
and could be killed even though with difficulty due to her size.

The rest of our voyage was peaceful no further attacks and we were soon back
at our base while the cargo ships continued up river to unload their vital
supplies. We could relax a little as now our only enemy here was the nightly
air raids by the Luftwaffe. The off duty crew went ashore to relax and
either hit the pubs or go home to visit their families, they had a four day
leave to enjoy then they would return allowing the rest of the crew to go
ashore. Young Wilson went ashore to visit his parents who lived not far from
the river, he walked the distance and when he reached the street where he'd
lived since birth he found the whole terrace of houses gone, just a smoking
pile of rubble in their place. He stood there in shock and disbelief his sea
bag slipped to the dirty ground from his nerveless fingers.

A policeman in a tin helmet approached him and seeing his expression asked
if he lived here, the stunned lad nodded speechlessly as tears filled his
gray eyes. The bobby took the young man by the elbow and said, " What is the
name of your relatives and what was the number of your house?"

The young sailor told him his name and the house number and the constable
said, " Come with me lad, I'll take you to the office nearby they have the
lists of survivors there and can help you find your parents."

The officer led the stumbling lad to the small shop where the officials had
set up the records office he led him inside and sat him down at the desk
where he told the clerk the name of the boy and his address. The woman
flicked through her paper work then she found the pages for that street and
read through the lists, she looked up sadly and said, " I'm sorry Tom but
your family were killed last week in a heavy air raid your house was next
door to the direct hit and your parents would have died instantly. They
wouldn't have suffered at all it was so sudden."

Tom sat there in a stupor, his head hung looking vacantly at the floor, he
didn't seem to hear or understand what they were saying, the woman called to
an assistant and asked her to bring a hot cup of tea for Tom, she asked for
extra sugar in it to help bolster the shocked lad. The girl brought the tea
and touched Tom on the shoulder, he shook his head as if awakening from a
nightmare and reached out for the mug, his hand trembling as he took the hot
beverage, tea spilled over the rim of the mug as the lad trembled it ran
down burning his hand. The young man seemed not to feel the scalding liquid
and just sat there silently, he sipped the tea and then placed it on the
desk unfinished, the two women stared sympathetically at the shocked lad and
shook their heads in helplessness.

Tom sat there for some time and tears began to run down his cheeks as he
started to sob disconsolately the policeman standing beside him placed his
hand on the shaking shoulder of the lad in silent comradeship. Tom cried
himself out and they asked him what he wanted to do, he said in a flat
voice, " Go back to the ship I suppose I have nowhere else to go now."

The policeman said, " Well lad, I'll walk back with you if you'd like the
company."

Tom shrugged and picked up his sea bag and turned to the door as the two
women wished him good luck, he walked out into the street and the two of
them walked slowly back towards the wharves. They reached the guardhouse at
the gates and the constable had a few words to the guards and they allowed
him through, with Tom in tow, they walked through the mass of naval vessels
till they reached the Spring Thorpe. The police officer walked up the
gangway to the deck and said a few words to the Officer of the Deck and then
left the still shocked lad with him and departed to go ashore and back to
his duties.

The Officer of the Deck turned Tom over to the duty Petty Officer who had
heard what the constable had said, he took Tom below and settled him into
his mess area telling the Leading Seaman what had happened ashore. The Duty
Officer contacted me and told me about Tom's loss and I decided to wait till
the next morning then have him brought to my cabin where I would have a long
chat with him.

It was great to get a good night's sleep, no disturbances at all, not even a
bombing raid to disturb the darkness, I slept like a dead man and awoke
refreshed in the morning when Bradley brought me a nice hot cuppa to wake me
up at 7am. I stretched my muscles luxuriously reveling in the peace and
quiet; no throbbing engines the deck motionless under our feet. I felt on
top of the world then I remembered I had to chat to young Wilson about his
bereavement and I wondered just how I was going to handle the difficult and
sad situation. I had so far been lucky we had lost no men on the ship so I
hadn't had to write one of those terrible letters to their next of kin, this
was the first instance where I had had to discuss death with anyone on
board. I wasn't looking forward to doing this especially with a young lad
who was now an orphan, young Tom had enough problems being homosexual in the
Navy without losing his family in the blitz.

Bradley brought me my breakfast and left me to it as I ate quietly, my mind
wheeling about trying to decide how I was going to handle the lost young
man. I finished eating and had a shower then dressed in my best uniform and
sent for Tom, I was seated at my desk when he entered saluting me
mechanically I asked him to sit at the desk and he did as requested. There
was no spontaneity in his actions he was as if just going through the
motions, I looked into his eyes and saw blankness there, no life twinkling
at all. I was astounded and worried by the change in his demeanor since we
had chatted on the bridge he was like a zombie.

I began by telling him how sorry I was to hear of his loss and asking if
there was anything we could do to help him, he sat there as if deaf to my
words, I continued on saying that the ship was now his home and the crew
were now his family and we would all assist him in anyway we could. I saw
his eyes cloud up then a tear trickled down his cheek, he sobbed loudly his
chest heaving as if suffocating and gasping for air, he lowered his face
into his cupped hands and began to cry heavily. I got up and walked around
and put my arm around his heaving shoulders. He turned burying his face
against my thigh as his arms locked around my legs; we stayed like that for
some time until his weeping slowed.

My body began to react to his actions as he began to rub his face against my
crotch, I didn't want to push him away as he might have felt I was rejecting
him, so I stayed there immobile in his grip, trying to control my excited
reactions. Tom rubbed all over my genitals his hot breath warming my already
aroused penis, he could feel my erection as it grew harder and longer. He
kissed my covered knob and his hand began to squeeze my shaft through my
trousers, my excitement increased proportionately to his actions and soon I
was totally and almost painfully erect.

Here we must leave our tale and I hope you will want to hear more soon.