CHAPTER V
THE STORM-CENTER MOVES EASTWARD
The loss of their island bases seriously hampered the enemy in their submarine warfare on the great stream of trans-Atlantic shipping. Submarines were now based on Lisbon and Gibraltar, and while they were still able to harass the merchant ships of the Allies, the sinkings were materially reduced, and the prospect of keeping Northern Europe supplied with the sinews of war became much brighter. Possession of these bases also enabled the Allies to conduct anti-submarine operations with destroyers and submarines in a way that had hitherto been impossible for want of any base near the focus of activity.
The first time Evans dined with Mortimer after these islands had come into the possession of the Allies, this important development naturally led them to talk over the general problem from a new angle.
“Broadly speaking,” said Evans, “it is in a way a problem of morale and numbers against resources and wits. We have far better morale and slightly superior numbers. They command the resources of all Southern Europe, Egypt, and the East, and they still have pretty free access to those of South America. In this respect, unless we can cut them off from South America, they have an appreciable advantage over us. As to wits, I don’t mean that the Nordic peoples as a whole are inferior to them, but theirs is the advantage of well-laid plans and a marvelous centralized control. They’ve been planning this thing for fifteen years, and they’ve done a devilish good job of it. We have wits, but ours are not yet coördinated.
“Specifically, our problem is, first, to sink enough of their subs to ensure the flow of munitions from the Western Hemisphere to Northern Europe; that will enable us to maintain our present status; second, to engage and destroy their fleet, and thus break their control of the Mediterranean. That will be the hardest thing to do, for they don’t want to give us a crack at it; they won’t take a chance of battle unless they can feel sure of most favorable conditions; but if we can smash their fleet, the game is won.”
Mortimer listened thoughtfully, nodding his head in acquiescence as his friend talked; but Evans interrupted himself by saying, “Well, here I am giving my elders and betters a twopenny talk on the cosmos.”
“Don’t worry about that,” answered Mortimer; “it helps me to see the broader issues and clear my head of the mass of administrative detail. Go to it and give me some more.”
“Well,” resumed Evans, “as to the submarine problem—we’re in a position to go after them now. Obviously one of the first things to do is to put the very best radio compasses we can on shore stations at Punta Delgada, Madeira, and the Canaries, fitting them with first-rate amplifiers so that we can pick up subs as soon as they come out of Lisbon or Gibraltar. Then we can follow their movements by taking cross-bearings on them every time they use their radio, just as the British did with the German subs in the old days.”
“You know, I still have my doubts about this radio-compass business,” put in Mortimer. “Nothing has been done with it to restore the confidence of either Commander Rich or myself since the Sheridan affair. I still consider it on trial, and question the wisdom of spending much money installing such stuff on the islands.”
“No one has bothered to tell you what has been done,” said Evans, “but the fact is that the radio compasses all along the coast are continuing to give accurate bearings to incoming ships whenever the weather is thick, just as they have for the past twenty years, and the skippers for the most part continue to trust them. Anyway, this is a different issue. It doesn’t involve depending on the bearings for navigation of our ships; it is a matter of information about the enemy, and we can’t afford not to use it. The Bureau of Operations is counting on the use of these shore stations, and recognizes also the importance of working up coördinated hunting groups of destroyers to pick up the scent of the sub by crossed radio-compass bearings, and then, having thus located her roughly, to run her down with hydrophones.