The Final Voyage

By Jim Bayliss

Human evil and the random forces of nature work in deadly harmony.

About to leave Auckland, homeward bound on her final voyage before being scrapped, the Takapuna Princess is targeted for sabotage in an act of revenge for Britain's abortive invasion of the Suez Canal.

The sabotage devices are timed to operate after Takapuna Princess has left Auckland.

However, a natural disaster leads to the ship sailing earlier than expected and the sabotage plan is spoiled.

Nevertheless, the old ship is sent deep into the Southern Ocean to meet an uncertain fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528960960

Jim Bayliss

During a career in the Merchant Navy, followed by a stint in the building industry, Jim Bayliss studied electronics and eventually spent much of his time working in this field. An artist and music lover, he works from his home in the rural county of Dorset.

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Ocean

About the Author

During a career in the Merchant Navy as a young man, followed by a stint in the building industry, he studied electronics and eventually spent much of his time working ashore in this field. An artist and music lover, working in his home in the rural county of Dorset, this is his first novel.

About the Book

Human evil and the random forces of nature work in deadly harmony.

About to leave Auckland, homeward bound on her final voyage before being scrapped, the Takapuna Princess is targeted for sabotage in an act of revenge for Britain’s abortive invasion of the Suez Canal.

The sabotage devices are timed to operate after Takapuna Princess has left Auckland.

However, a natural disaster leads to the ship sailing earlier than expected and the sabotage plan is spoiled.

Nevertheless, the old ship is sent deep into the Southern Ocean to meet an uncertain fate.

Copyright Information

Copyright © Jim Bayliss (2019)

The right of Jim Bayliss to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528914635 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528960960 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

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Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Prologue

Tangiwai, Mid North Island, New Zealand, 3 am, Friday November 9th, 1956

The long train snaked its way north, two powerful steam locomotives pulling nearly a quarter of a mile of refrigerated trucks loaded with lamb carcases bound for Auckland, to be transferred into the refrigerated holds of the Takapuna Princess.

Chatting to each other over the all-pervading noise on the footplates of the two engines, the engineers worked to build up a head of steam ready for the long climb up the south eastern slopes of the mountain range that led up to the Tongariro lava plain.

Gradually increasing speed, the train approached Tangiwai, The Place of Weeping Waters, where the rails crossed the Whangaehu River, supported some thirty feet above the gravel-strewn riverbed by a long viaduct built of wooden trestles.

Late the previous evening, far to the south, staff at the seismic monitoring station in Christchurch had become concerned. The normal series of tiny earth tremors that showed the Pacific plate was moving smoothly into the fault off New Zealand’s east coast had stopped. This was often a precursor to a much larger tremor or even a full-blown earthquake, so the station had issued a warning.

The train had started its journey before the warning had permeated through the system and of course the hundreds of tiny tremors that assailed New Zealand every day were only detectable by delicate instruments. They were too small to be noticeable on the ground, never mind on the bucking and jerking engine footplates. However, the considerable quake that struck as the train approached the Whangaehu River bridge caused the engine to move more than usual and was felt by the two engineers on each engine who, unaware of the impending crisis, registered it only as the train passing over a particularly badly deformed piece of track.

A few miles north of the train it was a very different story.

On the southern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, an active volcano at the southern end of the Tongariro chain, a lake, surrounded by ice, nestled in the old crater. Although it sometimes had a thin coating of ice in the winter, the lake was normally kept just above freezing point by the thermal activity deep inside the still volcanically active mountain.

The lake was high up below the peak and was surrounded by hanging glaciers. It was contained within the crater by a natural dam consisting of volcanic debris, tuff and ice. The dam stopped the lake from draining away down the south eastern slopes into the headwaters of the Whangaehu River and only the overflow of melt waters, which formed the river, flowed down through a steep sided rocky valley and spread out over the narrow gravely plain in the valley base, forming a tracery of fast moving blue green streams that were tinged grey with the sediment that they brought down the mountainside.

