“Periscope down,” Commander Lennox said.
“Take her to one hundred feet.”
Commander Lennox slapped the handles of the periscope in the up position.
“Down periscope,” he ordered, and the periscope moved downward.
“One hundred feet, Sir,” the chief of the boat reported.
“Hold her so,” Commander Lennox ordered. He crossed the crowded area | and pushed down on the lever that activated the public address system.
“This is the captain speaking,” he said.
“If I have to say it again, and I think I do, the way to achieve speed is to be sure of what you’re doing, and then to do it carefully. We will lose time if somebody falls down a ladder or over the side.”
There was a murmur of chuckles throughout the boat.
“Gun crews standing by, Sir,” the chief of the boat said.
“Very well,” Commander Lennox said.
“Bring her around to two sixty-five.”
“Coming to two six five it is, Sir,” the helmsman replied. The Drum banked like an airplane as she changed course. And then she straightened up.
“Up periscope the captain ordered, and the periscope rose.
“Sir, the course is two six five,” the helmsman reported.
“Keep her so,” Commander Lennox said, and turned to the executive officer.
“Got your watch, Bill?”
“Punch it,” Commander Lennox said, then: “Surface, surface!”
Twenty seconds later, in boiling water, the bow of the Drum emerged from the sea.
There was a burst of black smoke as she went from battery to diesel power.
Commander Lennox, It. Rutherford, and a talker came onto the conning tower.
“Make turns for ten knots,” Commander Lennox ordered.
“Gun crews man your guns, report when ready.”
The talker repeated his orders into his microphone.
Bluejackets in steel helmets and life vests poured from hatches in the conning tower. Some made their way to the five-inch cannon mounted forward of the conning tower, and began to prepare it for firing. Others went to a rapid- firing 40mm cannon mounted on a platform just below where the skipper, the exec, and the talker stood. A third group went to the 20mm rapid-firing cannon mounted on the rear of the conning tower.
Other sailors formed a human chain, passing ammunition from the submarine to the guns.
One by one, the guns signaled (the gun chiefs raising a hand overhead) their readiness to open fire.
“The guns are ready to fire, Sir,” the exec reported, and then added, “One hundred eighteen seconds.”
“Commence firing,” Commander Lennox ordered.
“Commence firing,” the talker repeated.
Commander Lennox and the exec put binoculars to their eyes and trained them on the shore of Waikahalulu Bay. There were targets in place, wooden frameworks covered with canvas, fairly credible replicas of oil storage tanks.
The five-inch fired five rounds; one fell nowhere near the targets, but the other four went where they were supposed to go. Meanwhile, the 40mm and 20mm rapid-firing cannon fired continuously, the 20mm in a rapid staccato, the 40mm in a slower, more measured cadence. The targets were obscured by dust and smoke.
Commander Lennox counted the five-inch rounds. The moment he saw the muzzle flash of the fifth round, without taking his eyes from his binoculars, he ordered, “Cease fire, secure the guns, clear the decks.”
The talker repeated the orders. The sailors at the guns now prepared them for submersion. The crews of the rapid-firing cannon began to pass unfired ammunition back into the hull, and then they all went below.
“Sir,”the talker said,”chiefofthe boat reports gun crews secure from firing.”
“Dive! “the captain ordered.
“Dive! “the talker said.
“Dive!”
A Klaxon sounded. The exec, the talker, and finally the captain went through the hatch and secured it after them. By then, the decks were already awash.
“Take her to a hundred and fifty feet,” Commander Lennox ordered.
“One fifty feet, aye,” It. Rutherford repeated.
“What have we got, Helmsman?” Commander Lennox asked a minute later.
“Sir, we are steering two six five degrees….” The helmsman paused and waited until the needle on the depth gauge was where it was supposed to be, and then went on, “at one five zero feet, sir.”
“Keep her so,” Commander Lennox ordered, and then he stepped to the public address system again.