Attack of the Greyhounds

by H. Nelson Freeman

  “Carry on,” then he went first to the starboard, then the port wings, where he checked the surrounding landmasses and other vessels within five hundred yards. The returned to his chair and hauled his tired body into the comfortable seat. Forty minutes later, the ships weighed anchor and turned to course zero-eight-six for the Indispensable Strait.

  The refueling evolution went without incident, and the destroyers joined the escort force an eighteen vessel convoy. The best speed the convoy could make was twelve knots due to the need to institute a random zigzag track to foil any enemy submarine torpedo setups.

  Their base course two-zero-one would take them the thirteen-hundred-twenty-eight miles to Brisbane. With the zigzag course and if any detours developed because of a submarine contact, the trip should take from five to seven days.

  A week later, the convoy entered Morton Bay, where they dispersed to their destinations. The pilots took the destroyers to a shipyard repair pier for pre-drydocking inspection and consultation on repairs. The conclusion was a three-week stay for the HALLIS; however, AGAR would be delayed an additional week for her repairs.

  The ship’s crew worked the standard in port work hours; then, the liberty party was allowed to go ashore with the required cautionary admonishments about drunkenness, fighting, or run-ins with the local and military police. Liberty expired at twenty-one-hundred. There had been some problems with American servicemen and the local population, and the Captain didn’t want any HALLIS’ men finding themselves in trouble. Between the day's work and the free evenings, the men were able to unwind.

  The news from the front hadn't changed much; the Japanese were still receiving supplies from the Tokyo Express and were proving themselves to be fearless fighters, despite the high loss of soldiers.

  All the time at sea allowed a large amount of mail to gather, and it all caught up with the two destroyers in Brisbane. Everyone had hand-full of letters and packages with stake cookies and a couple of cakes. The cakes were mostly crumbs from rough handling.

  Captain Lanner read through his mail. His parents sent three packages of cookies with added magazines, papers, and letters. He looked at the address and found they still thought he was an engineer. A smile crossed his lips, remembering he had been so busy, he forgot to tell them about his rapid rise to command.

  The phone in his cabin jingled, and Chris grabbed the black Bakelite handle. “Captain.”

  “Sir, this is the quarterdeck, two flag-bearing vehicles are coming up the pier. We have not been alerted to any visitors, and they may not be coming here.”

  “I’ll be right there,” the Captain grabbed his cap and all but ran to get to the quarterdeck before the unknown vehicles could arrive if the HALLIS were their destination.

  Just as the Captain stepped onto the quarterdeck, two Navy grey Chevy’s drew up to a stop in front of the brow. Four officers with ‘scrambled eggs on their hats stepped from each of the two cars and briskly marched up the gangway.

  The Bo’ sun rang the ship’s bell for the appropriate times for each of the Officers and their titles as they crossed the quarterdeck, while the OOD saluted them.

  “Gentlemen, would you care to join me in our humble wardroom?”

  “Delighted,” said the Australian Captain Robert Greene, Head of Australian Intelligence, as his Chief of Staff, Commander Thomas Biggins, fell in behind him.

  “Lead the way, Captain,” answered Captain Peabody, the Commander of U.S. Forces in Queensland, with his Chief of Staff, Commander Robert Andes, followed suit.

  The four visiting officers sat with the Captain and XO in the wardroom as a Steward brought in pastries and fresh coffee.

  “Gentlemen,” the Captain began, “What can I do for you?”

  Captain Peabody started to lay out a plan for a mission involving the two destroyers. “Captain, we, Captain Greene, myself, and our respective chiefs of staff and their departments, are in a joint effort to accomplish a dual mission in one action.”

  “Please, continue, sir.”

  “Australian army and naval commandos are conducting a covert operation to disrupt Japanese advances in Borneo. I’ll ask Captain Greene to provide the background and particulars of the operation of recovery of this group of men. Captain Greene, if you will.”

