Evening star., 1952-11-24
SUBMARINE:
By comdr. Edword L. Beach, U. S. !
CHAPTER XIII.
TRIGGER.

Trigger was a roaring. brawling.
rollicking ship, and she loved the
sound of her torpedoes going of.
There was the night she and
two sister subs took on a l7-ship
convoy, with the result that there
were but nine ships next morning.
This was quite story. for none of
the other submarines knew of the
presence of Trigger, and Trigger
actually and unwittingly stole two
fat targets right out from under
the nose Of one of her sisters.
It was night in November.
We had penetrated the Nanpo
Shoto the night before. and had
been hurrying along on the sur
face all day long. diving twice for
inquisitive Jap planes. hoping to
get across to the Nansei Shoto
and through that chain of islands
in short order. en- route to our
area. AS dusk fell, came a pleas
ant surprise.
Radar contact! The clarion
call from Yeoman 1/c Ralph Korn
on the radar brings us all to the
alert. big convoy. sir! Five or
10 ships. maybe more. Radar in
reference, too, sir"
That last complicates matters.
We've been expecting to run into
Jap radar-equipped escorts for
quite a while. and apparently
we've got one this time.
This is going to take some
doing, all right, and we ought to
have an interesting time Of it.
In the first place. we figure our
radar is probably better than his.
In the second place. our small
silhouette is harder for a radar
to detect than that of a freighter
or destroyer.
So our tactics are keep just
barely within our radar's range
of detection, and we hope that
by so doing we'll be outside Of his
radar range.
Once again we begin tracking
and plotting. Our scheme works
pretty well. and soon we have his
course and speed down cold. We
would like to start in from the
port flank of the convoy now, but
cannot, because that radar escort
is in our way.
II Ships Are Counted.
Laboriously we work our way
across the bow of the zigzagging
convoy-we have counted by this
time II ships on our radar screen,
though we cannot see them at ALI
in the dark-and prepare to start
in from their starboard flank. Mo-
soap! The radar escort has
crossed to the starboard side. too!
Cussing heartily. we work
around to the port side again,
hoping the escorts movements
were more coincidental than pre-
meditated. and that he is as yet
not aware of Triggers presence.
Once on that side the mystery
seems explained. because we now
find two radar-equipped vessels,
one on each side of the convoy. |
However, this chap on the port
side evidently doesn't know his
job. and has allowed himself to
get way out of position, well outl
on the port bow of the convoy.
o. K. chum. You slipped up
that time. Here we go! Trig-
gers four murmuring dieseis lift
their voices in a devouring roar. |
She swings sharply right and
races for the leading ship of the
convoy. MAKE ready all tubes!
Angle on the bow As port. Range, |
three eight double OH" The port
escort is still unsuspiciously main
tanning his station well outside of !
us.
We can see them clearly from
the bridge now. Formless, cloudy
masses, little darker than the
dark sky. AS we watch them mar
rowly, they suddenly seem to
lengthen trifle; a zig away! We
must shoot right now! "All ahead
one third" The roar of the
diesels drops to a mutter. "Stand-
by forward! Range. two four
double oh. Angle on the bow
ninety port. Fire ONE! Fire