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She missed Waikahalulu Bay by five miles. Her skipper, Lieutenant Commander Edwin R. Lennox, USN, a stocky, round-faced, sandy-haired officer who had three days before celebrated his thirtieth birthday, was disappointed, but not surprised. There was really no good way to read the currents of the Alenuihaha Channel or the offshore waters of the island.

When his periscope picked up the targets, without taking his eyes from the rubber eyepieces of the periscope. Commander Lennox softly ordered, "Battle stations, Mr. Rutherford. Gun crews to stand by."

"Aye, aye. Sir," Lieutenant William G. Rutherford, USNR, the Drum's twenty seven-year-old executive officer, a tall, black-haired, skinny man, said. He pushed the heel of his hand against a round brass knob. A bell clanged throughout the submarine, and there was frenzied activity everywhere but around the periscope itself.

"Steer zero eight five," Commander Lennox ordered.

"Coming to zero eight five, it is. Sir," the helmsman said. And a moment later, "Sir, the course is zero eight five."

"Periscope down," Commander Lennox said.

"Take her to one hundred feet."

Commander Lennox slapped the handles of the periscope in the up position.

"Down periscope," he ordered, and the periscope moved downward.

"One hundred feet, Sir," the chief of the boat reported.

"Hold her so," Commander Lennox ordered. He crossed the crowded area | and pushed down on the lever that activated the public address system.

"This is the captain speaking," he said.

"If I have to say it again, and I think I do, the way to achieve speed is to be sure of what you're doing, and then to do it carefully. We will lose time if somebody falls down a ladder or over the side."

There was a murmur of chuckles throughout the boat.

"Gun crews standing by, Sir," the chief of the boat said.

"Very well," Commander Lennox said.

"Bring her around to two sixty-five."

"Coming to two six five it is, Sir," the helmsman replied. The Drum banked like an airplane as she changed course. And then she straightened up.

"Up periscope the captain ordered, and the periscope rose.

"Sir, the course is two six five," the helmsman reported.

"Keep her so," Commander Lennox said, and turned to the executive officer.

"Got your watch, Bill?"

"Punch it," Commander Lennox said, then: "Surface, surface!"

Twenty seconds later, in boiling water, the bow of the Drum emerged from the sea.

There was a burst of black smoke as she went from battery to diesel power.

Commander Lennox, It. Rutherford, and a talker came onto the conning tower.

"Make turns for ten knots," Commander Lennox ordered.

"Gun crews man your guns, report when ready."

The talker repeated his orders into his microphone.

Bluejackets in steel helmets and life vests poured from hatches in the conning tower. Some made their way to the five-inch cannon mounted forward of the conning tower, and began to prepare it for firing. Others went to a rapid- firing 40mm cannon mounted on a platform just below where the skipper, the exec, and the talker stood. A third group went to the 20mm rapid-firing cannon mounted on the rear of the conning tower.