As the quake struck, the still surface of the lake trembled and, almost instantly, huge bubbles burst through the surface, further disturbing the surface and filling the air with a sulphurous smell.

The earthquake caused the ground to shake and suddenly move several feet in one direction and then back again. This was more than the lower, more unstable sections of the surrounding hanging glaciers could withstand and they began to break away from the underlying rock. In a few instants, many thousands of tons of ice plunged into the lake, sending huge waves across its surface and raising its surface level by almost a metre.

With the loss of this support, much of the higher sections of the glacier followed the lower sections into the lake raising the water level even more.

At the South end of the lake, a huge block of thousands of tons of ice hurtled down the mountainside and smashed partly into the lake and partly onto the flimsy natural dam that held the lake in place.

The enormous impact smashed the top of the natural dam, already weakened by the earthquake, lowering its top far below the new level of the swollen lake surface. Even more glacial ice, loosened by the quake, continued to rain down the sides of the crater into the lake.

A wall of water many metres high leaped from the lake and poured onto the front face of the natural dam, eroding its surface as if it were sand. Filled with ice and the debris of the now destroyed dam, the lake water thundered through the gap in the crater wall, tearing away at the remaining sides of the dam, further destroying its capability to contain the lake and steadily increasing the already huge outflow of water, ice and rock.

In less than a minute, the dam was completely destroyed down to bedrock and the three quarter mile long, half-mile wide lake, already visibly lowered, rapidly began to empty itself down the narrow gorge. Stripping away ice and volcanic debris with unstoppable power, it quickly became a fearsome lahar, a highly mobile liquid slurry of water into which were mixed pieces of ice and rocks varying in size from tiny grains to huge boulders.

Ninety seconds later a wall of water, debris and ice, twenty feet high and augmented by material scoured from the valley sides, surged out of the gorge at more than seventy miles an hour. Filling the narrow valley from side to side it gouged rocks, gravel, earth and trees from the riverbed and banks, becoming more destructive with every passing second. As the valley bottom sloped less steeply than the gorge, the raging flood slowed slightly, so that the pressure from above forced the lahar to catch up with itself, building the front face of the lahar higher and higher into an appalling natural fist that still travelled at a terrifying speed.

Hardly three minutes after the quake, as the two engines pulling the long train were more than three quarters of the way across the viaduct and the tail end of the line of trucks was still approaching the start of the wooden river crossing, the mighty torrent smashed into the trestles of the bridge overtopping the train tracks by more than ten feet. The bridge was wiped off the map as though it had never existed.

Moments before the thunderous flood smashed into the viaduct, the roar of the torrent, sounding like a dozen locomotives charging at full speed, drowned out the normal heavy noise of the footplate environment. The engineers started to turn to each other in mute query but before they had the chance to voice their panicking thoughts, disaster struck.

Although heavy masses of steel, the two engines were instantly tumbled over and over into the raging flood, as the support of the bridge was taken from underneath them.

Battered by chunks of ice and boulders they were crumpled and smashed, the engineers dying before they could suffer or comprehend what had happened.

The lighter trucks suffered a similar fate to the engines although some, particularly the last two that were dragged into the liquid soup of water, rock and ice by the trucks in front of them, managed to float on the surface for a while before being dragged under the swirling surface, pounded onto the river bed and crushed beyond recognition by the tearing force of the swiftly moving, destructive slurry of water, ice and rock that made up the now fully fledged lahar.

A mile downstream from the viaduct, the river valley began to open out into an undulating grassy plain and freed from the confines of the high banks, the floodwaters were able to spread outwards, dissipating their massive energies and relieving the pressure that had forced it down the valley with such destructive power. As the valley broadened into the plain, the floodwaters finally began to slow down from their fierce passage and began progressively to deposit their load of debris. The finer gravel, earth and pulverised wood lingered the longest and travelled far out into the plain in a spreading arc.

The two engines, battered beyond recognition by the churning, boulder-filled waters were carried more than half a mile downstream before they became immovably embedded in the gravelly riverbed, where they were further smashed by passing boulders and almost completely buried.

