Escape from Archangel: An American Merchant Seaman at War

Scotland

Scotland Under attack warnings most of the way, Jac's convoy crossed to a point just north of Ireland without a loss, in part because of the terrible weather they encountered. This had improved to a reasonably tolerable level, nasty but tolerable. All they had to do now was round Northern Ireland, enter the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, and head south into the Irish Seaand their assigned port on the River Clyde. The convoy split into two groups to proceed down the North Channel. The Cedar Creek moved to the column on the left, headed for Glasgow, the ships in the right column were headed further south to Liverpool. For the first time since they left Halifax, the crew began to relax. They were following another T-2 tanker, also headed for the River Clyde. Then without the slightest warning, a torpedo slammed into the bow of the tanker ahead between her number one and number two tanks. She was making eleven knots at the time her bow was ripped off. The exposed forward bulkheads were ruptured by the force of her head- -57- way against the sea. Her liquid cargo pouring out, her propeller still turning, she drove her bow under until half of her was down, the stern rising out of the sea. Jac and his men watched in horror asthe tanker's crew leaped overboard,and the vessel itself rolled on her back like a harpooned whale. There was no fire, probably because her cargo was kerosene and because her ruptured bow went under so quickly. The Cedar Creek held her speed and station, moving through the sheen of kerosene spreading rapidly over the water. Her crew knew if they took a hit, any hit, they would not be so lucky. They were carrying gasoline. Jac looked down at the men in the water, their eyesburning from the kerosene, their bodies freezing in the ice-cold water. He recognized one of them. Yet,they were lucky, for there were many escort vessels in the North Channel area, supplemented by fishing boats and coastal supply vessels, all rushing to aid the stricken ship and her crew. The sinkingwas an example of the skill, determination, and daring of the U-boatskippers. Under the most protection the convoy had received on the entire voyage, a submarine had sneaked in and made a prize killwithin sight of land.And, Jac realized, within five hundred yardsof his own ship.Ironically, the tanker,with only her stern visible, refused to sink andhad to be finished off by the guns of her own escorts. The crew of the Cedar Creek had had a ringside seat to the entire episode. It could be their ship next time or the next. But for the moment there was nothing to do but continue on to their anchorage. The Cedar Creek reached the Firth of Clyde and turned toward Glasgow.They put in at Gare Loch, overcrowded with -58- ships waiting for a turn at the unloading facilities along the Clyde. It was the same at all the ports of the British Isles, where the Allies were stockpiling supplies in anticipation of D-Day. Normally it would take twenty hours or so to empty the tanker, but the Cedar Creek had to wait for ten days before the crowded port was ready to start unloading. The crew didn't mind. It meant welcome days ashore, a chance to shed the stress of war at sea. It meant rollicking tours of pubs and honkytonks, the company of women, the sight of green grass and trees, the feel of solid earth beneath one's feet, and for some—perhaps when no one was watching —it meant a quiet visit to a church. The citizens of Glasgow had little left. They had been at war for four years by now. Food was scarce, shops had very little to sell, gasoline was in such short supply that almost no one traveled by private automobile. Many of the children were hungry,there was no milk. Women had no stockings, no lipstick. Air raids had become a routine part of their lives, treated more as a nuisance than a deadly threat. But Glaswegians were friendly to the Americans. They knew that the convoys meant their survival, and they knew the price was being paid by the men who sailed them. At home in Biloxi,Jac had made several friends among...