He played a good hand of bridge – it hadbeen a necessity for a flag lieutenant – and that occupied a few hours of everyday. He had a few books in his cabin and was able to exchange them with otherreading officers. Much of his time was spent in the wardroom, talking with whoeverwas present.
He was not interested in hunting the foxand shot no more than was socially necessary, so sporting converse was a painto him. The war, politics and women were banned topics in the wardroom and thatleft very little else to chat about. He had played Rugby on occasion and was ableto listen to the Gunnery Officer, who had played for the Navy, as heinterminably relived exciting matches he had taken part in.
‘We went into a ruck’ was a phrase liableto haunt him to his dying days, he feared. Guns had done little other than ruckin his whole life, or so it seemed. He was sure it was jolly good fun.
Black Prince was anchored behind Duke of Edinburgh,senior ship in the class. Connaught had been sent off to the East African coastwhere a heavy ship was required in case something large and Germanic appearedto interfere in the long-dragging campaign there. The pair of armoured cruiserssat and waited, occasionally debating just what they might do when the fleeteventually sallied forth.
The commander discussed their function oftenwhen he was on the bridge with Christopher.
“Thing is, Adams, we in the CruiserSquadron are too slow to catch a destroyer and too small to say anything to abattleship or battlecruiser. Bit pointless, in fact.”
“Are we not supposed to catch destroyersat a distance, before they can launch torpedoes at the Grand Fleet, sir?”
“In theory, yes. Six nine point twos andsix now of six inch, all usable, says we can lay down a respectable broadside –more than fifteen hundred pounds weight of explosive shell. Won’t needarmour-piercing for our work, of course. Trouble is, Adams, that I am notentirely certain we could hit a small and fast target like destroyers, particularlyat more than three thousand yards, outside effective torpedo range. The shortageof ammunition means we get little target practice, as you know. The shooting onthe range is at stationary targets – and we don’t hit them too often over morethan a mile.”
It seemed that Black Prince must reducethe range if she was to hit destroyers.
“That seems to imply that we should leavethe fleet and close on the Germans if we are to be effective, sir.”
“Exactly, Adams. The captain is aware ofthat. I suspect that may be his intention, you know. The Fleet Orders place us ‘onthe beam’ unless specifically sent elsewhere. The implication is that we shallbe behind the line of battleships until we are called on to meet a destroyerattack when we shall cut through the line and do our job before returning tosafety. The Orders are not entirely specific and a willing mind can query whichbeam we should be abaft. Add to that, when we are sent out to deal withdestroyers, there is no specification of how far we should go. I rather suspectthat we are seen as a minor unit and that the orders for us were drafted by ajunior man on Jellicoe’s staff and passed through on the nod. The great manhimself has probably given us very little attention. The captain seems to wishto take advantage of that.”
Christopher could see the possibilities.
A cruiser captain who distinguished himselfin the great battle would receive immediate promotion, certainly moving to abattleship command, possibly as a rear admiral with a squadron. There would bedecorations, perhaps a knighthood. All of the senior officers would be recognised.
Black Prince had three torpedo tubes aswell as her guns, could hit hard at close range. She could sink a lightlyarmoured battlecruiser, almost of a certainty, if she could get close to thefar faster ship.
“Shifting out to meet a night destroyerattack, sir, and then venturing a little closer than might be expected to theGerman line, coming across one of their big battlecruisers in the darkness…Might be a chance of putting down Derfflinger or Seydlitz if all went well. Ifall three torpedoes hit then three or four rapid broadsides of armour-piercing mightdo the trick. Demands a deal of luck, sir, right place at the right time, sortof thing.”
The Commander was less enthusiastic.
“All very well, Adams, but when did weexercise the torpedoes? Add to that, any battlecruiser will be in company. Whilewe are hitting your big target, which we might do, there could be up to a dozenof battlecruisers and battleships in range and doing their best to hit us. Itis likely that we could get the torpedoes away and a couple of broadsides… Afterthat, with eleven and twelve inch shell raining down on us, how long would welive?”
The only answer was ‘minutes’. Black Princecould take bold action; there would be very little chance of surviving it.
“Can we exercise the tubes in dumbshow, inharbour, sir?”
“We should. The Gunnery Officer sees noneed, expecting never to use them. He has them manned by stewards and officers’servants at action stations, seeing no need to waste useful hands on them. I amnot sure they could even load one torpedo into its tube, let alone all three,and, as for reloads, forget it! It takes muscle to heave a torpedo out of its rackand into a cradle and then move it across to slide it into a tube. Stewards areknown for many things, Adams, but physical strength ain’t one of them.”
Christopher agreed. Stewards rarelycarried anything heavier than a tray with a glass of gin. Manhandling threequarters of a ton of torpedo was certainly beyond them. The officers’ servantswere almost all ancient ABs, good seamen beyond their prime, too old to beemployed on deck or at the guns. They would try
