Evening star., 1943-05-05
CHAPTER "a,

The next morning there was a
dawn take-off. Fighters. dive
bombers and Torpedo 8. They
passed over water in which debris
was floating. There were miles and
miles of wreckage and oil streaks
big and broad as highways. The
oil streaks we're the blood poured
out the night before by killed ships
and by wounded ships staggering
away from battle. From the air.
they looked like roads running over
the sea, sometimes straight, some
times with crazy careenings and
loops.
Then the battlefield look of the
sea ended and the groove assumed
its ordinary aspect-peaceful-seem-
ing, sunlit, jungle-lined and drowsy
as any backroad of the world.
About $50 miles up, they saw their
target-two heavy cruisers with a
destroyer escort. The cruisers had
split-Y stacks and the light was
such that the Y-pipes on the stacks
could be made out clearly from a
long way OF.
Again the dive -bombers went in
first. There were II of them this
time and Swede took his time about
making his run and was very care
full about finding spot from which
to launch it. He couldn't shake the
tired. fretful, raw-nerved feeling out
of himself. He wound around the
sky for a long time, circling the
inferno blowing up from the as
saulted and ferociously assaulting
ships. There wasn't much choice
Of springboard. The sky was wide
open and empty and finally, Swede
thought, THE hell with it; this
is as good as any" and turned
around and went in from where he
was.
Felt Death Coming.
Suddenly he felt he was going
to get killed. He had never had
that feeling before. He had been
scared, but he had never thought
it out plainly, that this time he
was going to get it. Now the
thought came to him unbidden and
stuck in his mind as he lowered
himself into the fire. The thought
raced along into the fire with him,
linking and corkscrewing as he did.
The anti-aircraft wasn't any worse
than usual. But he just thought it
and couldn't stop thinking it, and
the thought walled through the
arithmetic going on in his mind
and screamed through it and shook
and bit and nagged at him. Then
he saw that the cruiser he was aim
ing at had made mistake. Fooled
into thinking the torpedoes were
going to drop the first time the
planes held level, it committed it.
self to port turn. It amounted
to turning its belly to a bayonet
that had not yet been thrust.
I'm going to take you with me
when I CO." thought Swede and
launched his torpedo. The torpedo
shot out in front of him and, sui
cidally, Swede did not turn away
from it, but kept going right along
with it. The torpedo went along a
few feet and then suddenly rose
to the surface and turned its tail
on the cruiser. It was either a de-
fective torpedo or Swede hadn't
dropped it properly.
Swede turned around then to get
out of there. The feeling of death
was greater in him than ever. He
hated to turn around. He had
wanted to take it head-on rather
than get 1t In the back. AS he
turned, he saw two more torpedoes
pass astern of that luck-laden
cruiser. Then the cruisers luck
ended. Hansen's torpedo dug deep
into 1t aft of amidships and its
heart broke with huge white
spewing.
Cruiser Stays Afoat.
Got it! Got it," thought Swede,
He was feeling a little crazy by
that time and he threw his plane
around crafty. The plane looked
one of the other fellows said, as If
1t were doing an adagio dance with
the anti-aircraft shells.
Then Swede realized the anti
aircraft fire had stopped and he was
not dead. Katz was alongside him
Down below, he could see the cruis-
er, dead in the water and listing
heavily and smoking like some dy-
ing fire. Sink you bastard!" Swede
screamed into his radio. "Sink!'
The ship just kept listing heavily
He cO,l1d make ont Japc r,1npipu o,,
it, some dragging hoses and some
carrying the wounded and dead