Remembering the crew of the U.S.S. Picuda in “Goshawk:”
“Ensign Luther Marsden pulled himself up the ladder, eyes at the level of David’s scuffed and oil-stained boot tops, running his fingers through a short red crew-cut.
“What’s up?” the young Ensign asked
“Back to work, Luther!” “Make your depth 100 feet!” Lt. Garvey ordered.
The tall, gangly and freckled Diving Officer dropped lightly to the diving stand. “Full rise on the bow planes. I want a two-up bubble. Don’t let your bubble run away from you! Give me five up on the stern planes to get it started. No, Clarks, the other up!”
… “Raise the schnorkel mast, cycle the head valve once we’re at periscope depth and start number one main engine…“
David Garvey was only part way through the beginnings of what had happened long ago when the air around him became very cold and even nearby voices of the crew began to fade into silence. A quick glance at the depth gauge confirmed David’s suspicions—63 feet from keel to surface and slowly sinking!
“DON’T BROACH ME LUTHER!”
Through the hull, David could hear his precious rock crushers back in the engine rooms begin to labor. Suddenly, the vacuum began to subside as Luther Marsden regained control of the dive and the boat rose to 59, then 58 feet. David could feel the pleasing rush of cool air from the conning tower’s ventilation ducts. “Wake up, David.” Harry Cochrane was gently shaking his arm. “You were about to rip the armrest out of its socket. Where were you?”
“Back on the boats, starting out on that Northern run where we lost Luther Marsden and his Chief Torpedoman,” David sighed”
@https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › USS_Picuda
#maneuveringsubmarine, #periscopedepth, #submarinesnorkeling, #submarinebatterycharge
