Stunned, Irvin noticed that ’Cats on the pier had already begun reacting to something they saw in the direction of the mountain, even as the terrible blast buffeted them. He turned and looked for himself. The sky to the south was black, except for a massive, roiling, gray cloud-headed right at them.
“Sound ‘collision,’ ‘general quarters,’ or whatever you can that’s loud enough to hear!” he shouted. His voice seemed small, far away. He turned toward the workers on the shore and on the pier, waving his arms over his head and yelling as loud as he could: “All hands! In the boat! Drop whatever you’re doing and get in The boat!” Sid Franks saw him, whether he heard him or not, and began shoving ’Cats off the pier in the direction of the submarine. Many were too stunned to move, fixated with horror. This was not another ash fall like they’d seen before; this was a dense, boiling, wall of ash, thundering toward them at an impossible speed. Irvin jumped down on the deck and raced across the forward gangplank that connected the boat to shore. As soon as he left it, he couldn’t hear any of the alarms Tex had lit off on the sub.
He ran among the cooks and other work details on shore, rounding them up and gesturing at the sub. A new roar began to grow, different from the first but no less terrifying. His vision was growing dim. For an instant, he was alone. Midshipman Hardee grabbed his sleeve, tugging him toward the boat. His mouth was moving, but he made no discernible sound. Irvin looked around, saw ’Cats sprinting toward them from the pier, but everyone else was scampering across the gangplanks, tails high in terror, and disappearing down every open hatch. He let Hardee pull him along and soon they were both running. The gangplank bounced beneath their feet and they paused a moment while those in front waited to drop down the hatch. To the north, the day still seemed as before: a clear, almost cool blue sky, filled with patchy clouds. Turning to the south, they saw that the ash cloud, or whatever it was, had consumed the island. It was nearly upon them. Hardee got his attention; the hatch was clear. Irvin shoved Hardee ahead of him, then dropped down into the packed, sweltering control room.
“Franks and his detail are still outside,” he gasped, surprised that he could suddenly hear himself. The roar was still immense, but muted now.
“Clear the control room!” Tex bellowed. “Fore and aft, off you go! Maneuvering watch, stand by your stations,” he added. Just in case.
“Seal the boat, all but the forward hatch!” Irvin shouted. “That’s where Sid’s guys’ll make for. Secure the starboard engine!” They’d been running it for the charge. “Close main induction!”
The ’Cat stationed in front of the telltale “Christmas tree” panel turned, blinking frantic apology. “Board not all green! I not know why not all green!”
“There’s holes in the boat-we know that,” Tex said. “The forward hatch is still open, for one.” Sealing the boat for submergence had received even less priority than the port diesel, since no one had ever envisioned any eventuality that would make them take her down again. They still didn’t want to do that, but they had to breathe. Nothing could breathe in what they’d seen coming.
Something banged dully against the conn tower above, and almost immediately other things began raining against the steel like hail.
“Up scope!” Irvin demanded. The undamaged number one periscope slid upward and he grabbed the handles and twisted it south, peering into the eyepiece. “Oh my God,” he murmured, flinching when something trailing smoke, about the size of a Buick, plummeted past the periscope and splashed alongside. Smaller objects were striking the hull continuously now. The world was gray-black. The roiling mass was here. Huge trees flew before it like grass clippings, igniting like matches as they tumbled in its path. He cringed at the sight of flaming meteors of debris. He’d known no one could breathe in what was coming, but he hadn’t expected the sheer force and heat. He watched the shelters, tents, and other things they’d considered home on the beach simply disintegrate in fiery swirls as the periscope lens began to blur.
“Down scope!” he yelled. “Everybody hold on!”
The only audible blow was a massive rushing sound, but S-19 heeled over like a great hand had reached down and simply pushed her conn tower into the sea. Bodies fell atop one another, yelling, screaming, chittering in panic. Shrieks reverberated through the boat. The simple fact about submarines is that there are no soft, padded places anywhere in them. S-19 didn’t even have rack cushions anymore. Irvin clung to the periscope chains-like those of a giant bicycle-as everyone on the port side tumbled to starboard. A ’Cat smashed against him, almost breaking his nose and his grip, before falling soundlessly away. The boat groaned and Irvin felt a juddering, thudding movement. The lights flickered, but never went out, except for those that were smashed by windmilling arms or legs. He watched it all in a kind of surrealistic daze. Somehow, he knew the boat was moving; he expected her to roll all the way over and tumble like a log, but she didn’t-quite. He became too disoriented even to speculate on what was happening outside-how they were moving, where, and how fast. With a sudden sickening sense of loss, he thought briefly about the scoop boats and Toolbox. The hail-like sound against the hull grew louder, heavier, and the boat heaved again.
More shrieks reached his ears, cries of panic and surprise joined those of pain, and he realized it had jumped way beyond “sweltering” in the control room. Of course it’s hot, he thought. The ash cloud had obviously been propelled by a massive burst of gas from the volcano! “Flood the trim tanks!” he cried, knowing he couldn’t do it himself and hoping someone could who knew how. They’d had the boat riding high and empty of all but fuel as they worked on her and cleaned her out. The fuel in her bunkers was probably the only reason she wasn’t rolling right now. “Flood auxiliary, flood fore and aft!”
“Flooding all variable trim, aye!” came a pained response. Shortly, even as the hail continued, S-19 began to right herself. God, it was hot! Irvin could barely breathe. The panting of Lemurians was almost as loud as the roar outside. He looked at the status board. Mostly green now.
“Flood her down,” he said. “We’ve got to get her hull beneath the water before we cook!” He had no idea where they were, whether they were still in the depression they’d excavated around the sub or had been swept into the lagoon. Either way, they didn’t have any choice.
“We can’t take her to the bottom, sir,” came a coughing voice from behind him. It was Sandy Whitcomb.
“No, but we can take her down until the pressure hull’s under, at least.” The deck was almost level now, and he lurched for the Kingston valves. “C’mon, Sandy. Flood main ballast two-thirds.” He wiped blood from his eyes. Somehow, he’d conked his forehead. Maybe it had been the ’Cat that hit him? “We’re going to have to guess at this a little,” he cautioned. “She’s not trimmed at all, and I never expected to let water in her again! We just didn’t work on that stuff!” Theoretically, they should be able to partially flood the ballast tanks and hold the boat with the main deck awash, but with no reports from the rest of the boat, they had no idea if she was leaking or not. “Stand by to adjust the trim,” he added. He saw a ’Cat who seemed to be recovering her composure. “Get a report from all compartments,” he ordered. “See-” he started coughing and had to force himself to stop. “See if we’re leaking anywhere! Assemble damage-control parties. Damn it, this is the Navy! Shit like this happens!” He paused to consider the absurdity of his comment, but shook it off. “We’ve got injured in here! There’ll be injured everywhere. Tex? Where’s Tex?”
“Here, Skipper!” Tex appeared in the hatchway to the forward berthing space. “I got swept along with the tide. Jesus, what hit us? The whole boat looks like a stock trailer flipped.”
“Any leaks forward?”
“Torpedo room’s taking some water, but it won’t sink us. Everybody’s pretty banged up, but they’re shaking it off. Lots of injured. What hit us?” he repeated.