In Flag Plot, the lights and displays went out. The emergency lights came on and Hustvedt went over to the bitch box. “CIC, Flag plot.” There was no answer. “Bridge, Flag plot.” Again no answer. He happened to glance at the gyro repeater and noticed that the ship was turning. “Have you got coms with the bridge or CIC?” Hustvedt asked.
The talker shook his head. “No sir. The last thing I heard was that the Captain turned off the cloak.”
“He what?!” shouted Hustvedt. He turned to Jeffers. “Rod, get up to the bridge and see what’s going on. The space is getting hotter and my guess is we have fires, so watch your step,” he said.
“On the way, Admiral,” Jeffers said as he dashed for the door. As he opened it, some thin smoke came into the room from the passageway. Jeffers made his way to the starboard side and took the first ladder going up. It took time. The smoke was getting thicker. In the middle of his trek he heard the Damage Control Officer shout over the 1MC, “Fire, fire, fire, fire in CIC, and on the hangar deck. Away damage control parties. Activate hangar deck sprinklers.”
By the time Jeffers got to the base of the island structure, some of the bulkheads were mangled and holed. Inside the structure firefighting parties were already at work trying to halt the fires within. The route to the bridge was completely blocked.
Undaunted, Jeffers went back out onto the flight deck and went aft to the rear of the island and entered the structure from there. At least the smoke was less. He made his way to one of the ladders and made his way up three levels onto the deck next to Pri Fly. Making his way forward, he could see some of the deck was scorched and buckling. Smoke still billowed up from below on the starboard side so he kept to the port side and made his way.
Below on the flight deck three of the Ospreys were sitting next to the island. They had just come in and had been refilled with fuel and equipment to ferry to the beach when the ship had been hit. A number of crewmen were working to get the aircraft ready to take off. But the most horrifying sight was just ahead of the ship. USS Enterprise was still at flight quarters launching aircraft, and USS America was turning right toward her.
Rushing forward, Jeffers made his way to the bridge wing and was about to enter when another cruise missile struck the Ospreys on the deck. One of the aircraft had been filled with a bladder of diesel fuel. Flames shot into the sky and pieces of aircraft flew everywhere. Jeffers felt something strike him in the back and fling him against the bulkhead. Stunned, he slowly got back to his feet. His left leg didn’t want to move as much. Looking down, he saw a tear in his pants and blood leaving a spreading stain on them. Looking back, he saw the flames completely covering his only escape route. Turning back toward the bridge, Jeffers noticed the ship was getting even closer to the Enterprise. He knew that when launching aircraft, the ship would not be able to maneuver. Cursing, he staggered on, reaching the door to the bridge.
There was nothing left of the windows in the front. The steel had been peeled away almost like a banana with one end still attached on the port side, but the rest lying across the missiles launcher forward. The bridge itself was a shambles. Charts were burning on the chart table and wires hung from their attachment points along the bulkheads and overheads. Several bodies were splayed across the deck. The ship’s helm was in the center of the area and had several holes in it. The binnacle, with the magnetic compass, was completely gone. Jeffers made his way and saw that the rudder was only a degree or two to port. He spun the wheel to starboard to change the ship’s course. He was gratified to see the ship’s rudder angle indicator begin to swing to starboard. He hoped there was enough time.
***
Aboard the Enterprise the bridge crew began to panic when they realized that the America was not changing course away from them. Orders were given to halt flight operations and her rudder was swung hard over. Second after agonizing second it seemed the two ships would hit, then suddenly the America began to turn. The captain of the Enterprise saw the change and ordered the ship’s rudder to hard left. As the stern of the Enterprise began swinging in the other direction, the America’s turn seemed to increase. The ships passed within 150 yards of each other. Only after the ships had passed did they see the damage to the America.
***
Jeffers made sure he was not steering toward another ship, then placed his rudder amidships. He grabbed the enunciators and ordered a reduction in speed. Looking around the bridge, he saw some movement in two of the people on the deck. One was a seaman who was bleeding from a gash on his head. The other was the ship’s Executive Officer. Jeffers went over to help.
The XO’s legs were at odd angles along with one arm. Jeffers eased him into a more comfortable position. “What about the rest of the bridge crew?” the XO gasped.
“They’re dead, XO. I got the ship pointed away from the rest of the formation. There’s one guy over here that is a little dazed, but he may be okay,” Jeffers reported.
The XO nodded. It was obvious he was barely holding on to consciousness. “I saw you swing the ship away from the carrier. Nice work. Damage control?” He suddenly winced in pain.
“They’re trying to get to us, but we’ve been hit four times and right now we’re alone,” Jeffers said.
“The cloak. The switch is beside the chart table,” the XO gasped. “CO turned the damn thing off.”
Jeffers got up and moved toward the chart table on the right of the bridge. A blast came from the front of the ship as a fifth missile struck the missile launcher just forward of the bridge and blew the launcher and the rest of the bridge windows over the side. Jeffers was lifted and thrown back by the blast ending up on the deck, his face and chest covered with cuts from flying metal shards.
Slowly he got himself up to a sitting position, then leaned forward and eased onto first one knee and then the other. Finally he managed to pull himself up and move, shakily, toward the chart table again. He found the small box with a switch and a light beside the chart table. He turned the switch and saw a green light come on. That was when he noticed a small fire erupt from near the door to the bridge. The door was glowing slightly and the paint was melting away. Jeffers was moving much slower. Not only had the blast given him another shock, but had caused him to be slightly dizzy. Grabbing the seaman, he ordered, “Help me with the XO.”
The seaman got to his feet and helped Jeffers move the XO away from the bulkhead and prop him beside the helm console. Then he went forward to make sure they were still in the clear. The other ships had moved away. On their starboard side a German frigate was keeping them company. He saw that teams were manning fire hoses along the frigate’s side ready to help put out the fires. He went as far as he could where the deck ended and waved to the ship. He saw an officer on the bridge wave back.
Suddenly the 1MC crackled to life. “Bridge, this is the Damage Control Officer. We need to turn the ship to go with the wind. Do you hear me? Turn the ship to go with the wind.”
Jeffers looked around the bulkhead and saw how the flag was blowing, then turned back inside the tattered structure. Looking around the bridge, the 1MC circuit had been torn off the bulkhead and none of the bitch boxes seemed to work. Looking along the overhead, even the radio circuits were a mess. Then he saw the handle for the ship’s whistle. Reaching up, he gave it a pull. The whistle gave a short blast. Looking back at the frigate, the ship began pulling away. Thank god someone could figure it out, he thought. Then he turned the ship’s wheel to starboard again.
The ship began moving into the general direction the flag was blowing. After a few corrections where he had to go back out and look at the flag, he got it close, then slowed the engines until the flag was almost limp on its halyard. Between conning the ship and caring for his two charges, Jeffers was kept too busy to mind his own wounds. Small puddles of blood appeared around the helm console, yet, he maintained his watch over the ship. Since there was no gyro repeater working and the magnetic compass was gone, there was no way of knowing what course they were on. Instead, he went back to the starboard side and looked down at the frigate which had returned to her position. He waved and the same man came out on the bridge wing.