The Cruel Sea Page #3

Tell me, do we often

have these sausages?

Frequently. The first lieutenant's

very fond of them.

"Snork ers! Good-oh!"

I see.

Now, whether this war

is long or short,

it's going to seem long,

don't you think?

Cheers.

"From commander-in-chief

Western Approaches to Compass Rose.

"Being in all respects ready for sea,

you will sail to join convoy AK14,

"leaving Liverpool Bar Light Vessel

at 1200A, 6th February, 1940."

Acknowledge.

This is more lik e it, eh?

Signal from Viperous, sir.

Organisation of convoy as follows.

'And so we went to war.

'The Atlantic is a very big ocean,

'and in winter weather,

the finest hiding place in the world.

'The U-boats were there, all right,

but not many of them.

'And at that stage they were

mostly depending on luck for a kill.

'Before the fall of France,

'convoy after convoy sailed

without meeting one.

'But U-boats weren't the only enemy

we had to contend with. '

- Getting tired of it?

- A bit, sir.

If only she'd k eep still

for a minute or so.

We'd know all about it if we'd

have to turn round and steam into it.

Yes, sir.

Message from Viperous, sir!

"Round up number 86,

"who still appears to be

straggling astern of the convoy."

Very good. I spok e to soon.

Pass the word!

We're going to turn beam on.

- Who is it?

- Coxswain, sir.

Come up to see the fun?

For a bit of air, sir. I've brought

you some tea. It's got rum in it.

Thanks, coxswain. I appreciate that.

- What is it lik e below?

- Oh, proper pot mess, sir.

Some of the lads are wishing

they'd joined the Army instead!

Keep her up, helmsman.

You're 12 degrees off course!

'Aye-aye, sir. '

We're due for a spot of leave soon,

aren't we, sir?

'Here is the news.

'German motorised units

yesterday continued their push

'in the vicinity

of Le Cateau and St Quentin.

'I n air combats near Dunkirk,

'the RAF destroyed at least

22 enemy aircraft without... '

Hello there. Anyone in?

Hello, sir.

My wife's busy on her war job

during the day,

so there's nobody at home.

I thought I'd look in

and have a drink with you.

- Gin, sir?

- Thanks. Plain.

Well, how's everything going?

All right, sir. We'll be finished

boiler-cleaning by Friday.

One of the radio location boys

turned up.

- So when do we get it?

- Not a hope yet, I'm afraid.

Everybody's after it.

RAF, Army, the lot.

With corvettes

at the end of the queue, I suppose.

Thanks. I expect you're finding it

pretty boring here, aren't you?

I had nowhere particular

to go on leave.

What, no ties with the shore?

None that have stood

the test of time.

Oh. Well, it'll be

your turn next, anyway.

What are you reading? Oh, yes.

I've applied

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