CHAPTER IX
THE "FLYING FISH" APPEARS
A huge, black shape loomed up into the moonlight. As she came nearerLennard could see that the vessel carried a big mast forward with afighting-top, two funnels a little aft of it, and two other funnels afew feet forward of the after mast.
Erskine put his glasses up to his eyes and said:
"That's the _Dupleix_, one of the improved _Desaix_ class. Steamstwenty-four knots. I suppose she's been shepherding those destroyersthat we've just finished with. I hope she hasn't seen what happened. Ifshe thinks that they've got in all right, we've got her. She has a heavyfore and aft and broadside gunfire, two 6.4 guns ahead and astern andamidships, in pairs, and as I suppose they'll be using melinite shells,we shall get fits unless we take them unawares."
"And what does that mean?" asked Lennard.
"Show you in a minute," answered Erskine, touching three or four of thebuttons on the right-hand side as he spoke.
Another shudder ran through the frame of the _Ithuriel_ and Lennard feltthe deck sink under his feet. If he hadn't had as good a head on him ashe had, he would have said something, for the _Ithuriel_ sank until herdecks were almost awash. She jumped forward again now almost invisible,and circled round to the south eastward. A big cloud drifted across themoon and Erskine said:
"Thank God for that! We shall get her now."
Another quarter turn of the wheel brought the _Ithuriel's_ head atright angles to the French cruiser's broadside. He took the transmitterof the telephone down from the hooks and said:
"Are you there, Castellan?"
"Yes. What's that big thing ahead there?"
"It's the _Dupleix_. Ready with your forward guns. I'm going to firefirst, then ram. Stand by, centre first, then starboard and port, andkeep your eye on them. These are Mr Lennard's shells and we want to seewhat they'll do. Are you ready?"
"Yes. When you like."
"Half speed, then, and tell Mackenzie to stand by and order full speedwhen I give the word. We shall want it in a jump."
"Very good, sir. Is that all?"
"Yes, that's all."
Erskine put the receiver back on the hooks.
"That's it. Now we'll try your shells. If they're what I think they are,we'll smash that fellow's top works into scrap-iron, and then we'll gofor him."
"I think I see," said Lennard, "that's why you've half submerged her."
"Yes. The _Ithuriel_ is designed to deal with both light and heavycraft. With the light ones, as you have seen, she just walked over them.Now, we've got something bigger to tackle, and if everything goes rightthat ship will be at the bottom of the sea in five minutes."
"Horrible," replied Lennard, "but I suppose it's necessary."
"Absolutely," said Erskine, taking the receiver down from the hooks. "Ifwe didn't do it with them, they'd do it with us. That's war."
Lennard made no reply. He was looking hard at the now rapidlyapproaching shape of the big French cruiser, and when men are thinkinghard, they don't usually say much.
The _Ithuriel_ completed her quarter-circle and dead head on to the_Dupleix_, Erskine said, "Centre gun ready, forward--fire. Port andstarboard concentrate--fire."
There was no report--only a low, hissing sound--and then Lennard sawthree flashes of bluish-green blaze out over the French cruiser.
"Hit her! I think those shells of yours got home," said Erskine betweenhis clenched teeth. And then he added through the telephone, "Wellaimed, Castellan! They all got there. Load up again--three more shotsand I'm going to ram--quick now, and full speed ahead when you'vefired."
"All ready!" came back over the telephone, "I've told Mackenzie thatyou'll want it."
"Good man," replied Erskine. "When I touch the button, you do the rest.Now--are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Let her have it--then full speed. Ah," Erskine continued, turning toLennard, "he's shooting back."
The cruiser burst into a thunderstorm of smoke and flame and shell, butthere was nothing to shoot at. Only three feet of freeboard would havebeen visible even in broad daylight. The signal mast had beentelescoped. There was nothing but the deck, the guns and theconning-tower to be seen. The shells screamed through the air a good tenfeet over her and incidentally wrecked the Marine Hotel on Selsey Bill.
Erskine pressed the top button on the right-hand side three times. Thesmokeless, nameless guns spoke again, and again the three flashes ofblue-green flame broke out on the Frenchman's decks.
"Good enough," said Erskine, taking the transmitter down from the hooksagain. "Now, Mr Lennard, just come for'ard and watch."
Lennard crept up beside him and took the glasses.
"Down guns--full speed ahead--going to ram," said Erskine, quietly, intothe telephone.