The lighter trucks and their cargoes were completely disintegrated, churned into tiny pieces by the power of the seething rock filled waters. Axles and wheels were carried out of the river and onto the plains before the tumultuous waters relented sufficiently to give them up, while the remnants of the lamb carcases were, in the days to come, to provide a bonanza for birds and wildlife for dozens of miles across the plains.

In Waiouru, some seven miles away, noise from the disaster caused concern among the local residents. Some of them headed down the road towards Tangiwai and, finding what had happened, were able to alert the authorities to the tragedy so that what would turn out to be a futile search and rescue operation could be mounted.

Chapter 1

The Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, the afternoon of Friday November 9th 1956, Takapuna Princess

The Takapuna Princess was old and known throughout the fleet as a happy ship. However, although her crew did not yet know it, she was in trouble.

After nearly thirty years and more than a million sea miles the one time flagship of the Princess Line was ready to be retired. She had just set sail on the homeward leg of her final voyage, a voyage that would end at the breakers yard where the once proud ship would be torn into scrap.

In spite of this impending fate, her owners, Federated Antipodean Steam Transport Company (1912) Limited, more often than not abbreviated to FASTCO or the more familiar Princess Line, insisted that normal standards were kept and her crew willingly cooperated in keeping the old ship looking trim and shipshape.

So, as she sailed through the Hauraki Gulf, the day workers were busy with hoses and brooms, washing away the dust and clearing the debris left behind by the dockworkers, who had loaded her holds during their stay in Auckland.

The previous day had started like any other but then the agent had brought the cable from the owners and a chain of events had begun that would have consequences both good and bad.

Chapter 2

The Suez crisis

The cable had been sent to all the company ships because of the Suez Canal crisis, the resultant canal closure and rise in fuel costs. It was brief and to the point saying only:

‘Due situation Suez, use fuel conserving courses and speeds stop Except as necessary bunker only in…’ then listing the few ports where fuel was the least expensive.

The Suez Canal, owned by the British and French Suez Canal Company, opened in 1869 after eleven years of construction. Compared to the route around the southern tip of Africa, the Canal considerably reduced the travel distance for European shipping to and from the markets of the Far East, saving time, fuel and money.

After operating for eighty-seven years, mostly under the control of the British Army, trouble that had been brewing for years came to a head on 29th October 1956. Israeli troops, in a secret collaboration with the British and French, invaded Egypt. This invasion gave Britain and France an excuse to also invade Egypt in a sham operation to protect the internationally important Canal.

Britain started by bombing Cairo International Airport and next day, November 1st, bombed fighter planes on the ground, severely reducing Egypt’s air capacity.

On November 4th, British people expressed their horror and antipathy towards the action with a massive anti-war demonstration in London. Marchers reached Downing Street where the demonstration became riotous. Fearing violent consequences, police intervened to restore order.

Although the UN, the outside world, most of the British populace and both his political colleagues and opponents were against military action, Prime Minister Eden still managed to persuade his cabinet to go ahead with the invasion and early on November 5th, paratroopers landed at El Gamil airfield west of Port Said. Supported by French paratroopers, they took the airfield against strong resistance from Egyptian troops and civilians and moved on to Port Said at the northern end of the canal.

Before dawn on November 6th, 1956, British commandoes and marines landed from the sea to support the paratroopers and a naval bombardment began against Port Said’s defences.

Although the taking of Port Said by the end of the day was a military success and it was thought the troops would gain control of the whole canal the next day; politically things were going from bad to worse with military and financial threats from Russia and America.

As a result of the invasion, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Britain and France and issued a statement to the effect that it would sell no oil to either country. At the same time, pipeline-pumping stations in Syria were blown up by Russians, thus stopping the flow of oil to the West from the British controlled Iraq Petroleum Company.

In further retaliation, the Egyptians sank a number of ships in the canal, completely blocking the short sea route for oil tankers from the oil wells of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf.

Taken together, these setbacks deprived Britain of two thirds of its Middle East oil and plunged the whole world into a disastrous period of fuel shortages and escalating fuel prices. The invasion had become a debacle that would lead to Eden’s downfall.