  “Thank you, Captain Peabody. Here is a copy of your mission requirements and details, and an identical packet for the AGAR, would you give this to the captain and brief him on the sortie? We have inserted twenty-eight men and their equipment twenty kilometers from Kuching at the coordinates in your packet. The men conducted hit and run attacks on enemy headquarters, primarily targeting officers and staff. Other targets are fuel dumps, motor pools, and anything identified as valuable to the enemy. They have been in contact for twelve days now, and there are signs the enemy may be mounting a counter-attack. They took eighteen days' supplies with them, but they are caring for three wounded men. We need you and the AGAR to recover them as soon as possible. The egress point is in your packet as well.”

  Addressing Captain Peabody, Lanner asked, “Sir, shouldn’t Captain Gilford be leading this mission?”

  “I’m sorry, I was under the impression you were aware Captain Gilmore is en route to command a new Fletcher-class destroyer. His departure was accelerated to meet the increasing demands of the fleet. You will be the SOPA for this mission. AGAR’s new commander is Lieutenant Commander Irvin Joiner. He recently completed the Commanding Officers course near the top of his class.”

  “Captain Joiner will have a well experienced XO and crew to back him up, sir,” said Captain Lanner.

  “We need aggressive fighters if we are to recover our men, and you fit our needed, besides you are the only ships available on such short notice. I’m aware you just came off a similar mission; however, time is of the essence.

  You will both have to train en route to the pickup location. Get in, recover those men, and get out. If you're jumped by any IJN ships, make a run for it. Take those men to Darwin as soon as possible. Captain Peabody and I agree that each ship should have a Royal Australian Naval Officer aboard who has extensive knowledge of the area you will be operating in.”

  “Aye, sir, they will be an excellent asset. I have been in the area only once, and I was too busy trying to survive, and wasn’t able to gain a lot of area details.”

  “Yes, I read your after-action report, it is one of three from that action that is now on the required reading list at the RAN Training Command.”

  “I wasn’t aware of that, sir. I’m humbled by the honor.”

  “That’s another reason you have been chosen for this mission.” Captain Peabody interjected.

  “What are the chances of air cover, sir?”

  “This is a covert operation; an air blanket would draw too much attention. However, we have some CAC Boomerangs and P-40’s available at Darwin to cover you out to their maximum range, which is about four hundred miles.”

  “I understand, sir, thank you.”

  “We have covered the outline, the details are in your packet,” Captain Peabody said, “get with Captain Joiner and set up your tracks and timing. The RAN liaison will be ready to board by eighteen hundred, do you have a cabin for him?

  “Yes sir, may I ask his name and rank?”

  “Lieutenant Byron York, he is a reservist, but before the war operated a touring vessel business out of

  You must be at the pickup point from 0015 hours this coming Thursday to 2345 hours the following Saturday. If you don’t hear from them on their frequency, you are free to return to Brisbane. Good luck, Captain.”

  “Thank you, sir; we’ll give it our best, plus.”

  “I never doubted it for a second, as I said, your record speaks for itself.”

  “Thank you, sir, I had better get my ship ready, and I still need to visit with Captain Joiner.”

  “We’ll take our leave, Captain, Fair Winds and Following Seas.”

  The Captain and XO escorted the four officers to the quarterdeck. The Ca
ptain turned to Lieutenant Smith, “Let’s get this ship ready to sail and fight. Get a quick reading on the fuel and ammo levels, and if we need them, call for an immediate rearming and refueling. I’m heading down the pier to AGAR, to meet their new Skipper, give him his packet, and set up our schedule and all the requirements that go with it.”

  “Aye, sir, I’ll try to have it all ready when you return.”

  Ten minutes later, the Captain was crossing the brow to board the HALLIS’s sister ship. Captain Joiner met him on the quarterdeck and took him to the mirror image of the HALLIS’s wardroom. Chris introduced himself to Captain Joiner. After swapping personal details and some small-talk, Chris handed the new Captain, who preferred to be known as “Dale’, his copy of the orders they received.

  Dale asked how Captain Gilford worked with Chris as a team. Chris laid out a couple of scenarios covering earlier encounters with Japanese destroyers. After trading information, the two promised to get together and fill in one another on details covering a multitude of issues.

