by Shaun Lewis
‘Bravo, Paddy. That’s not a bad idea and it gives me another. I might just go and winkle out one of the technical staff to discuss the feasibility right now. But before I do, just one final thing, First Lieutenant. We’re going to need a perfect trim and even so, depth keeping is going to be hard work. Talk to the Coxswain and see if it might be possible to get a couple of hands from the spare crew to lend a hand. We’ll need to sort out some messing arrangements for any extra hands, too. Now, gentlemen, if you will excuse me, I’m going to see if I can find a big fat gun.’
*
Despite having a pilot for a younger brother, Richard had never flown before. It was not that he feared flying, but he had never had the opportunity. Accordingly, he did not know what to expect as the twin-seat Farman bi-plane took off from the island of Tenedos with Commander Charles Samson at the controls. At sea level it was an almost windless day, but Richard had been surprised by the draft he now felt. The aircraft was described as a ‘pusher’ in that the propeller was mounted behind the nacelle. This offered Richard a better view from the front of the aircraft and also a better field of fire. Prior to take off, he had been given a machine gun in case they should meet a German fighter aircraft.
Very soon they were over the Narrows and he was surprised by how easy it was to pick up the detail of the terrain and fortifications. He understood now how the aeroplane was playing such a crucial role on the Western Front and why the enemy went to such lengths to deny the skies to reconnaissance aircraft. Richard wondered what his brother Paul was doing these days and whether he was safe. His thoughts were interrupted by Samson pointing down at the brown puffs of smoke and shrapnel fired from the forts, but bursting harmlessly below them. Due to the reflection of the sun on the water he was disappointed not to be able to spot any of the minefields, but he was able to note some interesting landmarks that would assist his navigation. Before he knew it, they were over the Sea of Marmara itself and Richard asked Samson to take them lower to observe the island of Marmara and its neighbours. He noted with satisfaction that these islands were not occupied and it occurred to him they might afford E9 a hiding place on the surface from time to time. He would have liked more time for the reconnaissance, but all too soon it was time to return, since the Farman was low on fuel. As the aeroplane headed west towards the setting sun, he observed the fighting on the beaches of Cape Helles and Suvla Bay and the vast armada of vessels afloat in support. Somewhere down there was his cousin, Charles.
The Allies had landed on the beaches just a few days before and already it was apparent that the troops were faring badly. They had encountered stiff resistance from the Turkish defenders and were still stranded on the beaches in full view of the enemy and with little cover. The men were reported to be exhausted and to have suffered heavy casualties, but Richard did not know much more. However, he had heard some positive news. On the same day that their compatriots in the ANZAC Corps were landing on the beaches of the peninsula, the Australian submarine AE2 had made an attempt through the Narrows and succeeded in sinking a Turkish torpedo boat. Keyes was overjoyed that a submarine from the British Empire had achieved this feat ahead of the French.
Sadly, by contrast, and as Richard and several others had feared, Theodore Brodie and E15 had failed to penetrate the Narrows a week earlier. For some reason E15 had run aground in Kephez Bay, just short of the Narrows, and the news had only recently come through that her CO had been killed by shell fire. Several submarines and surface ships had taken great risks to run the gauntlet of Turkish gunfire in order to sink the submarine before she could be captured by the enemy.
Richard had been determined to pick up every scrap of information he could on the hazards he and his men would face in forcing a passage through the Dardanelles and he had spent days quizzing those who had penetrated its outer reaches, including merchantmen and the French, and plagued the intelligence staff for an accurate map of the Turkish defences. He had found his meetings with Holbrook and Charles Brodie particularly valuable. Both officers had entered the Straits in the operation to sink E15. Whilst he had been successful in obtaining an accurate chart of the straits and defences, he had been disappointed by the paucity of information on the underwater currents. At least he had managed to persuade Adamant’s engineering staff to fit a three-inch twelve-pounder gun to the casing of the submarine and for a volunteer gun layer to be loaned to his crew. The CO of Adamant, Commander Frederick Somerville, was himself a former submariner and he had readily placed all the resources under his command at Richard’s disposal.
