The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of LondonLe Queux, William
Science
The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London
Le Queux, William
Great Britain -- Defenses; Imaginary wars and battles
Ten more destroyers arrived at four on Sunday afternoon, and were at
once extended north; at 8 p.m. the two fast Portsmouth armoured cruisers
_Southampton_ and _Lincoln_ arrived, and steamed northwards to prolong
the cordon formed by the ships to the north of the Scillies, and a few
minutes later a third ship of the “County” class, hastily mobilised, the
_Cardigan_, arrived, and placed herself under Rear-Admiral Armitage,
commanding the Devonport Reserve. She was stationed just to the south of
the Scillies.
All the evening, wireless signals had been coming in from the Channel
Cruiser Squadron, as it moved northwards far out at sea beyond the
advanced guard about Land’s End. At 8.50 p.m. a signal from it announced
that a large liner was in sight moving south-west, and that Admiral
Hunter’s ships were in full chase of her. The British cruiser
_Andromache_, off the Scillies, and the three ships of the “County”
class off Land’s End, were at once directed upon the point where Admiral
Hunter’s signals had reported the enemy. Thirteen British vessels thus
were converging upon her, twelve of them good for twenty-three knots or
more.
The captain of the _Deutschland_, after dashing through the British
cordon off Lundy Island, stood for several hours westwards at twenty
knots, intending at dusk to turn and pass wide of the Scillies, and
hoping to escape the British under cover of darkness. He was under no
illusions as to the danger which threatened him. From every quarter
British wireless signals were coming in--from the west, south, and
north--while to the east of him was the _cul-de-sac_ of the Bristol
Channel. All lights were screened on board his gigantic liner.
About 8 p.m. his lookouts reported a large ship rapidly moving north,
ten miles away. He slightly altered course, hoping that he had escaped
observation, and stood more to the south. Two minutes later the
lookouts reported another very large ship with four funnels passing
right across the line of his advance.
The strange ship, which was the British armoured cruiser _Iphigenia_,
fired a gun and discharged two rockets in quick succession. Another
half-minute and the beam of a searchlight from her rose skywards,
signalling to her sister ships that here at last was the prey. Five
other searchlight beams travelled swiftly over the water towards the
_Deutschland_ and caught the liner in their glare. Forthwith from south
and north came the flashing of searchlights and the heavy boom of guns,
and the whole nine cruisers of the Channel Squadron over their front of
eighty miles began to move in upon the German vessel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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