fleetcomposed of fifteen of the finest ironclads, with several gunboats andcruisers, and a number of torpedo-boats.
It was a noble sight, for besides the warships there was another fleethanging upon the outskirts of the first, and composed of craft, largeand small, and from both sides of the channel, filled with those whowere anxious to witness from afar the sea-fight which was to take placeunder such novel conditions. Many of these observers were reportersand special correspondents for great newspapers. On some of thevessels which came up from the French coast were men with marineglasses of extraordinary power, whose business it was to send an earlyand accurate report of the affair to the office of the War Syndicate inNew York.
As soon as the British ships came in sight, the four crabs cast offfrom Repeller No. 11. Then with the other two they prepared foraction, moving considerably in advance of the repeller, which nowsteamed forward very slowly. The wind was strong from the north-west,and the sea high, the shining tops of the crabs frequently disappearingunder the waves.
The British fleet came steadily on, headed by the great Llangaron.This vessel was very much in advance of the others, for knowing thatwhen she was really in action and the great cylinder which formed herstern-guard was lowered into the water her speed would be muchretarded, she had put on all steam, and being the swiftest war-ship ofher class, she had distanced all her consorts. It was highly importantthat she should begin the fight, and engage the attention of as manycrabs as possible, while certain of the other ships attacked therepeller with their rams. Although it was now generally believed thatmotor-bombs from a repeller might destroy a man-of-war, it was alsoconsidered probable that the accurate calculations which appeared to benecessary to precision of aim could not be made when the object of theaim was in rapid motion.
But whether or not one or more motor-bombs did strike the mark, orwhether or not one or more vessels were blown into fine particles,there were a dozen ironclads in that fleet, each of whose commandersand officers were determined to run into that repeller and crush her,if so be they held together long enough to reach her.
The commanders of the torpedo-boats had orders to direct their swiftmessengers of destruction first against the crabs, for these vesselswere far in advance of the repeller, and coming on with a rapiditywhich showed that they were determined upon mischief. If a torpedo,shot from a torpedo-boat, and speeding swiftly by its own powersbeneath the waves, should strike the submerged hull of a crab, therewould be one crab the less in the English Channel.
As has been said, the Llangaron came rushing on, distancing everything,even the torpedo-boats. If, before she was obliged to lower hercylinder, she could get near enough to the almost stationary repellerto take part in the attack on her, she would then be content to slackenspeed and let the crabs nibble awhile at her stern.
Two of the latest constructed and largest crabs, Q and R, headed atfull speed to meet the Llangaron, who, as she came on, opened the ballby sending a "rattler" in the shape of a five-hundred-pound shot intothe ribs of the repeller, then at least four miles distant, andimmediately after began firing her dynamite guns, which were of limitedrange at the roofs of the advancing crabs.
There were some on board the repeller who, at the moment the great shotstruck her, with a ringing and clangour of steel springs, such as neverwas heard before, wished that in her former state of existence she hadbeen some other vessel than the Tallapoosa.
But every spring sprang back to its place as the great mass of ironglanced off into the sea. The dynamite bombs flew over the tops of thecrabs, whose rapid motions and slightly exposed surfaces gave littlechance for accurate aim, and in a short time they were too close to theLlangaron for this class of gun to be used upon them.
As the crabs came nearer, the Llangaron lowered the great steelcylinder which hung across her stern, until it lay almost entirelyunder water, and abaft of her rudder and propeller-blades. She nowmoved slowly through the water, and her men greeted the advancing crabswith yells of defiance, and a shower of shot from machine guns.
The character of the new defence which had been fitted to the Llangaronwas known to the Syndicate, and the directors of the two new crabsunderstood the heavy piece of work which lay before them. But theirplans of action had been well considered, and they made straight forthe stern of the British ship.
It was, of course, impossible to endeavour to grasp that great cylinderwith its rounded ends; their forceps would slip from any portion of itssmooth surface on which they should endeavour to lay hold, and no suchattempt was made. Keeping near the cylinder, one at each end of it,the two moved slowly after the Llangaron, apparently discouraged.
