Selene
Copyright© 2022 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 17
About the sunk sub. The Catalina PBY that dropped the bombs reported the location. A Coast Guard motor lifrboat was sent to check but there was no debris at the spot ... and no oilslick. If there wasn’t an oil slick just after it sank ... then ... knowing how metal and saltwater interact ... there would be an oil slick soon. I mean, the covers covering the mines the sub carried were rusting through. She was laying on her side ... mines were spilling out and popping up all over the beaches of coastal Texas.
Mostly, a mine or two washed ashore after sever weather events.
These mines bore the German designation SMA. They were moored influence mines for laying from the vertical mine tubes of Type VIID and XB U-boats. Introduced in 1942, they were made of an aluminum alloy shell to reduce detection. They could be moored either 219 fathoms (400 m) or 328 fathoms (600 m) deep and had a 772 lbs. (350 kg) charge. That they were dangerous was evidenced by the violence of the blast when ordnance demolition crews blew them up.
BIG BANG!
One wonders how many of the myriad of missing boats were the result of the mines primary mission.
Sink Ships.
How many pleasure cruisers made direct contact?
“Oh, look ... a turtle.”
From the surface the mine looks like a sleeping turtle. A little more round ... but how many pleasure cruising retirees know turtles?
“Let’s go see.”
Yup. Exactly like you’re thinking.
Now ... supposing that ... bang ... just happened to the CEO of a multi million dollar corporation and he, his wife, the heir and number two in the will were all on board. Yup ... either bankrupt or an executive swindle.
So ... heading back to Galveston ... I decided to see what had been done about the German minelaying submersible. I knew where ... my graphic printer stores a copy ... what? You think I’d let the government take my electronics.
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