  Chris asked, “Is your family in Hawaii?”

  “Yes, they are staying in a motel until we have time to get housing.”

  “Tell you what, let’s hightail it to the base telegraph building. I’ll telegraph Maggie, and she can meet Jane, maybe Maggie can get something set up for Jane and the children.”

  “You have a family?”

  “Not yet, but I haven’t been home except when I took over the HALLIS. No telling when we’ll get back again.”

  “Yeah, and this war isn’t going to be over for some time I’m afraid.”

  “I hate to admit it, but I agree on that. Let’s get the telegraph off then I better get back to the HALLIS, we have a lot to get ready for.”

  ****

  The two destroyers slipped their mooring lines at zero-three-hundred and turned toward the Coral Sea. A hundred miles east of Brisbane, the two ships turned to three-one-six degrees for a thousand-twenty-mile run a hundred miles off the east coast of Australia. Further changes in their track took them to Darwin, where they topped off their fuel tanks. At Darwin, the savage bombing from Japanese attacks was still stark.

  After leaving Darwin, the duel destroyers slipped between some small islands that ring the northern edge of the Timor Sea during the dead of night. At the western edge of the Banda Sea, they entered the Flores Sea and traveled four-hundred-thirty-miles. Danger lurked at every passing mile now that they were deep into Japanese controlled waters. Another course change turned them two three-zero-two degrees for four-hundred-miles through the Java Sea and off the southern coast of Borneo. A shift in their course to two-niner-five took them to the east of the Banga Belitung Islands, where they again shifted their course to three-three-two, entering the bottom of the South China Sea west off the coast of Borneo. Tensions began to climb throughout both ships; the last time they were there, good men died.

  The ship’s had been at General Quarters since they left Brisbane. In Engineering, the watches changed to run drills and sharpen their firefighting skills.

  GQ was modified to allow men and food to move around sparingly, mostly to the head and mess. Every open hatch had a man standing by to close it if, and when the modification ended.

  The two ships arrived a day early and hunted for a place to hole-up. The Navigator suggested a possible spot that the maps showed a sufficient water depth for the ships in the small cove. The island of Pulau Serasan was fifty-three miles to the north- northwest at three-zero-one degrees from the pickup point. The ships could back into the cove with overhanging tree foliage. That and with their camouflage paint, they stood an excellent chance of being overlooked by anyone on watch.

  “OOD,” called the Captain, “Notify Main Control, we will maintain a split plant on jacking gear. Unless otherwise called for, we will stay on two boilers, but keep the standby boilers warmed up for immediate use.”

  “Aye, sir. Maintain two boilers on line with two on-call and warmed up. Engines on jacking gear.” The Captain nodded, then raised his binoculars to his eyes and began scanning the sparkling horizon.

  At fourteen-twenty-hours radar called, “Bridge, radar, we’re picking up returns from zero-four-four-degrees, range thirty-five miles, heading two-five-eight degrees, speed fifteen knots.”

  “Can you provide a description, radar?”

  “Negative, they’re at our maximum range, we will give you an update as soon as we have it.”

  “Bridge, aye,” then the talker repeated the message to the OOD and Captain.

  Everyone came to life. “Talker,” Captain Lanner called out, “Tell Main control to prepare to get underway and to bring the superheat up. They can bring the standby boilers online slowly for now, but when we leave, it may be at high speed and watch that we don’t make any smoke. Have Signal pass all that to AGAR. Lookouts, keep a close look at zero-four-four-degrees, possible enemy ships.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Tension began to creep higher as the minutes brought the enemy ships closer. Behind the bridge, the crew could hear a slight increase in the forced draft blowers slowly spooling up. The Captain let a small smile curl the corners of his lips as he thought, ‘Ensign Banner is doing a bang-up job. I’ll have to see what I can do to get him advanced to JG as soon as possible. He’s forgotten more about steam-powered ships than most Engineering Officers have learned.’