In a short time, however, it was perceived by those on board the shipthat a change had taken place in the appearance of the crabs; thevisible portion of their backs was growing larger and larger; they wererising in the water. Their mailed roofs became visible from end toend, and the crowd of observers looking down from the ship were amazedto see what large vessels they were.
Higher and higher the crabs arose, their powerful air-pumps working attheir greatest capacity, until their ponderous pincers became visibleabove the water. Then into the minds of the officers of the Llangaronflashed the true object of this uprising, which to the crew had seemedan intention on the part of the sea-devils to clamber on board.
If the cylinder were left in its present position the crab might seizethe chains by which it was suspended, while if it were raised it wouldcease to be a defence. Notwithstanding this latter contingency, theorder was quickly given to raise the cylinder; but before the hoistingengine had been set in motion, Crab Q thrust forward her forceps overthe top of the cylinder and held it down. Another thrust, and the ironjaws had grasped one of the two ponderous chains by which the cylinderwas suspended.
The other end of the cylinder began to rise, but at this moment Crab R,apparently by a single effort, lifted herself a foot higher out of thesea; her pincers flashed forward, and the other chain was grasped.
The two crabs were now placed in the most extraordinary position. Theoverhang of their roofs prevented an attack on their hulls by theLlangaron, but their unmailed hulls were so greatly exposed that a fewshot from another ship could easily have destroyed them. But as anyship firing at them would be very likely to hit the Llangaron, theirdirectors felt safe on this point.
Three of the foremost ironclads, less than two miles away, were headingdirectly for them, and their rams might be used with but little dangerto the Llangaron; but, on the other hand, three swift crabs wereheading directly for these ironclads.
It was impossible for Crabs Q and R to operate in the usual way. Theirmassive forceps, lying flat against the top of the cylinder, could notbe twisted. The enormous chains they held could not be severed by thegreatest pressure, and if both crabs backed at once they would probablydo no more than tow the Llangaron stern foremost. There was, moreover,no time to waste in experiments, for other rams would be coming on, andthere were not crabs enough to attend to them all.
No time was wasted. Q signalled to R, and R back again, and instantlythe two crabs, each still grasping a chain of the cylinder, began tosink. On board the Llangaron an order was shouted to let out thecylinder chains; but as these chains had only been made long enough toallow the top of the cylinder to hang at or a little below the surfaceof the water, a foot or two of length was all that could be gained.
The davits from which the cylinder hung were thick and strong, and theiron windlasses to which the chains were attached were large andponderous; but these were not strong enough to withstand the weight oftwo crabs with steel-armoured roofs, enormous engines, and iron hull.In less than a minute one davit snapped like a pipe-stem under thetremendous strain, and immediately afterward the windlass to which thechain was attached was torn from its bolts, and went crashingoverboard, tearing away a portion of the stern-rail in its descent.
Crab Q instantly released the chain it had held, and in a moment thegreat cylinder hung almost perpendicularly from
one chain. But onlyfor a moment. The nippers of Crab R still firmly held the chain, andthe tremendous leverage exerted by the falling of one end of thecylinder wrenched it from the rigidly held end of its chain, and, in aflash, the enormous stern-guard of the Llangaron sunk, end foremost, tothe bottom of the channel.
In ten minutes afterward, the Llangaron, rudderless, and with theblades of her propellers shivered and crushed, was slowly turning herstarboard to the wind and the sea, and beginning to roll like a log ofeight thousand tons.
Besides the Llangaron, three ironclads were now drifting broadside tothe sea. But there was no time to succour disabled vessels, for therest of the fleet was coming on, and there was great work for the crabs.
Against these enemies, swift of motion and sudden in action, thetorpedo-boats found it almost impossible to operate, for the Britishships and the crabs were so rapidly nearing each other that a torpedosent out against an enemy was more than likely to run against the hullof a friend. Each crab sped at the top of its speed for
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