Richard was certain that, following AE2’s success, he and E9 would soon be ordered to make a further attempt at reaching the Sea of Marmara. He felt confident in his preparations, but now the Turks had been alerted that it was possible for submarines to make the passage, he had one more task to complete.
*
Richard cast a final look around the horizon of the Aegean Sea off the island of Mudros. To the east was the vast armada of Allied ships, but the sea was clear to the west, except for the comforting presence of their destroyer escort. Everything was ready and it was time to put the crew of E9 through their paces. He pressed a button and Klaxons immediately sounded throughout the submarine as the men went to Diving Stations.
The Coxswain reported through the voicepipe, ‘Captain, sir, control room. Shut off for diving, sir. Both engine clutches out.’
‘Very good. I’m coming below.’
Richard waved his hat to the destroyer to give them the pre-arranged signal to start the fun in thirty minutes and climbed down into the conning tower. Before shutting the hatch above him, he remembered to wipe it with a piece of towelling. He met Steele in the control room and ordered, ‘Slow ahead both motors. Flood One, Two, Five, Six, Seven and Eight main ballast tanks.’
Steele repeated the order to acknowledge it and then ordered the stokers to open the Kingston valves and main vents. As the submarine gently sank beneath the waves, Steele monitored the depth gauge and the bubble on the hydroplanes operators’ inclinometer to assess the trim of the boat. He made a slight adjustment to the trim and once the boat was level, Richard ordered the flooding of the remaining main ballast tanks.
‘Happy with the trim, First Lieutenant?’
‘Aye, sir. Submarine horizontal. Depth fifteen feet.’
‘Very good. Take her down to thirty feet.’
As the boat settled, level at thirty feet, Richard ordered the periscope to be raised. After carrying out an all-round look and checking the position of the destroyer, he was satisfied.
‘Down periscope. Five down, keep fifty feet. Check for leaks.’
For the next ten minutes everything was quiet. The only sounds were the quiet whirr of the electric motors, the clicks of the brass wheels turning to operate the hydroplanes and the voices of the men reporting the absence of leaks throughout the submarine. The boat was completely dry. The engine room staff’s preparations and attention to detail was paying off.
‘Permission to fall out from Diving Stations, sir?’ Steele asked.
Richard checked his watch. The evolution had taken twenty-two minutes since diving.
‘Not yet, Number One. Take us down to eighty feet and make another check for leaks.’
Within just a few minutes of settling on the new depth and just over thirty minutes since Richard’s signal to the destroyer on the surface, the submarine was rocked by an enormous external explosion.
‘Jesus Christ!’ somebody was heard to exclaim. ‘What the fucking hell was that?’
‘First Lieutenant,’ Richard called. ‘Pass the word that the destroyer is setting off underwater charges at two minute intervals and at a depth of fifty feet. There is no need to panic, but keep a watchful eye out for damage.’
Steele implemented the order and returned to the control room just as the third charge exploded. ‘I assume you arranged this little surprise, sir?’ He kept his voice low.
‘I certainly did. It’s time the men gained an inkling of
what they might expect. Twenty minutes of this will not only sort the sheep from the goats, but check our watertight capabilities.’
‘Twenty minutes?’ O’Connell groaned. ‘That means we’re only thirty per cent of the way through this shenanigan and my head already hurts.’
Still keeping his voice low, Steele added, ‘You might have warned me, sir. I am your second-in-command.’
Richard stared at Steele. He felt a mixture of surprise and anger, but replied quietly. ‘I am well aware of your position, Steele, but remember mine. I am in command here and I will decide what I confide in you.’
‘How can you be sure the charges will not go off deeper than eighty feet, sir?’ Steele met Richard’s eyes confidently.
‘Because I arranged with the destroyer’s CO to tow some lines with charges fixed at that depth to simulate Turkish mines. He’s paralleling us on the same course and speed I briefed him we would take on diving.’
Richard shifted his gaze and raised his voice. ‘Damage reports if you please, First Lieutenant.’
