He Adjusted the Eyepiece and Looked
“Oh, no they won’t,” March said. “Not yet, anyway, because their relief is going to be cut down in number right soon now.”
“Here, March, have a look,” Larry said. “I think one’s a tanker, one an ammunition ship, or a freighter with the supplies.”
March stepped to the periscope and looked carefully.
“Tanker and troopship are certain,” he said. “Can’t be sure about the other, though. How many do you think we can get?”
“Not more than two,” Larry said. “They’ll get planes after us that fast. We’ll have to get away after two, maybe after one. Can’t tell until we’re in the middle of it. But what about all the reefs around here? Can we get in position to fire?”
“If we’re good we can,” March said. “Come on, I’ll show you. I’ve been studying the Wake Island chart, and we know it’s right.”
Larry followed March to the navigation desk, where they both studied the chart of Wake Island.
“We have to go west first,” March said. “Then cut back sharply in a hairpin turn—go in about four hundred yards, turn about thirty degrees to starboard without going forward too much, fire and then back away. Backing will be slow, but we can’t turn her for a couple of hundred yards. Think we can make it?”