[Illustration: cover art] The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge BY PERCY F. WESTERMAN LIEUT. R.A.F. No boy alive will be able to peruse Mr. Westerman's pages without a quickening of his pulses."--Outlook. Winning his Wings: A Story of the R. A. F. The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge: April, 1918. With Beatty off Jutland: A Romance of the Great Sea Fight. The Submarine Hunters: A Story of Naval Patrol Work. A Lively Bit of the Front: A Tale of the New Zealand Rifles on the Western Front. A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War. Under the White Ensign: A Naval Story of the Great War. The Dispatch-Riders: The Adventures of Two British Motor-cyclists with the Belgian Forces. The Sea-girt Fortress: A Story of Heligoland. Rounding up the Raider: A Naval Story of the Great War. The Fight for Constantinople: A Tale of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Captured at Tripoli: A Tale of Adventure. The Quest of the "Golden Hope": A Seventeenth- century Story of Adventure. A Lad of Grit: A Story of Restoration Times. LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, LTD.. 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C. [Illustration: THE U-BOAT DIVED SO ABRUPTLY THAT HER RUDDERS AND TWIN-SCREWS WERE CLEAR OF THE WATER (Frontispiece)] The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge April, 1918 BY PERCY F. WESTERMAN Author of "Winning His Wings" "With Beatty off Jutland" "The Submarine Hunters" &c. &c. _Illustrated by W. Edward Wigfull_ BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY Contents CHAP. I. BOUND NORTH II. STRAFED III. COUNT OTTO IV. TORPEDOED V. IN THE WHALER VI. A PRISONER OF WAR VII. M.-L. 4452 VIII. ON PATROL IX. AT ZEEBRUGGE X. PREPARATIONS XI. THE LONE AIR-RAIDER XII. ST. GEORGE'S EVE XIII. THE ATTACK ON THE MOLE XIV. THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS XV. THE PASSING OF M.-L. 4452 XVI. THE RETURN FROM ZEEBRUGGE XVII. "GOOD OLD 'VINDICTIVE'!" XVIII. OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH XIX. THE GREAT SURRENDER Illustrations THE U-BOAT DIVED SO ABRUPTLY THAT HER RUDDERS AND TWIN-SCREWS WERE CLEAR OF THE WATER Frontispiece "ENGLISCH OFFIZIER-PIG!" HE SHOUTED. "WE YOU TAKE PRISONER" THE BIPLANE HAD GOT INTO A SPINNING NOSE-DIVE THE PILOT THREW A BOMB FULL IN THE FACE OF A PRUSSIAN UNTER-LEUTNANT "SHE'S GOING, LADS!" SHOUTED BRANSCOMBE THE THICK OF THE FRAY AT ZEEBRUGGE CHAPTER I Bound North "Wonder if she'll do it in time," thought Sub-lieutenant Alec Seton, R.N., as he stolidly paced the stone-paved platform. For the twentieth time in the last two hours he had consulted his wristlet watch and compared it with the smoke-begrimed station clock. "A proper lash-up if she doesn't."