  “Bridge, radar, we hold six ships at zero-niner-niner-degrees, course two-five-eight-degrees, forty miles at fifteen knots. It appears to be a force of five destroyers and one cruiser size ships.”

  The talker relayed the information. ‘Tracks, distances, and their speed suggested they had not detected the two Gleaves,’ thought the Captain. He decided to wait for a while to be sure something doesn’t betray their presence.

  The enemy flotilla continued on their way, failing to detect the Americans. Captain Lanner checked the bridge’s clock; the hands slowly crept to eighteen-hundred. Chris looked out the windscreens, and there was a line of heavy thunderheads to the east.

  “OOD is there any new weather reports that you know of?”

  The OOD flipped through the flimsy pile, then shook his head in the negative.

  “Check with Signal, there are some promising thunderheads over Borneo, and I want to know their direction movement.”

  A few minutes later, Signal called, “We picked up a report from Singapore mentioning possible thunderstorms and heavy rain over Borneo, but they did not say anything about movement. Do you want us to query them?”

  “Negative,” the Captain quickly called out, the enemy ships are too close and may be able to pinpoint our position from an intercept. Try to contact the commandoes at the proper time; we will be getting underway shortly.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “Mr. Hamilton, has radar reported any ships within radar range?”

  “Our last report twenty minutes ago said the enemy ships were at the edge of our radar range, thirty miles distance, bearing one-seven-zero and closing.”

  “Very well, weigh anchor, Signal, inform AGAR we are preparing to get underway, no smoke, course, one-three-two. And have Lieutenant York come to the bridge. Five minutes later, the Captain called out, “Mr. Hamilton, all ahead one third, bring her up slowly, minimize smoke. Helm, once we clear the island set course to one-three-two degrees.” Behind the bridge, the sound of the blowers ever so gradually increased their whisper to a mild blowing wind sound. The evening breeze began to flow across the open decks, dropping the felt temperature several degrees. The high humidity still left the men sweating.

  The AGAR likewise began moving slowly, keeping pace with the HALLIS. After clearing the small cove, they hid in, the ships opened the distance between them, allowing for a safer maneuvering room.

  “Permission to enter the Bridge,” said a deep Australian voice.

  Captain Lanner welcomed the newcomer, “Welcome aboard Lieutenant.”

  “Thank you, sir; I’ll do my best to stay clear of your command, but I
am available should you have any questions.”

  Captain Lanner called Main Control, “How’s are the boilers and engines holding out?”

  “Running perfectly, Captain, she seems to be in her natural state out here.”

  “If you have any problems, let me know.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Bridge, radio, the Australians have called; they are at their alternative pickup location. The report says two wounded, one serious, enemy forces are searching the area to the east. The coordinates are one-degree, forty-one-feet, twenty-two-point-sixty-three-inches north, by one-one-zero-degrees, twelve feet, twenty-four-point-twenty-four-inches east.”

  After signing off on the message, the Captain told radio, ‘Make Lieutenant York aware of every message regarding this recovery.”

  “Sir, we have him on a sound-powered set connected to Fire Control, he is in the loop.”

  “Very well,”

  It took about an hour and a half, and the two ships prowled off the coast of the river outlet where the commandoes were waiting for their ride.

  “Captain, the boats are in the water.”

  “Get them on their way; we need to be on our way in short order.”

  “Yes sir,” the OOD said, and gave the order.

  “Check with radar for any ships in the area.”

  Seconds later, “No ships on the radar, sir.”

  “Very well.” The usually calm Captain Lanner was feeling a bit nervous.

  “You okay, Captain?” Asked the OOD.

  “Yeah, just had a flash of the last time I was in these waters.”

  “From what I heard, sir, I’m not sorry I missed it.” The OOD said.

  “If you we’re, you wouldn’t be here now. The entire bridge crew was wiped out.”

  “Yes sir, and I know you lost friends in that battle. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Thanks, Wayne, I’m glad you’re here now, you make an excellent OOD. You will be a good destroyer driver in time.”

  “Thank you, sir. Coming from you means a lot to me.”