The Cruel Sea Page #2

I've been travelling ever since... sir.

Another one still wet

behind the ears, eh? That's fine.

- What were you in Civvy Street?

- I was a barrister.

A lawyer, eh? That's all we need.

You better sit down and have

some snork ers before they're cold.

Carslak e! By the way,

this is Lockhart. This is Ferraby.

- How do you do.

- Sir?

- Another officer for lunch.

- Aye-aye, sir.

And I'm the first lieutenant.

- Officer of the day wanted, sir.

- OK.

I do all the work around here!

Very glad to see you.

Hang your coat up out there.

I expect you'd lik e a drink,

wouldn't you?

- Oh, I'll get it. Gin?

- Beer, please.

- Welcome to Compass Rose.

- Thank you.

He sounds a very experienced officer,

the first lieutenant.

Very. Until four months ago,

he was a second-hand car salesman.

Ah, I see.

We were hoping

you'd get here for the exercises.

Thank you. I shall have to try

and catch up. What was it like?

Three weeks of purgatory.

We don't know.

We haven't come out of the ether yet.

The skipper's ashore

with the admiral now.

- What about your gear?

- It's outside.

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

for a sick berth attendant.

Not that we'll get one yet,

but there's no harm in trying.

It looks as though

things are warming up.

A couple of years ago, you'd never

have thought this could happen.

A couple of years ago, sir,

my only sea experience

was mucking about in the Solent.

Quite a pretty boat she was.

- How big a crew?

- She was quite pretty, too.

What's the food been lik e

with the cooks on leave?

Greatly improved, sir!

Well, in that case,

I think I'll stay till lunch.

I say, John,

there's a picture of your wife here.

Is there?

Oh, yes.

Doris and I saw the show

the night before last.

You should have let me know.

I'd have got you some free seats.

Oh, we didn't want

to bother you on leave.

It must give you a funny feeling

to see your wife's picture

all over the place.

All I can ever see in the papers

these days is Dunkirk. Did you read...?

Well, well, well!

Good little boys all back

from leave at the proper time.

How did you manage

to drag yourselves away, huh?

Matey lot of so-and-sos, aren't you?

- What's been happening?

- Nothing at all.

I suppose you were slipping ashore

the whole time.

And as for you married men, you had

a wonderful time. Don't tell me!

- Well, yes. It was very nice.

- I bet it was!

I bet you left a bun in the oven,

both of you!

Why doesn't the captain

get rid of him?

It's not so easy in wartime.

- Well, can we get rid of him?

- Nobody can.

- Are you sure?

- He didn't lik e that last convoy.

- Who did?

- But I think he's the worrying type.

Might even get a duodenal ulcer.

That's the classical complaint.

The Navy tak es them very seriously.

Why?

In case something blows up

while you're at sea.

Well, one of us had better tell him.

Well, I wouldn't want him to be in

any doubt as to how to go about it,

just for the want

of a friendly word of advice.

I saw some newsreel stuff

of Dunkirk the other night.

There was an old V and W destroyer

simply packed with troops.

Yes.

You could see someone was trying

to mak e them smile at the camera.

They didn't look

as if they wanted to much.

Well, at least there are...

- That hurt.

- Well, what's the matter?

A terrible pain...

Well, you better go and lie down.

Tak e it easy for a bit.

- It's agony.

- Perhaps you have a bun in the oven.

Yes. Perhaps I better had

lie down for a bit, sir.

Maybe it'll pass off.

Well, bad luck.

Most moving. I imagine there's

nothing we can do to help him?

What are you all grinning at?

Sorry, sir.

I was thinking of something.

When the first lieutenant's in pain,

I shouldn't have thought you'd

be able to laugh at anything else.

From then on,

they'll proceed independently.

You will pick up

the homeward-bound convoy R20,

at a rendezvous off Iceland,

which will be signalled later.

- All clear?

- Yes, sir.

And I must tell you

that according to Intelligence,

the Germans have captured the

port of Brest more or less intact.

That will greatly increase

the number of U-boats operating,

as well as their range.

From now on you have

to expect enemy activity...

- Come in.

- You wanted me, sir?

Yes. I just had a signal

from the PMO at the Naval Hospital.

The first lieutenant

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