WesWorld

The Mindanao Post, Sunday, 29 December 1946

Submarine Temerario, off Kaohsiung, Tuesday, 31 December 1946

The Temerario had been on patrol off the Chinese port for ten days; it was part of the routine picketing of one of China’s nearest and most important naval bases, but that did not make it any less dangerous for the Philippine submarine. They had stayed well out of Chinese territorial waters and had taken great pains to see and not be seen; for this the air mast fitted in the boat had proven invaluable; so too was the caution the officers and crew had taken, presuming any contact to be hostile.

The word was passed calling the captain to the conning tower; the hydrophone operator had heard the approaching screws of an unknown vessel. In the meanwhile the officer of the deck followed standing procedures – slowing the boat, switching to the electric motors, and lowering the air mast – all calculated to help the Temerario avoid detection. The contact was approaching, though not on an intercept course, and the engine sounds suggested a merchant vessel rather than a warship.

“Up periscope” the captain ordered. The thin tube of the search periscope slid upwards, and as soon as it broke the surface the captain put his eye to it.



“A freighter, riding high by the look of her,” he said. “She doesn’t look quite finished though…”

“Running trials?” opined the executive officer.

“Could be,” the captain replied. “If so it would make the second one this month, if the Audaz’s observations are to be trusted.” The Temerario had relieved her sister at mid-month. “China has enough war losses to make good,” he noted.

He ordered the scope lowered, and changed his course to parallel the Chinese vessel in order to get better information on her speed. The ship was large enough to serve as a useful naval auxiliary, and knowledge of any potential Chinese warship was valuable.