Mercifully, the damage to the boat seemed very minor. The Chief ERA reported a few flexible couplings had been shaken loose and the odd lamp had shattered. One of his stokers had lost his footing after the first explosion and hurt his collar bone, too. Otherwise the boat was taking the hammering remarkably well.
After the seventh explosion, Richard ordered Steele to take E9 down slowly to 120 feet, the submarine’s maximum diving depth. He was pleased to see how quickly the men had adjusted to the explosive shocks after overcoming their initial surprise. Rather than holding onto any fixed piece of equipment and looking upwards warily, as if expecting the sea to start pouring in at any minute, the men were going about their normal working routine. Nevertheless, this changed with the latest order to go even deeper and the tension in the control room was obvious. In fact, although he appeared to be leaning nonchalantly against a bulkhead with his eyes half-closed, as if nodding off, Richard, too, felt tense. Supposing the charges had caused some invisible damage. Was it wise to go down beyond the maximum diving depth without surfacing and checking for external damage? As the eighth charge went off, he sneaked a look at the needle on the depth gauge. They were passing one hundred feet and the boat now barely noticed the shock waves above. There were still no reports of any damage. The gauge needle slowly moved clockwise towards 120 feet and then it could go no further. The Coxswain and Second Coxswain both looked at their captain for permission to reverse the hydroplanes to arrest the slow descent, but Richard ignored them.
Steele declared expectantly, just as the ninth charge exploded, ‘Depth 120 feet, sir.’
‘We’ll keep going another minute or so,’ Richard replied. He was annoyed by Steele’s challenge to his authority. The man hadn’t earned that right yet. Then again, he thought, would he have reacted similarly towards Johnson in his days in D2? He could see Steele betraying his concern by continually glancing at the bulkhead. From now on they were in unknown territory. They were beyond the builder’s recommended maximum safety depth. However, the average depth of water in the Strait was 150 feet and Richard wanted to see how far he could push not just the boat, but his men, and that included his new First Lieutenant.
Slowly, as the seconds passed and the submarine floated ever deeper, the hull could be heard to creak from the increased pressure of the water outside. Richard knew that now would probably be a good time to return to the surface, but he had to give his men the confidence that their boat could cope.
As the tenth and final charge exploded, far away it seemed, he addressed Steele, ‘Reverse the ’planes. Take us back to Periscope Depth. Prepare for some gunnery practice.’ He noticed a slight ripple throughout the boat and imagined that it might have had more to do with the huge sighs of relief being exhaled rather than the shock waves of the charge.
‘My God, sir,’ exclaimed Steele, ‘I would swear the bulkhead was becoming convex then.’ Everyone in earshot bellowed with laughter. Richard had to grant that Steele had cleverly deflated the tension. He had redeemed himself a little and Richard felt pleased. Not only had E9 passed the trial with flying colours, but the men had reacted well and would now have more confidence, not just in the boat, but in themselves when they faced a Turkish counter attack. Even so, despite the recent success, he was still not content that E9 was ready to go to war with the Turks.
Chapter 22
May 1915
E9 was alone. It was two-thirty in the morning of the nineteenth of May and the escort had just turned for home. To the south, the powerful searchlights of Kum Kale swept the waters of the entrance to the Dardanelles and the beams illuminated the white cliffs of Cape Helles on E9’s port side. The submarine was proceeding on the surface, propelled by the diesel engines to save battery power, but trimmed down to present as small a profile as possible to the searchlights. As usual for this time of night in May, it was clear and starlit, but it was far from quiet. To the north could be heard the loud thuds of artillery fire and the occasional crackle of machine gun fire. Somewhere out there the Royal Naval Division was dug in and Richard hoped his cousin Charles was safe and well. Before slipping from Adamant he had made enquiries about his cousin, but the situation was so chaotic that nobody could tell him anything one way or the other. All he knew was that his cousin was not yet on the official casualty lists, so that at least was positive.
He was joined by Steele on the bridge.
‘Under different circumstances I would venture to say it was a lovely night, sir. I have always dreamed of visiting the Hellespont.’
