Destroyertimes part 2
HMS Cossack
"Well what do you know, the Navy's here!" Sikh joked at the top of her lungs as Cossack entered the briefing room. The two other destroyers, a pair of L-class, burst out laughing alongside the rude Tribal.
"It's not funny." Cossack whined with a pout.
"Says you!" Sikh retorted between bouts of laughter.
"She asked you to stop, so stop!" HMS Penelope butted in. Cossack gave the cruiser a silent thank you in the form of a smile, but it quickly turned to a scowl as Sikh opened her mouth once more.
"Who put you in charge, Pepperpot?"
"Why you little…" Penelope growled, marching towards the unrepentant Tribal.
"I did. Now shut it, all of you." Cossack turned to see Leftenant Mucallin walk in, clipboard in one hand and a novel of some kind tucked under her arm. The leftenant marched over to the oft-used blackboard as the assembled shipgirls rushed to find a seat. "You're all gathered today for an ASW patrol. Standard fare, sonars active, be ready to hunt down and kill any subs that convoys or air recon notices. You lot are off to the Western Approaches, and there've been more submarine sightings that usual there. Keep your guard up. Penny is in charge, and I'll be feeding you information over the radio as I get it. Are there any questions?"
Nobody raised their hands, though Cossack could clearly see her sister struggle to not crack some sort of offensive joke at the Scotswoman. She didn't dare test the leftenant's infamous ire, though.
"No questions? Good. Remember, Penny is in charge, and I want you all on your best behavior."
"Aye, ma'am." The gathered shipgirls replied almost in unison.
"Good hunting." Mucallin said as Cossack led the shipgirls out of the room and towards the docks.
The mission was bog standard. Spend a week or so at sea under the watchful gaze of a bored cruiser, and pray that whatever reports you get sent out to inspect don't turn out to be anything serious. Serious reports end up being more work, even if they do get you away from a group of people you're rapidly getting sick of.
But if the mission was bog standard, why did Cossack have such a bad feeling about it?
The patrol rapidly turned from boring to aggravating. Three days of steaming at slow speeds, and listening to ASDIC sets was boring enough as is, but Sikh's presence made it all that much worse. Rude jokes and stinging comments were the least of her offenses in those first three days.
Cossack's only reprieve was the occasional time when she was sent off to investigate a submarine sighting. They always ended up either being long gone by the time the destroyers arrived, or simply never existing in the first place. They were welcome deprives to be sure, but never enough to drive her sister's terribly rude conduct out of Cossack's mind.
If it were possible for Cossack to hate a family member, Sikh would be a prime candidate for the top of her list.
As noontime passed on the third day, Mucallin radioed in with another U-boat sighting. "Penelope, Command. Recon aircraft have sighted a U-boat wolfpack near the western edge of the allied minefield. At least three boats were spotted."
"Roger that, Command!" Penelope said, looking at the four destroyers gathered 'round. "I'm diverting Lookout and S-"
"I'll go." Cossack said suddenly, interrupting the Arethusa-class. She wasn't quite sure why she volunteered, but she had.
"I'm diverting Lookout and Cossack to investigate."
"Understood Penelope. I'll feed you the reports. Good hunting." Mucallin reported, before ending the radio call with a click. Cossack felt her sat phone buzz in her pocket, and a quick glance showed that it was a text message with the relevant reports. Three U-boats surfaced near the edge of the allied minefield, just as Mucallin had said.
"That's rather daring of them to loiter on the surface, especially so close to the Home Isles." Lookout observed, reading the report more intently than Cossack had.
"Let's be off then." Cossack said, pulling away from the group. Lookout soon followed her, and the two destroyergirls were off to hunt subs once more.
Night had begun to fall as Cossack and Lookout circles around the minefield to where the U-boats has been sighted. Cossack couldn't make out any U-boat silhouettes against the starlit background, and a brief burst from Lookout's radar served to confirm this. There was nothing on the surface for miles around except the two destroyers.
Listening to her hydrophones similarly revealed nothing. Crawling along at 5 knots, neither Cossack nor Lookout could hear anything but each other. Nothing moved below the waves. Nothing in the vicinity of the minefield to the east, and nothing put westward either.
"I'm going active." Cossack warned, making sure her partner wasn't intently listening to her hydrophones. At Lookout's nod, she pinged her ASDIC set. Near instantly, she received a plethora of returns. The one contact roughly astern was obviously Lookout, and discarded as such. The returns to the east were quite clearly the allied minefield, and were similarly discarded.
Everywhere else, however…
"Lookout, cut your engines, and turn on your searchlight." Cossack commanded, similarly cutting her own engines. "Those U-boats were minelayers."
"Oh, bollocks." Lookout commented, turning on her searchlight. The bright beam nearly blinded Cossack, but it only served to confirm her suspicions. A multitude of contact mines floated near the surface, drifting slightly with the ocean's current.
"I'm calling command." Cossack said, nearly entranced as she watched one mine float within feet of her hull before drifting back the other way. "Penny, Command, this is HMS Cossack. No U-boats reported, but Lookout and I have encountered an Abyssal minefield right on the edge of the allied one. We are currently trapped within it, and unable to move. Please send help."
"Are you alright?" Penny asked, worry evident in her voice. "Is someone hurt?"
"Nobody is hurt. Sonar found the mines before we hit any, but it was a close call."
"Roger that, Cossack. I will have someone round up some minesweepers. They should arrive by morning to get you out. Hold tight, and stay safe." Lt. Mucallin relayed, her professionalism never once slipping.
"Understood. Thank you Command." Cossack said, before powering down her radio. With her engines off, she needed to conserve power wherever possible. She would still be able to receive signals, but not send anything out until she powered her set back up.
A few hours passed. Cossack dropped her anchor at some point to keep from drifting too much, though there were still a few unfortunately close calls as the night progressed.
"I'm scared." Lookout said, breaking an uncomfortable silence that lasted who knows how long. Mucallin had yet to report on her gathering of minesweepers, but Cossack has faith.
"I'm scared too. Mines are a scary thing."
"I never sank in the old war. Only member of my class to survive. Loyal made it through, too, but she only made it by dint of not being scrapped. She hit a mine and was declared a constructive total loss. I don't want to be a total loss like that! I don't want to sit in a port for however long, unable to move, and have some repairman say that I'm too damaged to repair economically!"
"Calm down, Lookout. There's no need to panic. That will just make things worse."
Lookout audibly took a few shuddering breaths, visibly calming herself.
"Good. The minesweepers will be here in the morning, and then we'll be able to go home. Simple as that."
"O-okay." Lookout said.
A few minutes passed silently. Waves lapped against Cossack's hull, and she kept a weather eye out for any mines that might drift too close and make contact. She even prepared a motor launch full of faeries to try and forcibly move mines away from hers or Lookout's hulls if need be.
"Cossack, this is Command." Lt. Mucallin sounded tired, and more than a little panicked. "Those minesweepers may not be coming in the morning. Portsmouth has been attacked, and the harbor extensively mined. Devonport suffered a similar attack. I can try to divert forces from Faslane for you, but I make no guarantees."
"R-Roger that, Command. Any help you can send is appreciated." Cossack said on auto-pilot. The news of the attack had yet to sink in, but it was rapidly getting there.
