Worlds War Events - Volume 3 | Page 7

little extra fun on my own hook recently. The poor

captain has had to have an operation, and will be on his back for some
weeks.
[Sidenote: Double duty on the bridge.]
Do I like going to war all on my own? Oh no, just like a cat hates
cream. It is a wee bit strenuous, as I have to do double duty; and one
night I was on the bridge steadily from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. But the funny
part is that I didn't feel especially all in afterward, and one good sleep
fixed me up completely.
[Sidenote: A submarine escapes.]
I had a big disappointment on my first run out. I nearly bagged a
submarine for you. We got her on the surface as nice as anything, but it
was very rough, and she was far away, and before I could plunk her,
she got under. If she had only--but, as the saying goes, if the dog hadn't
stopped to scratch himself, he would have got the rabbit (not, however,
that we stopped to scratch ourselves).
AUGUST 27.
[Sidenote: Responsibility for lives and ship.]
I am still in command of the ship and love it, but there is a difference
between being second in command and being It. It makes you
introspective to realize that a hundred lives and a $700,000 ship are
absolutely dependent upon you, without anybody but the Almighty to
ask for advice if you get into difficulty.
It is not so much the submarines, which are largely a matter of luck, but
the navigating. Say I am heading back for port after several days out,
the weather is thick as pea-soup, and I have not seen land or had an
observation for days. I know where I am--at least I think I do--but what
if I have miscalculated, or am carried off my course by the strong and
treacherous tides on this coast, and am heading right into the breakers
somewhere, or perchance a mine-field! Then the fog lifts a little, and I
see the cliffs or mountains that I recognize, and bring her in with a

slam-bang, much bravado, and a sigh of relief.
Don't you remember the days when you thought son was dying if he
cried--or if he didn't? Well, that's it!
[Sidenote: Recreations ashore.]
Don't get the idea that I have no recreations. We walk and play golf, go
to the movies on occasion, and there is always a jolly gang of mixed
services to play with.
SEPTEMBER 9.
Life here doesn't vary much. The captain is up and taking a few days'
leave, though I doubt if he will take command for two or three weeks
yet. But I am having a lovely time running her.
[Sidenote: A veteran New Zealander for dinner.]
The other night we had a very interesting chap for dinner--a New
Zealander he was, who has served in Egypt, Gallipoli, the trenches in
France, and is now in the Royal Naval Reserve. The tales he told were
of wonderful interest. He was modest and seemed to have been a decent
sort, but you could sense the brutalizing effect of war on him. Some of
the things he told were such jokes on the Germans that we laughed
right heartily.
[Sidenote: The beast in man is near the surface.]
The beast in man lies so close to the surface. We think we are human
and law-abiding of our own volition, whereas, as a matter of fact,
nine-tenths of it is from pure habit. It doesn't occur to us to be anything
else. But let all standards and customs be scrapped, let us see the things
done freely that never even entered our minds before, and a lot of us are
liable to develop ape and tiger proclivities. We nearly all put
unconscious limits to our humanity. The most chivalrous and kindly
Westerner or Southerner would admit that massacring Chinamen,
Mexicans, or Negroes is not such a great crime; and the most devoted

mother or father is prone to regard as unspanked brats children who to a
third party appear quite as well as the critic's own.
SEPTEMBER 20.
I am still in command and loving every minute of it. With any other
captain than ours it would be a come-down to resume my place as a
subordinate. But in his case I think that all mourn a little when he is
away.
SEPTEMBER 29.
[Sidenote: New knowledge of navigation and ship handling.]
Oh, it's great stuff, this being in command and handling the ship alone.
Particularly I enjoy swooping down on some giant freighter, like a
hawk on a turkey, running close alongside, where a wrong touch to
helm or engine may spell destruction, and then demanding through a
megaphone why she does or does not do so