Dust on the Sea by Edward L. Beach

another chance to go off by ourselves.”
    â€œMe too, Keith, but that’s the way the ball bounced this time. Anyway, you know Blunt’s an old friend and ex-skipper of mine. It will be great having him along with us.”
    The look on Keith’s face showed his doubt. Clearly, Keith shared his skipper’s silent reservations.
    The chief problem of coordination between submarines, as all parties to the wolfpack well knew, was that of communication, Submarines patrolling close to an enemy shore spent their days submerged, surfacing to recharge their batteries under cover of darkness. When well away from land they might extend their daylight patrol radius by remaining on the surface, but they had to be ready to dive instantly if in danger of detection.
    Once a radio circuit was established between surface ships, transmission and receipt of messages could be virtually assured. Because onenever knew when a submarine might be submerged, however, such certainty could never exist between the members of a wolfpack. Very long wave signals from a powerful nearby shore station could be received to a shallow depth with a specially insulated antenna, but the high frequency radio signal of even a nearby submarine could not be heard beneath the surface; nor could a boat transmit while submerged. Furthermore, a receipting system was mandatory, for otherwise there would be no assurance that a particular message of extreme importance had been received by one’s wolfpack mates. A submarine required to make an important transmission, for example an enemy contact report, very likely might have only seconds available before combat or initimate danger. But she could never be sure the message had been received until at least one other boat transmitted a radio receipt signal. She would have to wait, possibly repeat the message, and thus further compromise herself.
    The longer the radio message, the greater the chance of its interception by an alert enemy. This could lead to location of the transmitting submarine by a direction-finding station, even to breaking down the code of the message. The result would be a paucity of enemy traffic through the suspect area and a greater likelihood of antisub sweeps. Some wolfpacks had developed special codes to reduce the lengths of their radio transmissions. Keith had been an interested follower of the systems devised, and several times he had stated they did not go far enough. Communications between its members, he said, was the crucial weakness of all wolfpacks. It had been left almost entirely to the communications officers and senior radiomen, whereas clearly it should receive the personal attention of the wolfpack commanders and skippers. Keith’s impassioned presentation easily convinced Richardson, who had long harbored the same thoughts himself. The interview with Blunt ended as Keith and Rich had hoped, with Blunt’s approval of Keith’s ideas. But, beyond giving support to the project in general terms, the prospective wolfpack commander had displayed surprising passivity, almost disinterest.
    â€œYou’d think he thinks it’s easy!” burst out Keith, once safely out of earshot.
    â€œHe’s just depending on us, especially you, since it’s your idea. He’s paying you a compliment.”
    â€œI don’t read him that way at all. He just doesn’t realize how tough it is to talk to another boat out in the area!”
    â€œCome on, Keith. Neither have we experienced the problem so far. He knows what he’s doing. Anyway, we’ve got his backing. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Richardson’s words were mild enough, butthere was a snap of finality to them. His protective instinct regarding Blunt had overreached; he had overdone it. Keith had felt the slight degree of asperity and was giving him a troubled look.
    Two days after the new Chicolar had been welcomed from Mare Island, the three skippers and their wolfpack