Story 2387
72 miles southeast of Shanghai, China January 13, 1944
USS Porpoise slowly crept forward. Word was passed to the control room that the four torpedo tubes in the forward room were reloaded. That evolution had been hurried as much as quietly possible even as depth charges exploded several hundred feet behind and only dozens of feet above the boat. The sonar team reported a large ship breaking up after at least two torpedoes exploding on time. The skipper ordered a short sprint at six knots and then a pause at bare steerage where the submarine would attempt to become part of the sea floor as the convoy escorts searched for their assailant.
USS Porpoise slowly crept forward. Word was passed to the control room that the four torpedo tubes in the forward room were reloaded. That evolution had been hurried as much as quietly possible even as depth charges exploded several hundred feet behind and only dozens of feet above the boat. The sonar team reported a large ship breaking up after at least two torpedoes exploding on time. The skipper ordered a short sprint at six knots and then a pause at bare steerage where the submarine would attempt to become part of the sea floor as the convoy escorts searched for their assailant.