To his utter astonishment, Lennard saw the three big guns sink downunder the deck and the steel hoods move forward and cover theemplacements. The floor of the conning-tower jumped under his feet againand the huge shape of the French cruiser seemed to rush towards him.There was a roar of artillery, a thunder of 6.4 guns, a crash ofbursting shells, a shudder and a shock, and the fifty-ton ram of the_Ithuriel_ hit her forward of the conning-tower and went through thetwo-inch armour belt as a knife would go through a piece of paper. Thebig cruiser stopped as an animal on land does, struck by a bullet in itsvitals, or a whale when the lance is driven home. Half her officers andmen were lying about the decks asphyxiated by Lennard's shells. Theafter barbette swung round, and at the same moment, or perhaps half aminute before, Erskine touched two other buttons in rapid succession.The _Dupleix_ lurched down on the starboard side, the two big guns wentoff and hit the water. Erskine touched another button, and the_Ithuriel_ ran back from her victim. A minute later the French cruiserheeled over and sank.
"Good God, how did you do that?" said Lennard, looking round at him witheyes rather more wide open than usual.
"That's the effect of the suction screw," replied Erskine. "I got theidea from the Russian ice-breaker, the _Yermack_. The old idea was justmain strength and stupidity, charge the ice and break through if youcould. The better idea was to suck the water away from under the ice andgo over it--that's what we've done. I rammed that chap, pulled the wateraway from under him, and, of course, he's gone down."
He gave the wheel a quarter-turn to starboard, took down the transmitterand said: "Full speed again--in two minutes, three quarters and thenhalf."
"But surely," exclaimed Lennard, "you can do something to help thosepoor fellows. Are you going to leave them all to drown?"
"I have no orders, except to sink and destroy," replied Erskine betweenhis teeth. "You must remember that this is a war of one country againsta continent, and of one fleet against four. Ah, there's another! Athird-class cruiser--I think I know her, she's the old _Leger_--theymust have thought they had an easy job of it if they sent her here. Lowfree board, not worth shooting at. We'll go over her. No armour--whatidiots they are to put a thing like that into the fighting line!"
He took the transmitter down and said:
"Stand by there, Castellan! Get your pumps to work, and I shall wantfull speed ahead--I'm going to run that old croak down--hurry up."
He put the transmitter back on the hooks and presently Lennard saw thebows of the _Ithuriel_ rise quickly out of the water. The doomed vesselin front of them was a long, low-lying French torpedo-catcher, with onebig funnel between two signal-masts, hopelessly out of date, andevidently intended only to go in and take her share of the spoils.Erskine switched off the searchlight, called for full speed ahead andthen with clenched teeth and set eyes, he sent the _Ithuriel_ flying ather victim.
Within five minutes it was all over. The fifty-ton ram rose over the_Leger's_ side, crushed it down into the water, ground its way throughher, cut her in half and went on.
"That ship ought to have been on the scrap-heap ten years ago," saidErskine as he signalled for half-speed and swung the _Ithuriel_ round tothe westward.
"She's got a scrap-heap all to her
self now, I suppose," said Lennard,with a bit of a check in his voice. "I've no doubt, as you say, thissort of thing may be necessary, but my personal opinion of it is thatit's damnable."
"Exactly my opinion too," said Erskine, "but it has to be done."
The next instant, Lennard heard a sound such as he had never heardbefore. It was a smothered rumble which seemed to come out of thedepths, then there came a shock which flung him off his feet, and shothim against the opposite wall of the conning-tower. The _Ithuriel_heeled over to port, a huge volume of water rose on her starboard sideand burst into a torrent over her decks, then she righted.
Erskine, holding on hard to the iron table to which the signalling boardwas bolted, saved himself from a fall.
"I hope you're not hurt, Mr Lennard," said he, looking round, "that wasa submarine. Let a torpedo go at us, I suppose, and didn't know theywere hitting twelve-inch armour."
"It's all right," said Lennard, picking himself up. "Only a bruise ortwo; nothing broken. It seems to me that this new naval warfare of yoursis going to get a bit exciting."
"Yes," said Erskine, "I think it is. Halloa, Great Caesar! That must bethat infernal invention of Castellan's brother's; the thing he sold tothe Germans--the sweep!"
As he spoke a grey shape leapt up out of the water and began to circleover the _Ithuriel_. He snatched the transmitter from the hooks, andsaid, in quick, clear tones:
"Castellan--sink--quick, quick as you can."
The pumps of the _Ithuriel_ worked furiously the next moment. Lennardheld his breath as he saw the waves rise up over the decks.
"Full speed ahead again, and dive," said Erskine into the transmitter."Hold tight, Lennard."
The floor of the conning-tower took an angle of about sixty degrees, andLennard gripped the holdfasts, of which there were two on each wall ofthe tower. He heard a rush of overwhelming waters--then came darkness.The _Ithuriel_ rushed forward at her highest speed. Then something hitthe sea, and a quick succession of shocks sent a shudder through thevessel.
"I thought so," said Erskine. "That's John Castellan's combined airshipand submarine right enough, and that was an aerial torpedo. If it hadhit us when we were above water, we should have been where those Frenchchaps are now. You're quite right, this sort of naval warfare is gettingrather exciting."
The World Peril of 1910 Page 10
