The Boy Allies under Two FlagsHayes, Clair W. (Clair Wallace)
General
The Boy Allies under Two Flags
Hayes, Clair W. (Clair Wallace)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Juvenile fiction
Without pausing to learn the effect of the first shot, Captain
Nicholson sent the submarine below with a lurch, ordered the helm
hard a-starboard and made for mid-channel, where he knew the
second first-class cruiser lay at anchor, stern to and nosing the
strong ebb-tide.
All members of the crew, as well as Frank and Jack, were
jubilant. The men insisted that they had heard a roar that meant
the explosion of the cruiser, though this was highly improbable.
Jack and Frank had heard nothing, and they turned to Captain
Nicholson.
"Did you hit her, sir?" asked Jack eagerly.
"Sure," was the reply. "The shot couldn't have failed to go
home."
But the work was only one-third done, even less than that, when
the fact that the submarine had to get out of the harbor again is
considered.
The submarine, well down, now ran across the harbor at an angle,
aiming to come up to the starboard of the second cruiser.
Captain Nicholson explained his reason for doing this:
"I figure they will expect us on the side nearest the first
cruiser," he said. "Therefore, I believe we stand a fair chance
of surprising them by attacking on the starboard. At the same
time, we will have our movements masked from the third and
smaller cruiser by our second victim itself."
This sounded reasonable to the two lads, but they made no
comment.
To foster an appearance of an attack off the second cruiser's
port side, Captain Nicholson let go a decoy periscope to float
with the tide's decided sweep to the left shore and draw the fire
of the enemy in that direction.
Slowly the submarine advanced, and presently those on board could
hear the unmistakable boom of heavy guns. The ruse had
succeeded, and the cruisers and guns of the fort were aiming at
the spot in the water where the decoy periscope led them to
believe the submarine was floating.
The submarine rose so that the periscope took in the scene above
the water. Captain Nicholson, glancing through the instrument,
saw that he was at least 500 yards to the starboard of the second
cruiser. Under full speed, the Y-3 ran straight up to her
enemy's bow.
The periscope, protruding above the water, was quickly sighted by
the cruiser, but before the vessel's guns could be brought to
bear, Captain Nicholson released the second torpedo. Immediately
the Y-3 dived again.
But before the submarine had entirely disappeared under the
water, there came a loud roaring boom. The second torpedo had
gone home.
"Magazine must have gone too," said Captain Nicholson briefly.
Frank and Jack glanced curiously at the members of the crew.
Not at all nervous themselves, they were nevertheless surprised
at the apparent coolness of the British sailors.
Captain Nicholson noticed the expression on their faces, and took
time to remark:
"I suppose we should all be thinking with pity of the dead and
dying above us, but when you're a hundred feet or so below, the
shots and cries of battle are neither exciting nor gruesome."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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