hydraulically operated exhaust valve was opened. The triumphant belch of our third diesel engine added its note to those of the other two. A second later the process was repeated, and four engines settled down to a quiet idling rumble.
About this time I caught my first glimpse of the other vessel.
A low-lying ship, broadside to us, barely distinguishable against the horizon and perhaps half as far away, three miles.
'He hasn't seen us, sir,' Jim muttered. 'He'd have turned one way or the other.'
This seemed plausible.
'I'll bet this is a Jap submarine. He'd sure be a feather in our cap, wouldn't he, skipper!'
'He would be, if he turned out to be a Jap,' I said. 'If only we could be sure.'
Hugh picked up the ship's blinker tube which was part of our night bridge equipment, peered over Jim's shoulder to read the chalked recognition signal marked on the black surface of the bridge windshield 'T V U,' he said. 'Shall I make it, Captain?'
Hugh aimed the blinker tube at the other ship.
'God, no!' Jim almost shouted, 'If it's a Jap that will alert him!'
'That's right, Hugh,' I said. 'We should not try the recognition signal on him unless ready to shoot torpedoes instantly if he doesn't come back with the right answer. That's the way to handle it.'
'I didn't think of that,' Hugh mumbled sheepishly, as he carefully put the blinker tube down again.
The outline of the other ship was becoming less distinct.
I was about to make mention of the fact when Jim spoke again.
'Looks to me that we are farther away than before, Captain.'
I agreed. 'Hugh, turn around and head for him. Use a little speed to get around and then slow down again.'
Walrus was swinging to the left as Dave Freeman spoke up from the hatch below.
'Captain,' he called. I came forward, bent over attentively.
'What did you find out?'
'Nothing, Sir. There isn't supposed to be any ship anywhere around here except us, and there's nothing in the skeds about one. I made up a message.' He read from a paper in his hand, aiming a tiny red flashlight beam at it.
'URGENT FOR COMSUBPAC X, SMALL VESSEL SIGHTED NORTHWEST OAHU ONE THREE ZERO MILES X, COURSE THREE ZERO ZERO X, SPEED ONE TWO.'
'How did you dope that out?'
'Rubinoffski said it would be a good guess, about the same as ours was.
That seemed reasonable. 'Go on,' I said.
'REQUEST CONFIRMATION NO FRIENDLY VESSELS THIS VICINITY X WALRUS SENDS X URGENT. FOR COMSUBPAC X.'
'Good. How long will it take you to code that and send it out?'
'I woke up Keith to help, Captain. He's setting up the code now. We'll have it ready in about fifteen minutes and maybe have it off in fifteen minutes after that.'
'That's a long time to wait, Dave. Do it as fast as you can.'
Freeman dashed below. I stood up, again scanning the sea and horizon dead ahead. The indistinct outline of the other ship was a little closer now, still broadside, without any sip of having detected us.
'Jim,' I said, 'this may well be a Jap sub. We'll track it until we get an answer to our message. Then if it is, we'll go in and shoot him!'
'Why not get closer and see? If it is a Jap we can let him have it right away.'
'We can't take a chance on its being friendly, Jim. If it's one of our own, a PC boat for instance, he might open fire on us.'
Jim was not convinced. I had never seen him like this. The anticipation of combat had made a different person of him. He was all eagerness: 'We've got the, drop on him. We can go in,' he began, but I shook my head, and his face fell. He swallowed his disappointment with a strange look, quickly masked.
'Aye aye, sir. Do you want to go to battle stations now?'
It seemed a bit premature, but it was best to be safe.
'Yes,' I said. 'We had better.'
The possibility of combat had started a nervous tingling in my backbone, too.
'I'll have to go below to sound the general alarm, sir. Shall I stay at my station in the, conning tower?'
'Yes, Jim, go ahead. I've got the picture up here.'
Jim departed and in seconds the sound of the general alarm could be heard. This was the first time it had been sounded in earnest and the response in Walrus was electric. Within thirty seconds Jim's voice rang out on the ship's announcing system.
'The ship is at battle stations, Captain,' he said. The blast of his voice on the bridge loud-speaker startled me. I was al- most afraid it would reach across the intervening two or three miles of water and alert the enemy, if such indeed he was.
By this time the other ship had drawn a little to the right.
We changed our course to the right accordingly. In a few minutes there came a call from the conning tower: 'Radar contact, hearing three-five-zero.'
'Range?' I called down the hatch.
'Three-five-double-oh,' came the prompt answer.' A small pip, sir.'
'Jim,' I called, 'start tracking the target!'
The SJ radar was mounted at the top of a shaft secure to the forward part of the periscope supports, extending down into the upper part of the conning tower. It was thus right be- hind the Officer of the Deck's normal station, and it was possible to tell something about how the radar was working merely by reaching behind or leaning back against it. It had almost become instinctive to put my hand on it, when a bearing and range were being-taken, to satisfy myself that Jim in the conning tower was indeed getting the information needed for co- ordination of the approach party. It was apparent that he was.
In a few minutes Jim called up from below.
'Target course two-nine-zero. Speed ten. Recommend our course two-seven-zero, speed — fifteen, to close in.'
'We can't close until we get the answer to our message, Jim.
Give me a course and speed just to stay in contact.'
'Two-nine-zero. Speed ten!' There was a note of harshness in his voice, the barest suggestion of disaffection, as though his mask had slipped for an instant and been immediately replaced. Something I couldn't fathom had shown through.
The nights off Hawaii are beautiful. It rains frequently, but between the rains one has clear, star-studded skies and friendly seas. This was such a night. It was warm, humid, and dark, and Walrus rolled easily in the long ocean swells. As we in- creased speed our bow dipped into the successive seas and we felt a slight breeze on our faces. Back aft four clouds of vapor drifted gently away in the breeze and spatterings of water from the exhaust fell on the dock. Such a night was more fit for cruising in a sailboat or dancing on the deck of an ocean liner than for sudden death. I was struck by the similarity-in reverse-with the situation the German had caught us in, halfway from New London to the Panama Canal. Except that he knew beyond question we were an enemy, while here we were not so sure.
The two vessels, pursuer and pursued, ran steadily to the northwest. We, waiting for the all-important answer from Pearl Harbor; they unconscious of their danger. Finally, after nearly an hour, it came. Dave read it to me from the conning tower.
'URGENT FOR WALRUS X, NO FRIENDLY VESSELS YOUR VICINITY X, TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION X, COMSUBPAC SENDS X.'
Now that the moment for attack had come I felt myself a little weak in the knees as I gave the necessary orders.
'All ahead full! Come left to two-six-zero! Stand by forward!'
The song of our engines back aft lifted in frequency. Their power roar came clearly to our cars. The breeze of