It was indeed a balmy night, but Richard was in no mood for conversation. He merely grunted in reply, but Steele was not put off.
‘You are familiar with the Classics, I presume, sir? Since time immemorial these waters have been the scene of heavy fighting and played a prominent part in the Trojan Wars.’
Richard had indeed studied and enjoyed Classics at naval college, but had other things on his mind at present. Nevertheless, he recognised that it would be impolite to dull Steele’s enthusiasm. By rights he should be asleep down below.
‘My recollection of the Trojan Wars is scant, Number One, but I do recall some connection with Lord Byron and these waters. Do remind me.’
‘Gladly, sir. It was here that the Persian Emperor Xerxes tried to cross the Strait to invade Greece by building a pontoon bridge across it for his troops. I can’t recall exactly when. About 400 BC, I think. Anyway, a storm blew away the bridge and Xerxes ordered the waters to be punished with 300 lashes. It’s a pity about the connections with war as ordinarily I have heard tell it is a most engaging spot.’
‘Quite, but what is the connection with Byron?’
‘Oh, yes, sir. It is quite a tale of romance. It was said that in ancient times Leander made the swim nightly from the Asian side to meet his love, Hero, on the opposite shore, but one night he was drowned in a storm. On seeing his dead body, Hero then threw herself off a cliff into the sea to be with her lover. One hundred or so years back Lord Byron swam across the water to commemorate the legend of Leander and Hero. I might try it myself if we return, sir.’
‘“If we return,” First Lieutenant? Did you not mean, “when we return”?’
‘Of course, sir. A slip of the tongue, I assure you.’
‘No problem, but remember that the men will be looking to you for confidence over the next few days. We all have to believe in ourselves and our ability to succeed.’
‘Quite right, sir. I apologise and will not let you down, sir.’
There was an awkward silence for half a minute which was broken by Steele. ‘If you will excuse me, sir, I’ll go below to take some rest. The day promises to be fraught with interest.’
Richard felt sure he had heard that phrase somewhere recently, but could not place it. He was happy to be left alone to his thoughts. He wondered if Steele had merely visited the bridge to show off his education, and if so, why had he felt the need to do so? Could it be that he felt Richard
to be his social and professional inferior? He reflected that he had worked hard to build the man’s confidence after such a lengthy period without sea service, but he now wondered if he had been too successful. To be fair, Steele seemed to be more relaxed with the men. The ship’s company had even started referring to him good naturedly behind his back as, ‘The Duke’. Richard was not sure how this had come about, but presumed that they were poking fun at his title as an ‘Honourable’. It was harmless enough, provided they did not take it too far.
Forgetting Steele, he looked ahead to the sleek bows of the submarine, slightly illuminated by the bio-luminescence of the disturbed plankton, and he felt a tremendous thrill. He now had under his command one of the world’s most powerful submarines and a highly effective crew. For the past week he had pushed his men hard, practicing gunnery, crash dives, torpedo attacks and emergency evolutions. He recalled Keyes’s last words to him as he set sail. ‘Go and run amuck in the Marmara.’ His men were well rested and, if the next twenty-four hours went well, he would be nicely placed to wreak havoc in the Sea of Marmara. By doing so, he might ease the pressure on his cousin and the allied troops.
*
As E9 was running on her diesels, the deep bass notes of her engines added to the noisescape. Notwithstanding the gunfire, Richard was concerned that the engine noise could be detected from either coast as the land on either side was only a little over a mile away. He would have preferred to have been dived, but it was imperative to conserve the precious batteries for the dangerous transit of the Narrows. As they passed the old fort of Seddul Bahr to port, the gap between Europe and Asia widened so Richard edged closer to the Asian side and felt more confident about remaining on the surface. He judged that they had about another hour before the return of daylight at dawn. He pondered increasing speed to make more headway under cover of darkness, but feared it might increase the visibility from shore of their bow wave and wake. I’ll just have to be patient, but I might as well take advantage of the delay. He bent over the voice pipe.
