Ravager and Collin: A Tale From The Aerial Corps of England

By Michael Moses

Will Collin Turner survive one night?Will Ravager live through his wounds?During the Napoleonic wars, tens of thousands died in the Aerial Corps of England. Riding dragons that could be the size of warships, they fight in the ongoing battle against Bonaparte. Collin Turner, an English submariner, finds himself in this mystical world after an intentional raid goes exactly as unexpected.Will Collin survive one night?Will Ravager live through his wounds?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Moses
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781674202808

Book preview

CH1 

The hull of R.S.C.-417 was barely distinguishable from the ocean that surrounded it, except to the men that crewed it. As he stood on the conning tower, Captain Collin Turner cursed Satan for the current rough weather that made effective commerce raiding so difficult. On the top of the conning tower of the submarine, the man looked through his binoculars, looking for a specific convoy. More specifically, he was looking for the cruiser that contained the single highest value target of all the ships in the convoy. Normally, directly assaulting a cruiser would be almost suicidal for a lone submarine, but this submarine was specifically modified for the task, and the crew specially trained for the operation they would have to undertake.

Ross, do you see anything?, Collin asked, turning to his first officer.

I see nothing captain. Though with these big waves, they could be virtually on top of us and we would not see a thing. As if to accentuate the man’s words, a wave crashed against the conning tower and blinded the men for a brief moment.

Brushing off some water and blinking his eyes, Collin turned to another lookout, Do you see anything? The man asked.

Not a thing captain, the lookout responded. This lovely little storm obscures an awful lot of the environment. Convoys also seem to love camouflage for some reason.

Turning to the ship’s sorcerer, Collin spoke again. Do you sense any ships nearby, master sorcerer? He asked.

Call me James, and no. I don’t sense any ships nearby, the man responded, before Collin could even finish his sentence.  Turning back to his magical detection sphere, the man continued to examine the surrounding ocean for signs of human life.

Another wave hit R.S.C.-417, this one more forceful than the others. The deck vibrated with such force under the impact that the thought of what happened to the submarine made Collin wince. He briefly wondered if they would be able to reach their maximum test depth should the need arise. Visibility nil captain, it’s useless! Ross shouted.

Another day wasted, Collin thought. Prepare to take her down! he shouted. A moment later, he shouted again. Get below! the five lookouts on deck immediately slid down the ladder to the safety of the bridge in quick succession, and Collin himself followed barely five seconds after. Turning to the helmsman, he said, Take us down to sixty meters and hold at that depth until the storm passes or we run out of battery power, whichever comes sooner. Sixty meters depth and hold, Aye! the man responded.

Immediately upon submerging, the pronounced roll of the submarine became less pronounced. At twenty meters, the once violent roll of the ship was reduced to a comfortable rocking. At sixty meters, the roll was almost calming to Collin, and the submarine seemed less an instrument of death and more a calm cradle of happiness. Looking at the clock on the bridge, the man realized that it was time for him to get some sleep.

The second night of hunting began immediately upon Collin waking up. The submarine had surfaced, recharged its batteries, and submerged again. Now surfaced again, the mission would begin anew. Once again night had fallen, and once again, the hunt was resumed. This time, the sea was smooth as glass. Collin thanked God for providing ideal conditions for this night of hunting.

Looking through his binoculars, Collin swept the ocean for the convoy. Nothing. Mr. Grinsby, James, anything in sight? Collin responded.

Not a ripple, let alone a ship hull. I do hope we do not have another day of useless activity, Grinsby responded.

James. Do you detect anything?  Collin inquired.

The convoy is close now. The cruiser we seek is with them. It is an Indomptible class heavy cruiser of approximately three thousand five hundred tons. I can roughly sense their presence now, and it is approximately twenty kilometers away on heading two-one-seven. Not within visual range, but I can detect the presence. James responded.

Immediately Collin barked out the series of orders necessary to prepare the submarine for combat. With the confidence of an experienced captain, his voice rang out with the required orders. Left full rudder! Turn to heading two-one-seven! Set torpedo guidance computer state to active! Load deck gun with armor piercing! Set shaft speed to one-five-zero percent! Ready tubes one through six for over water shots! Prepare for combat!

At one-five-zero percent speed to the shafts, the distance between the submarine and the target closed with surprising speed, and it seemed like virtually no time at all until Collin was able to begin feeding targeting data to the crew. Make tubes one though six clear for an over-water shot, the man shouted. Now it begins, the man thought. A moment later, he had approximately estimated the size of the ships and was ready to begin targeting the merchantmen.

Range to target one, thirty five hundred yards. Target one bow angle zero-seven-zero degrees. Target one speed eight knots. Set torpedo one to thirty knots. Flood tube one in preparation for launch. Shoot. Below the man, the submarine vibrated as the first torpedo left its tube and went on its deadly way to target one.

Range to target two, thirty six hundred yards. Target two bow angle one-zero-zero degrees. Target two speed twelve knots. Set torpedo two to forty-six knots. Flood tube two in preparation for launch. Shoot.

Range to target three, four thousand yards. Target three bow angle one-zero-seven degrees. Target three speed fifteen knots. Set torpedo Three to fifty knots. Flood tube three in preparation for launch. Shoot.

Range to target four, nine hundred yards. Target four bow angle one-two-seven degrees. Target four speed ten knots. Set torpedo four to twenty five knots. Flood tube four in preparation for launch. Shoot.

Cruiser! a lookout shouted. Turning fast, Collin saw the cruiser. It was indeed an Indomptible class cruiser as the sorcerer predicted, and the true target of the submarine. The man bellowed, Right full rudder! Set course to zero-three-seven! Set speed to Seventy knots! Prepare for boarding action! Boarding crew to the top! Estimated time to target one-eight-eight seconds! As the boarding crew flew up