CHAPTER XXIX
The Captured Convoy
"What do you propose to do with this, sir?" enquired Mr. Macquare,indicating the sack-enclosed form of the spy.
"Goodness knows!" replied the Hon. Derek. "What is it?"
"Only Mindiggle, sir," announced the Sub.
"Explain yourself, Mr. Fordyce," ordered the Lieutenant-Commander.
"I can explain but very little, sir," said Fordyce. "It was anabsolute surprise to find him at the house in Bobbinsky Prospekt. Ihadn't the faintest idea he was in Russia. Klostivitch is dead, andanother of the gang. I have a number of documents for your perusal,sir. Captain Orloff handed them to me. I think you will find theminteresting."
"His Majesty's submarines were never intended as receptacles forspies," grumbled Stockdale. "Pass the fellow below. Hallo! theweather's clearing. That's good. Directly the _Zabiyaka_ signals usinform me, Mr. Macquare."
Already the ice-breakers had cleared a path through the frozen water.In the outer road-stead the _Zabiyaka_ was lying at moorings withsteam raised ready to slip and proceed. Apparently she was awaitingthe return of the cutter with her disguised skipper.
Soon after Captain-Lieutenant Orloff boarded his vessel he reappearedon deck rigged out in correct uniform. A hoist of bunting flutteredfrom the destroyer's signal yard-arm. It was an intimation, inInternational Code, that R19's escort was ready to proceed.
Amidst the cheers of a crowd of Russian bluejackets and marines theBritish submarine cast off. Under the action of her petrol-drivenengines she slipped away from the quay-side and felt her waycautiously down the narrow waterway. Then, taking station acable-length astern of the now-moving destroyer, R19 began her longand hazardous voyage to Old England's shores.
Once clear of the Gulf of Finland mine-fields the _Zabiyaka_ flungabout and bade the submarine _bon voyage_. From that momentStockdale's command was alone in an inland sea where German warshipsheld almost undisputed sway and German mines closed every exit. Morethan likely the departure of R19 had been communicated to Berlin, andthe Huns would be keeping special watch for the returning Britishcraft.
"PASS UNDER MY LEE!"]
Yet, with one exception, not a man on board was the least dismayed.Confident in the skill and daring of their gallant skipper, and withthe knowledge that every revolution of the propellers was taking thesubmarine nearer home, the men were in high spirits. The exceptionwas the spy Mindiggle. Not only was he viewing with the deepestapprehension the prospect of being handed over to justice, but thedread of being imprisoned in the hull of a submarine, in the midst ofcountless dangers, reduced him almost to the verge of panic.
At the first possible opportunity the Hon. Derek ordered the crew todiving stations. With the exception of the lost portion of falsekeel, R19 was restored to her normal state, but it was highlydesirable that the vessel's capabilities after refit should beseverely tested. In order to compensate for the loss of several tonsof outside dead weight a corresponding amount of pig-iron ballast hadbeen taken on board and securely wedged to prevent shifting underdiving conditions.
The test gave admirable results. The intricate mechanism workedwithout a hitch, the submarine descending without difficulty to adepth of 20 fathoms. The only disconcerting part of the evolution wasthe behaviour of the prisoner. The moment the vessel slid beneath thewaves he began shouting and screaming hysterically, keeping up theperformance during the whole period of submergence.
Almost without incident R19 came within sight of the Swedish coast.It was the Hon. Derek's intention to make a landfall in the vicinityof Braviken Bay, and thence, keeping just within Swedish territorialwater, skirt the long chain of small islands as far as Oland.
Just before sunset on the second day after leaving Cronstadt, R19sighted seven small merchantmen steering due south at a distance ofabout eleven miles from the coast. They were German vessels ladenwith iron-ore. Deeming the Baltic to be now free from the attentionsof Russian destroyers, the hitherto idle shipping of Memel andDantzic had put to sea. They were without escort, and steaming insingle line at varying intervals behind one another.
"We'll have that lot, Mr. Macquare," decided theLieutenant-Commander. "Fortunately the moon is almost full. We'llshow Fritz our version of _spurlos versenkt_."
Altering helm, R19 steered athwart the course of the oncomingmerchantmen. With her guns manned and trained, and the White Ensignfloating proudly in the rays of the setting sun, she made no secretof her intentions.
Stockdale had them entirely at his mercy. Between the merchantmen andthe shore he could have easily headed them off and destroyed them bygun-fire or torpedo. Had he been a German, and these vessels unarmedBritish ships, the latter would have been sent to the bottom, andtheir crews fired upon with machine-guns; but as the Hon. Derek was amember of a time-honoured and unsullied profession, and not a pirate,he acted otherwise.
At the peremptory signal: "Heave-to or I will fire into you!" theleading German ship reversed engines. Others followed her example,until the seven were bunched together within a radius of twocables'-lengths.
"They are taking matters for granted," observed Mr. Macquare as thecrews began to lower away the boats. So anxious were they to leavethat in their haste two of the boats capsized before the falls couldbe disengaged.
"I'll give you fifteen minutes!" shouted the Hon. Derek through hismegaphone in German. "Pass under my lee. Each master will hand overhis papers, and you can then make for the shore."
These orders were promptly executed, and, having seen the flotilla ofboats well on its way, R19's crew set to work to destroy the prizes.
The whaler, under the charge of Sub-Lieutenant Fordyce, went fromvessel to vessel, the work of destruction being silently andexpeditiously performed by opening the sea-cocks.
Just as the Sub boarded the seventh ship the first flung her sternhigh in the air and disappeared from view. Others were on the pointof making their last plunge. It was not a pleasant sight nor acongenial duty, but stern necessity demanded the sacrifice of thoseseven ships to the exigencies of war; and Fordyce, remembering thefate of many a helpless British merchantman, torpedoed without mercyin the midst of an angry sea and far from land, steeled his heart.
Suddenly the coxswain of the whaler gave a warning shout and pointedin the direction of a trail of flame-tinged smoke showing faintlyagainst the warm afterglow.
There could be very little doubt concerning the approaching vessel. AGerman destroyer, too late to save the convoy, was doing her best toavenge its loss.
A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War Page 29