By Tuesday November 6th, the possibility that WWIII would break out became only too real. First Russia issued veiled threats to launch nuclear ICBMs at targets in Britain and France. Then the USA countered, suggesting that if British or French cities were bombed they would retaliate in kind. To back up the threat, American aircraft carriers were sent steaming towards Europe.

Because of this severe international pressure and in the face of increasing worldwide hostility and threats to their economies, Britain and France were forced to declare a cease-fire at midnight on Tuesday, 6th November. By that time they had captured Port Said and the northern 25 miles of the canal.

Britain had been forced to back down and the invading troops were ordered to withdraw just before Christmas.

The long term situation in Egypt, arising from the presence of the occupying forces, the endemic corruption prevalent in public life and the political system that kept the poor firmly at the bottom of the social heap with no way to influence the affairs of their own country, formed a background of discontent and unrest that had in turn led, at the dawn of the twentieth century, to the formation of Freedom Crescent.

At first the group was little more than a small gathering of malcontents and, although they had ambitious ideals to get the British out of Egypt and of reforming the social system, they did not have the wherewithal or any ideas as to how these lofty aims could be achieved.

So, until a young firebrand joined their almost ineffectual organisation, Freedom Crescent was little more than a talking shop where its members could vent their feelings of frustration and anger.

Chapter 3

Cairo, November 1956

Even within the elite of the group, little was known about the leader of Freedom Crescent. However, the young man, who joined the erstwhile terrorist group and rose rapidly through their thin ranks, was destined to make a big difference to their largely ineffectual activities.

There were many theories about this young man, who had become the leader, but few real facts. Even his name was a mystery and he was known simply as El Cherif.

It was thought that he had been born into a wealthy family, was well educated and that his father had been a politician. The most prevalent theory was that sickened, when he was old enough to learn about his father’s corrupt ways, instead of embracing them he turned away from his family and became a militant fanatic, twisting the words of Islam to suit his nefarious purposes.

Whatever his real background, he was a commanding presence with the ability to sway others with his words and the sheer power of his personality. His character made it easy for him to take over the leadership of Freedom Crescent, from the weak though voluble council and once he was in charge, he began to make the organisation work towards its ambitious ideals with some purpose.

They started in small ways, fomenting protest and bringing people onto the streets to cause disruption, making sure that the police and army were kept busy trying to keep order. They soon moved to more concrete actions, secretly fomenting riot, murder and destruction.

By the time of the Suez Crisis, Freedom Crescent was a highly organised band of insurgents with a secure cell structure, a sophisticated intelligence gathering service and was causing regular problems to the country’s leaders and occupation forces.

The cool air in the small room at the rear of a mosque in Cairo was a pleasant relief to the five men, who entered a few minutes apart, from the unseasonably stifling heat of the streets of the busy metropolis.

Each man was swathed in bulky flowing clothing and one end of their turbans was wound across the lower parts of their faces making it difficult to see more than their eyes.

Only acknowledging each other with a nod, each man took his seat on one of the six cushions, arranged in a circle on the tiled floor and they sat in silence awaiting the arrival of the one who had summoned them.

The door opened again allowing the buzz of many voices into the room as a tall, grey bearded man entered.

All five of the earlier arrivals stood and clasping their hands they bowed their heads as a mark of obeisance to their acknowledged leader.

The tall man lowered himself to the remaining cushion in a fluid movement and, with a downward gesture of his hand, bade his lieutenants to re-seat themselves.

Leaning his head forward, for some minutes he lost himself in contemplation, his lieutenants automatically following his lead.

The slight rustle of his clothes, as he sat upright, alerted his lieutenants that the meeting would now start.

Without preamble the leader began, ’I have taken the unusual step of bringing the five of you together for the first time because I need action taken quickly.

’When this meeting is over you will expunge from your minds, any lingering memory of the faces and voices of the men around you.

’As you are all only too aware, for the last eighty-seven years we have been cursed by the presence of the British infidels on our sovereign soil. We have not suffered their presence in silence. Our organisation has been giving the occupying force a difficult time for many years. But now we must take revenge for the cowardly invasion. We must do something to make the world realise that the infidels cannot attack us with impunity.

’You know that we have been invaded, first by the accursed Israelis and now by their lackeys the British and French.

’You may not yet know it but we are not alone in our struggles.

’The Saudi’s, not normally our best friends, have broken off diplomatic relations with Britain and France and told them they will stop their oil supplies.

’Also, the Russians who have helped us in secret for many years have now devastated the British by destroying the pumping stations for the pipeline that brings oil to the West from Iraq.

‘Our own people have sunk ships in the canal to block the short route for tankers carrying oil to the West. For the moment this will hurt the infidels although in the long run it may be prove to have been a mistake, as it will take time to remove the blockage and restore the income that the Canal brings to us all.’

He paused for breath and to give his lieutenants time for his words to burrow home.

’Now it is time for us in Freedom Crescent to come out of the shadows. We must openly strike strongly and quickly, in a way that will hurt the infidels, where they least expect to be hurt. We must show the imperialist dogs that we can strike at them at will, anywhere in the world.

’In the future, the name Freedom Crescent will be feared by our enemies. They must be made to think twice before they take any more action against us.

’The British dog of a leader Eden has insulted us more than once. He has made insulting remarks about our glorious leader and taken away his support for the mighty Aswan project, even so we have stayed our hand. For almost two years, we have done nothing, thankful that the British have finally agreed to leave our country.

‘But now the cursed infidels who have invaded our motherland must be punished.’ He paused for effect before continuing.

’We must act quickly and decisively and inflict as much pain and loss on them as we can.

’When we have acted, I will announce to the world that we have punished those responsible for the deaths of our countrymen and the name Freedom Crescent will come to be feared by the Western world.

‘I have already instructed each of you to make, or prepare a plan in readiness for this day. You may now report to me on the current readiness of your plans and I will decide when and where we will act.’

Turning to the man on his left he said, ‘You first.’

’Eminence, I have a man in the next room willing and eager to give his life to our cause. His wife and only son were killed by a stray bomb when the infidels attacked the airport. He has nothing left to live for and his dearest wish is to hurt those who caused his loss and to join his loved ones in the afterlife.

’I have prepared a satchel bomb that he can easily conceal within his robes. The bomb can be detonated by operating a simple switch that he can hold in his hand. The wires and the switch will be hidden in his sleeve, so that he will not look at all suspicious.

’There are many targets we could choose but I have primed him with instructions to approach the embassy of the hated British and to explode the bomb when he gets as near to it as he can.

‘However, I have to advise your Eminence that in the present situation, the embassy guards will be in a high state of readiness and it may be that all this man can achieve is to kill a few guards and perhaps damage the walls near the gate to the embassy compound.’

‘You are right to warn me of this, however, your plan has the merit that it can be initiated immediately.’ And pointing at the man to the left of the one whose plan had just been revealed he said, ‘You next.’

‘Alas Eminence, my plan is more complex and requires some four weeks advance notice to bring it to fruition. I must respectfully decline to put it forward if you require immediate action.’

His displeasure evident in the rising colour of his cheeks, the leader looked into the eyes of the man opposite him, ‘You then.’

‘I beg a thousand pardons your Eminence. I also have a complex plan that cannot be brought to a head, until January at the earliest. It has the benefit of striking deep into the heart of the enemy in London but like my colleague, I must ask that I do not present my plan at this time.’

‘Have I surrounded myself with incompetents?’ the leader burst out, his displeasure getting the better of his normal self-control, ‘What can you offer?’ he almost shouted, looking at the next man in the circle.

‘Operation Compass Rose,’ responded the next man, smugly glancing at his shamed colleagues. ‘For several years, I have had a sleeper within the bosom of the enemy infidels. Although currently in New Zealand, he can be awakened to action within a few hours. You may remember Haroun al Raschid, my Lord, although he is now known as Ernie White.’

‘Indeed I can, an angry and disillusioned bitter young man.’

’Eminence, when you called the meeting I surmised that you would want to take early action and so, I made a check on the current readiness of operation Compass Rose before coming to the mosque.

’As you may recall, Haroun al Raschid was tasked with continually dry running the operation, so that he would be able to run it for real with a minimum of notice.

’My sources advise me that I can begin the operation and strike against the infidels within two to four days.

’This operation has a number of advantages to offset the small delay in bringing it to completion.

’Firstly, it will take place on the other side of the world, proving to our enemies that Freedom Crescent can strike at will at a time and place of its choosing.

‘Secondly, as well as ending the lives of many of our enemies, it destroys some of their material wealth and is a blow to their already faltering economy.’

‘This is a good plan,’ remarked the leader, ‘now what of the last?’

‘My Lord, I also am running operation Compass Rose but my sleeper is currently at sea and would not be able to initiate action until he arrives in port. His ship is due in Panama in eight days’ time, but he will not be in port for long enough to execute his plan until the ship arrives in Galveston in a further three days. I therefore, believe that my plan is no use to you in our present circumstances.’

The Leader considered for a few moments only.

‘We will use two plans,’ he finally said.

’We will use operation Compass Rose and time the attack on the embassy to occur, as near as we can, to the culmination of Compass Rose.

‘The two of you, go now to set your plans in motion then return to us as soon as you have done so. I would hear more of the details before we go our separate ways.’

The suicide bomber waiting for his instructions was told to go into the mosque and pray until later, when his mission would be fully explained to him.

The organiser of Operation Compass Rose strode away from the mosque and sent a cable to one of his team based in London.

The cable, sent to an import agency in London simply said, ‘The dates are ready for shipment.’ Already primed by earlier coded exchanges of cables with his master about the man he only knew as Ernie White, the recipient knew that he had to immediately contact Ernie, telling him to activate his plan and reply with its timing.

His cable to Ernie was equally brief, ‘Can you return, Mother not well.’

Within hours the reply that arrived was, ‘Unable to return until after 11th.’

Understanding the hidden meaning in this cable, his final cable to his master read ‘Ship the dates on the 11th.’

His master was now able to return to the mosque with the news that Operation Compass Rose would come to fulfilment on Sunday, November 11th.

In the small cool room he reported to the Leader.

’My Lord, I have activated Operation Compass Rose and I am able to report to you that it will cause the destruction of British lives and materiel on Sunday, November 11th.

‘Of course, because he has to amend the basic plan for every different situation in which he finds himself, I cannot be aware of the exact details of how Haroun al Raschid intends to bring Operation Compass Rose to a successful conclusion. However, in essence, he will plant his devices on a British ship in such a way that they will operate at a crucial time causing the destruction of the ship and her crew.’

‘Tell us about Haroun al Raschid,’ the Leader demanded, ‘how is it that he became one of us?’

’Of course, my Lord. Haroun al Raschid and a small band of his supporters, his mother and two other men, tried to join us here in Cairo.

’Loyal followers reported to us that this group, who we did not know, were trying to join us. Therefore, we found out what we could about them and followed them to see what they did.

’When we had discovered all we could by that method we took them and questioned them rigorously.

’What we discovered was interesting. The woman, Leilah El Zhar, had married a German, Hans Hugo Weiss, before the last war. Weiss was a spy and met the woman through work she did with dissident groups. She worked against the British and took information from our own group to the Germans to help them against the British.

’During the war, their son Ernst was in the German navy and did some undercover work with freedom fighters in the Egyptian desert, always fighting the British.

‘After the war the boy and his mother came back to Egypt and sought out the freedom fighters he had worked with during the war. After a while, he took the name Haroun al Raschid and joined the ranks of the faithful.’

He paused and sipped some water.

’One of our operatives was able to vouch for the woman. In fact, he had worked with her before the war, but we took the time to make sure that the four of them were indeed just what they claimed, more specifically that they were not working for some organisation against us. Once we were fairly sure