During the Great War, an Irishman named Kelly is aboard a ship torpedoed by a German U-boat. He's picked up by the sub and taken prisoner.
This is the premise of "Fathoms Deep," by John Austin Schetty, publishee in the June 1935 issue of High Seas Adventures.
It's a short but fun story. The sub is commanded by the autocratic Von Weber. The crew is maltreated and unhappy. Kelly is put to work on the sub, in fact, to replace a crewman Von Weber had shot in a fit of pique.
Kelly dislikes being a prisoner, but he's not helpless. He befriends a crewman named Schnieder. Schnieder was also born and raised in the States, but was visiting his grandparents in the Old Country when the war broke out and found himself drafted into the German navy.
Kelly uses his friendship to arrange some alone time with the ship's forward pumps. This starts a chain-reaction of trouble for Von Weber. The boat begins to sink by the bow, nearing its crush depth. The crew seems likely to mutiny with Von Weber belatedly realizing he never has bothered winning their loyalty.
Kelly, surprsinging, gives Von Weber a way to get his crew off the sub before they mutiny. But Kelly has plans beyond this--plans of which Von Weber will not approve...
It's a fun story that manages to pull off a few nice plot twists despite it's short length. You can read it online HERE.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment