Free Roses of Winter by Murdo Morrison Page A

Harry sat a moment longer and went back down to the engine room.
    By noon of the next day, the unloading was coming to an end. They had heard sirens and explosions off and on throughout the morning. Thick dark smoke from burning oil tanks rose high over the harbor. The fires flared up in great licks of flame, subsided briefly, only to rise again the next instant.  
    Charlie was taking the chance to grab a quick bite. As soon as the unloading was complete they would be making a swift departure. He was finishing the last of his tea when a rumbling explosion shook the ship. Before Charlie could think or react, more explosions crashed on his ears, each closer than the last. Bells sounded throughout the ship.  
    Charlie reached the engine room as the telegraph rang around to STANDBY. Charlie swung the handle to acknowledge the command. “Jump tae it lads, it looks like we’ll be leaving sooner than we thought.” They felt, as much as heard, the sound of heavy explosions rattling through the plates of the hull.
    “Christ, that wis close,” Tam McBain muttered.
    “Never mind that Tam, we’re getting out of here,” Charlie said. The telegraph clanged out SLOW ASTERN.   Quickly answering the bridge command, Charlie ordered Harry to get them moving.
    The Jasper pulled back, opening a gap between it and the dockside. Stokes and Tierney ducked down to avoid a hail of debris. The warehouses lining the quay were burning furiously. Coming back up, John saw yet another German aircraft dive. Bombs flew into a warehouse between them and the mouth of the dock. They were at serious risk now of being trapped. Moving slowly in a confined area of water they had few options. All they could do was to continue backing and hope for the best.  
    Two more aircraft swooped down. The bombs from the first plunged directly into the bow of the ship. The Jasper reared up and settled back as the following aircraft’s bombs found targets amidships. The ship’s mast came crashing down on the remains of the for’ard cargo hatch.   Tierney looked over the bridge rail. The men who had been securing the derrick were gone. Flames from below decks roared through the gaping hole that had replaced them. Tierney felt the Jasper settle by the head. It was clear that she would travel no further. He ordered John to signal STOP ENGINES, immediately followed by FINISHED WITH ENGINES.  
    Tierney looked at his stricken ship in despair. He felt the loss of his men and ship keenly. In less than half a minute the Jasper had been overwhelmed. He had always expected to be shipwrecked at sea. Here they were sinking less than 50 feet from the quay. They were in no danger of submerging. The Jasper could only descend a few feet before grounding on the bottom of the dock. Ridiculous as it might sound, he had to give the order he had hoped never to make. He turned to John. “We have little choice. Abandon ship.”  
    They must leave the ship but go …where? The surrounding docklands were ablaze. Tierney looked at the sky. The planes were gone for the moment, but for how long?   He must make the best of this opportunity. “John, send word to the chief to get his men out.”  
    Just then Charlie appeared. “Whit’s gaun on?” Charlie asked, looking around at the devastation.  
    “We’re getting off right away,” John Stokes told him. “Get your men out.”  
    Charlie hurried back down and wasted no words. “We’re tae get aff the ship. But first we’re gaun tae shut down the engine.” Thank Christ for diesel engines , Charlie thought. It’ll get us oot o’ here a damn sight faster. He was thinking of the old-fashioned reciprocating steam engine of his last ship. The Jasper , built in 1937, had the advantage of a modern power plant.  
    “Right lads, that’s it, let’s get oot o’ here.” The explosions had shaken the engine room hard, knocking Tam McBain up against a bulkhead. He sat on the deck plates. Harry and Charlie hauled Tam tae his feet.