CHAPTER VI
THE HUNT
During June and July, Evans devoted a liberal share of his attention to the radio-compass problem. He felt that the apparatus was still on trial. A slight lapse might cause this instrument of untold possibilities to be lost to the navy because of the Sheridan disaster and Rich’s subsequent effort to discredit the apparatus in Mortimer’s eyes. Going frequently aboard the destroyers, he looked over the apparatus and talked with both the operators and the officers. With the former he discussed all details of operation; with the latter, the prospect of using it effectively in the search for subs; in talking to both groups he made sure that they understood what was necessary for all hands to know.
The problem of submarine destruction was even more difficult than in the war with Germany, for then the German U-boats to reach their hunting ground must pass through British waters so narrow as to render the mine barrage feasible and to facilitate a considerable concentration of anti-submarine craft. Now the submarines emerging from Gibraltar and Lisbon, both powerfully defended, could far more easily lose themselves in the broad Atlantic.
From time to time when they attacked convoys the submarines were sunk or damaged by the escorting destroyers. But the numbers dealt with in this way were not nearly enough to give the needed protection to shipping. The chasers now and then picked up suspicious noises with their listening gear, but seldom were able to follow them to a successful issue.
Hunting squadrons of destroyers, three in each squadron, were going out and sweeping the seas, but encounters with the enemy were so rare as to be almost negligible. As of old, the search was long and tedious. Whole days of seeking in vain for a trace of the enemy were telling on the men. They were growing stale and losing their enthusiasm, and so the efficiency of their vigils waned. Encouragement was sorely needed—something to rouse them with an intimation of the great role that was theirs should the opportunity come and they use it right. Especially some signal success was needed to awaken them to renewed efforts. Both officers and men felt that they were groping in the dark for the unseen foe. Occasionally they heard him send radio signals, but usually the bored operators failed to get bearings before the signals had ceased. No one had ever seen a submarine successfully tracked down by radio compass and by hydrophone, and therefore the prospect of this feat was not real to them.
The radio compasses on the shore stations, with their long range of operation, were now beginning to get cross bearings on enemy submarines from time to time, and were making an encouraging beginning in tracing their movements about the sea. But as yet little had been done to direct the destroyer squadrons by this method to the fruitful hunting grounds. It was time for a concerted effort to bring about a successful hunt which would serve to demonstrate what could be done with the materials already at hand.
Evans found technical duties to perform at Communication Headquarters on shore, as well as in the main radio room of the mother-ship to which he was attached, and these duties gave him the opportunity to follow closely the reports that were coming in from the radio-compass stations on the various islands. In this way he knew as much as any one in the force about the movements of enemy submarines. He watched the increasing efficiency with which their movements were revealed, and at the same time he gradually acquired a familiarity with the habits of the undersea pirates and the general plan upon which they operated.
He studied the personnel on the various hunting groups of destroyers, and talked with their skippers whenever the opportunity offered. He was looking for the most promising group with which to give a demonstration that would wake up the men. If a squadron could once pick up the scent by radio-compass triangulation and then get the sub within hydrophone range, there would be a good chance of ending her career; and even if they only gave her a hard run for her life, a report of this would do a deal of good to the rest of the flotilla.
Therefore he searched diligently among the young skippers as they came and went on their arduous patrols; with each he found business to discuss, and thereby sized him up. At last he found the man he wanted, one of the senior skippers in the flotilla, a man named Fraser, with the rank of commander. He was a tall, well-built, fair-haired man, clear-eyed and alert, with a magnetic personality. Wholesome and vigorous, with a boyish enthusiasm and a genuine frankness about him, he at once inspired in Evans a strong liking, and, more than that, a confidence that he was a real man. He saw at once that Fraser was in earnest, and open-mindedly seeking any and every means that human ingenuity could devise to get the enemy. Fraser took Evans for what he was, regardless of rank, and eagerly discussed with him the problem of utilizing all the gear on his ship to the best advantage. Evans did not take long to discern that, besides the charm which had attracted him, Fraser had a mind of unusual quality, clear and strong, well trained in his profession, but untrammeled by the fetters of tradition; a mind that could grasp quickly, think straight, and see with the vision that comes only with imagination—a quality without which no man can be a truly great naval or military leader. Evans found plenty of lines of approach to Fraser through questions of the fitness of the radio gear for the various tasks required in the team-work of the hunting squadron. Through such channels he led the conversation into a discussion of all the possibilities that might arise in the pursuit and attack of a submarine, a discussion which was mutually profitable. They naturally spoke the same language; far fewer words sufficed to convey ideas to each other than was the case with most of the skippers. Each caught the other’s meaning with a minimum of explanation, and each knew that the other had caught his. Chatting together in the radio room they picked up the trail of an imaginary submarine by radio compass and maneuvered to get her within range of the hydrophones and magnetic detectors.
“I wish you’d go out with us on patrol,” said Fraser, “and see to it that all this gear is being handled right. You could help us by seeing that the boys understand their duties and are making the most of these things.”