Yugoslav Cruiser Srbija, Friday, 18 February 1944, 1900 GMT
N 34 degrees, 35 minutes, E 18 degrees, 2 minutes
Commodore Anton Lokar looked at the message form and swore silently.
His course change to the southwest to get under the cover of the approaching
ghibli had come back to haunt him. He checked the chart, and found that he was far out of position to effect the rendezvous with the French
Forces Légères d'Attaque as planned. He was too far south and east.
"Signal to all ships," he ordered. "Come to course 355, increase speed to eighteen knots."
He composed a signal in response to the brief message sent by Contra-amiral Lapeyre, indicating the likely place of rendezvous. He could only imagine the Frenchman's reaction.
*****
Aboard the cruiser
De Grasse Capitaine de Vasseau Le Goff plotted the location the Yugoslav flotilla and their point of rendezvous. "Amiral, that is what they indicate," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Lapeyre compared his own plot with what the Yugoslavs ought to have sailed, and where they now indicated they were.
"I suspect that they changed course to throw off the Italians, and then tried to use the sirocco to avoid air surveillance; at least that is the logical explanation," he concluded. "I hope that is what it is."
"If we steer to the southeast we should be able to effect rendezvous before midnight sir," Le Goff replied.
"Please make it so," Lapeyre ordered. "It might not be unwise to rendezvous further south of Sicily."
*****
N 35 degrees 30 minutes, E 16 degrees 14 minutes
Lokar had not left the bridge of the Srbija since receiving the signal from the French admiral.
"Surface contact," came the voice of the radar officer, "bearing three-three-five relative, distance twelve kilometers."
"Slow to twelve knots," Lokar ordered, and the order was repeated to the rest of the flotilla.
"Target bearing steady, distance ten kilometers," the radar operator reported. "Several distinct returns."
"Slow to ten knots" Lokar replied. He went to the port bridge wing and peered through the dust-filled darkness. It was still too far for visual recognition.
"Sound our fog-horn," he said. A moment later a long low-moan escaped into the night, sounding across the waters.
*****
Aboard
De Grasse Lapeyre checked the DEM reports. Several targets on a northerly course, slightly to the southeast of him. The weather however defeated all attempts at visual sighting.
"Sir," Le Goff reported, "the lookouts report hearing a fog horn." The Breton rolled his eyes.
"Our Yugoslav friends do not have the low-power radio equipment of our ships for communication. Let us close slowly and make rendezvous with them. There is no good reason to give the Italians something to listen to."
*****
The First Striking Group and
Forces Légères d'Attaque made rendezvous shortly after 2300 GMT, and settled onto a westerly course. In the morning, if the weather moderated, pleasantries could be exchanged. For the moment, Commodore Anton Lokar was happy enough to have brought this initial phase of the operation to a conclusion, even if it was on a less than fully successful note.