Post by William Torrance on Sept 12, 2016 13:02:21 GMT -5
I can't believe I agreed to let them do this, William mused as he watched from the bridge of his riverboat, the MV River Rose, as soldiers worked to affixed four 4.2inch mortars onto the top-front of the boat; the mortars themselves would add an extra 1300 lbs total to the boat's weight, making it harder to turn in the sometimes-tight environs of the Hudson River and her tributaries...throw in the standard load-out for the mortars (dozen rounds HE per mortar) and you were looking at an additional 500 lbs weight.
The upside to all the work, General McArthur had impressed upon him and his crew, was the additional firepower that the mortars could bring once they arrived somewhere; with a distance of nearly 2.5 miles, the River Rose could become a floating gun platform. Continuing to watch, he didn't hear his engineer walking up to him. "Everything alright, skipper?" Brett asked.
Looking over, William smiled, grimly, and replied, "Yeah, just watching them scratch up the boat," pointing over to the display outside. "We going to be able to run good with the extra weight?"
"Shouldn't be a problem," Brett, the River Rose's engineer, said, "we'll just need extra steerage time moving the boat around, but it shouldn't be a problem." It wasn't hyperbole, but there was a touch of concern in his voice. The riverboat, most times, moved courtesy of the large paddlewheel at the back of the boat, but in close confines, she depended on impellers - essentially a water version of an aircraft turbojet engine - of which the boat had six of them (four rear, two front). Noting the concern, William asked, "Something wrong?"
"Other than having an extra ton of weight, plus high explosives, onboard....no problems," Brett quipped; chuckling for a moment, William replied, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not too thrilled either...but hey, like they said, YOLO," shrugging his shoulders and turning back to watch the soldiers continue to work, trying to imagine what use they'd have for them...we'll know soon enough, he mused.
The upside to all the work, General McArthur had impressed upon him and his crew, was the additional firepower that the mortars could bring once they arrived somewhere; with a distance of nearly 2.5 miles, the River Rose could become a floating gun platform. Continuing to watch, he didn't hear his engineer walking up to him. "Everything alright, skipper?" Brett asked.
Looking over, William smiled, grimly, and replied, "Yeah, just watching them scratch up the boat," pointing over to the display outside. "We going to be able to run good with the extra weight?"
"Shouldn't be a problem," Brett, the River Rose's engineer, said, "we'll just need extra steerage time moving the boat around, but it shouldn't be a problem." It wasn't hyperbole, but there was a touch of concern in his voice. The riverboat, most times, moved courtesy of the large paddlewheel at the back of the boat, but in close confines, she depended on impellers - essentially a water version of an aircraft turbojet engine - of which the boat had six of them (four rear, two front). Noting the concern, William asked, "Something wrong?"
"Other than having an extra ton of weight, plus high explosives, onboard....no problems," Brett quipped; chuckling for a moment, William replied, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not too thrilled either...but hey, like they said, YOLO," shrugging his shoulders and turning back to watch the soldiers continue to work, trying to imagine what use they'd have for them...we'll know soon enough, he mused.