The Ocean Liner

U-113

Todt had the cross hairs of the master sight set amidships on the target. The red lights on the calculator were glowing, indicating that the machine was making its final calculations. There was a breathless silence in the control room, broken only by the voices of the captain and the torpedo aimer.

‘Calculating.’

All eyes flicked to the calculator’s lights, which had turned white.

‘Calculations complete. Ready to fire.

Rudi Hufnagel came clattering down from the bridge. ‘I see the American flag painted on the side,’ he said tautly. ‘And the name of the ship. The captain was not lying. She’s the SS Manhattan. Do you hear me, Captain? She’s the Manhattan.’ He offered Todt the glasses. ‘Go up and take a look.’

‘It makes no difference,’ Todt replied, ignoring the proffered binoculars.

‘No difference? Are you mad? She is a neutral ship!’

‘She is filled with enemies of the Reich. That makes her a legitimate target.’

‘We know nothing about her passengers. And if we sink her, it will bring America into the war!’

‘That is inevitable, in any case. Hitler has spoken many times of Roosevelt’s weakness. America is a mongrel nation, weakened by the blood of the Jews and the Negroes. They will never have the fighting capacity of an Aryan race. They are not even armed, Hufnagel. It will take them years to rearm. We have nothing to fear from them.’

‘Are we really discussing these ridiculous issues here and now?’ Hufnagel asked incredulously.

‘You are right.’ Todt swung back to the aiming column. He put his eyes to the viewfinder and grasped the launch lever. ‘Prepare to launch torpedo one.’ On the panel before him, the red lights went out obediently and the white ‘ready’ light came on.

‘No.’ Hufnagel grasped the shoulder of Todt’s jacket and pulled the commander away from the column. ‘You can’t do this, Todt.’

Todt’s pale grey eyes were alight. ‘I expected this, Hufnagel. You are not going to cheat me of this prize.’ He pulled the Luger from his holster and cocked it. He pointed the pistol at Hufnagel’s face. ‘Stand back or I will shoot you in the head.’

‘You had better shoot, then,’ Hufnagel muttered, moving forward to grapple with his captain.

‘I knew that you would fail in the moment of crisis. Jew-lover.’ Todt pulled the trigger.