The Iowa Sisters #2 The Red North

Chapter 8

CARIBBEAN SEA MAY 1951 "NEW JERSEY"

Ok pop quiz. First question, what do you do when you see two state policemen running at you in their little speedboat? A. do you stand and fight B. so you turn yourself in and be arrested. C. do you run away. Or D. do you hide.

Answer's C. I don't care how tough you are. You don't stand and fight, you don't get incarcerated or hide, you run, period!

No, I can't say for certain if that is the correct thing to do or not but it is what we did and I'll take my example over some lousy law councilor's words any day. Now, where was I? Oh yeah.

So, Iowa and I were running full speed to Norfolk with a speedboat on our tail. Unfortunately, the speedboat could go faster our top speed and was quickly gaining.

"We need to get out of Texan waters, they can't follow us into the open sea it's against the law." Iowa said. "Sounds good to me, let's go!" I replied and raced off to the south away from the coast.

This was before the established 200 mile limit so every state had its own zone. Texas was somewhere between 15 and 30 miles off the coast. Anywhere south of there was international waters. If Iowa and I reached that, we were home free. "Come on sis, can't you go any faster?" Iowa called.

"I'm doing 30 knots." I replied. "That's three knots slower than our top speed." Iowa complained. "Well I'm a bit shorthanded in the boiler rooms right at the moment." I retorted.

"They're gaining on us." Iowa warned. "I know, their top speed is twice that of ours, they'll gain no matter what." I replied.

As it turns out, even reaching international waters didn't save us. The patrolmen had called ahead and there was a coast guard cutter with the proper permit on the way to intercept. "Well that's just great." I complained.

"Look on the bright side, they're not as fast as the speedboat." Iowa said. "No, but they are as fast as we are. We'll have to maintain top speed until we reach another country." I said.

We didn't have time to completely refuel in Houston and had very little fuel for a run like this. "This is cutting it close sis!" Iowa called. "I know." I replied.

"How much fuel can we get from a millimeter of fat spread out over a 2600 ft2 area?" She asked. "Um, maybe 200 miles max." I replied. "Why, you all out of fuel?" I asked. "Almost." She replied.

"Well don't switch until you do." I ordered. She nodded.

All ships had a small layer of fat on the inside of their hulls, usually about 30 feet high. It stretches from bow to stern along the keel and sides and appears as a clear substance that is only noticeable when the ship uses it by melting it down into usable fuel or lube oil.

I heard Iowa make a sickening rumbling sound as her boilers used the last of her fuel. "I have to switch!" She called. I nodded and slowed down to wait for her. Unfortunately that allowed the coast guard cutter to start catching up to us.

"Hurry Iowa, she's gaining!" I called. She nodded and closing her eyes she pushed as hard as she could. "There, got it!" She called. "Alright, let's get moving." I ordered. The cutter was only a half mile away. We quickly got up to speed and continued racing southward.

"Where's the nearest port?" She asked. "Port-au-Prince in Haiti about 200 miles to the east." I replied. "You just had to cut it this close." She growled. I winced. "Don't start with me sis, I'm in a bad enough mood as it is. We should be arriving off Virginia and helping that injured ship, not running from a coast guard cutter into unknown waters." I retorted, avoiding the name Wisconsin. I didn't want Iowa to know and after all I could be wrong.