“Jack, I do believe they are going in today to engage the Turkish
forts!” exclaimed Amos, after taking a good look around at the stirring
picture.
The sun, not far above the horizon, shone upon the glistening sea,
and in almost every quarter the boys could see war vessels moving
steadily in the direction of the land ahead. There were battleships,
super-dreadnaughts, cruisers, torpedo-boat destroyers and dispatch
boats, all stripped for action and looking in grim earnest as they
moved along in seemingly endless procession.
“I’m a little inclined to say the same thing myself,” Jack announced.
“But no matter whether it happens or not we are in great luck to be
able to set eyes on a glorious picture like this.”
“I’ll never forget it if I live to the age of Methuselah!” affirmed
Amos. “Just see how the mosquito craft dodge around, and serve to
protect the big ships from any sort of torpedo attack. They must be on
the watch all the time, because even a giant super-dreadnaught would go
down like a stone if struck from a submarine.”
“I hope the _Thunderer_ isn’t doomed to wind up that way, then,”
remarked Jack. “With something like a thousand men aboard, we would
have a mighty small chance to swim clear of the wreck, and might
be sucked down when she sank. But they’re not depending so much on
torpedoes out here as floating mines.”
“That’s what the lieutenant told us when on the destroyer,” said Amos.
“It seems that there is always a swift current or tide flowing on the
surface from out of the straits. By setting floating mines free above
the Narrows, the German engineers, who are helping their allies, the
Turks, in this campaign, can send them down upon the battle fleet as it
works in the straits.”
“Those are what they call contact mines, I reckon, Jack?”
“Yes, they have triggers projecting from them, and contact with the
side of a warship causes the explosion. They’ve already caused a whole
lot of trouble, and several big war vessels have gone down in the
straits through their work.”
“Then, besides, there have been heaps of regular mines, to be fired by
electricity,” Amos went on to say. “The Allies have small boats called
mine sweepers that use a sort of net, and drag for these mines. They’ve
cleared most of them out of the first five miles of the straits, I
understand.”
“Speaking about submarines,” Jack remarked, “the Germans don’t happen
to be the only ones that have them. The lieutenant told us about a
British submersible that dived under all the rows of mines in the
Narrows, and reached the Sea of Marmora, where for several days it
kicked up a great row, sinking several Turkish transports, one or two
warships, and even bombarding the docks at Constantinople, trying to
destroy, they say, the bridge across which so much of their supplies
come to the city.”
“If that account is all true,” declared Amos, “that was a feat of
daring unequalled in this whole war, according to my way of thinking.
The commander of that undersea boat will get the Victoria Cross, you
can bet.”
The boys were about this time informed they could have breakfast, since
everything was being hurried on that morning because there was stern
business ahead.
They met several of the officers in the mess-room, who greeted them
in the most friendly way. They had heard enough of the boys’ story
to understand that the two young Americans were a brave lot, and had
actually alone and single-handed captured the notorious gun-runner,
Captain Zenos, together with his entire crew of seven men.
The boat had been sent somewhere to be relieved of her dangerous cargo,
which in turn would be utilized against the Turks. Later on that same
powerboat was likely to become a mine-sweeper, for which service the
craft was admirably fitted. So that, after all, Jack and Amos had been
instrumental in adding to the Allied fleet by one useful unit.
By the time breakfast had been dispatched the sound of heavy firing
brought the two boys out on deck in a hurry, eager to witness whatever
went on.
“They’re engaging the forts at long range,” said Amos, immediately, as
he saw a volume of smoke shoot out from a battleship a mile away, and
almost immediately heard the awful crash of the big gun.
“Yes, miles away,” Jack observed. “They have the range figured down to
a dot. If they waste a shot they soon know it.”
“But how can they, when even with a glass no one could see the Turkish
forts away up in the straits?” Amos asked, filled with curiosity.
“If you look up in the heavens you’ll have your answer,” Jack told him.
“Oh! now I see what you mean; there are eyes in the sky. Those
aeroplanes are a part of the Allies’ outfit, and they keep watching all
the time to see where the shells fall, so as to correct the fire. It’s
a great scheme, isn’t it, Jack?”
“A part of the war game of today, Amos, for we’re living in a fast age.
Before this war is over I firmly believe there will be battleships of
the air as well as of the sea, and they won’t be Zeppelins either.”
“Just to think,” the other boy mused, “right now I may be looking up at
my brother Frank, for there’s a pretty big chance if he’s still alive
one of those dots in the sky is his aeroplane. And, Jack, if we notice
anyone of them that seems to be more daring than the rest, that’ll be
Frank, by all accounts.”
Steadily the _Thunderer_ pressed on, still heading for the jaws of
land that marked the end of the Dardanelles Straits. With the passage
of every minute the eagerness of the two lads increased until Amos was
almost quivering with excitement.
“Look, Jack, I do believe they’re getting ready to fire one of the big
guns in that forward turret. If you’ve got that cotton handy, please
give me a wad, for I don’t want to have my ear-drums cracked by the
sound.”
What he said turned out to be the truth, for the gunners aboard the
battleship had been given orders to start the ball rolling, as they
were now well within the zone for firing, according to the map.
When the terrific roar broke out the boys could feel themselves
flattened up along the object they chanced to be leaning against at
the time. It seemed as though they had received a strong slap with an
unseen plank, though it did not hurt them any.
“I wonder if that shell smashed a gun over in the Turkish battery?”
said Amos, as he sniffed at the powder smoke that filled the air for a
brief time.
The _Thunderer_ did not repeat her first shot. It may have been a
signal to tell the enemy she was coming straight on. There was other
work cut out for the big vessels of the fleet for that particular
morning.
As they continued to approach the entrance to the straits, Amos
became excited again. He had seen other warships pass through, firing
as they ran, and there was evidently a warm reply from certain enemy
batteries and forts, for explosions could be seen in the air, as well
as upheavals in the water, looking like the geysers in Yellowstone Park.
“This beats anything I’ve ever run across!” exclaimed Amos,
enthusiastically.
“It certainly is a great sight, and one we never expected to see,”
added Jack, though both of them were compelled to speak much above
their ordinary tones on account of all the thunderous noise that came
over the water.
Some of the vessels were already within the straits, and engaging the
enemy to the right and left. Smoke shrouded them from view, and through
this pall the flash of the big guns could be seen now and then. Such
a din the boys had never listened to. It was like ten thunder storms
rolled into one, and “then some,” as Amos declared.
“Talk to me about the Lower Regions!” he exclaimed, “but this is a
pretty fair imitation of what I’ve always believed they looked like.
Oh! did you see that hit when a shell exploded aboard that cruiser? It
must have done heaps of damage, and killed or injured many of the crew.
But you don’t notice any slackening of her fire, do you, Jack?”
“If the boat received serious damage she will pull out pretty soon, and
allow a substitute to take her place,” Jack explained. “I understand
there’s no haphazard work about all this, but every warship has a line
of attack laid out that must be pursued.”
“Yes,” Amos admitted, “I can see that while one tackles the batteries
over on the Asiatic side of the straits, another sets boldly in and
shells a fort on Gallipoli. It will be our turn pretty soon now, for we
are entering the jaws of land. Seddul Bahr lies over on the left, and
down on the other jaw is Kum Kaleh, both of them long since smashed to
pieces, we heard.”
“If the straits were all five miles wide the battle fleet would have
passed on through before now,” Jack asserted. “It’s because of the
Narrows, and the swift current that carries all the floating mines with
it that has held them up. And in my opinion it will be a long time
before they break through to Constantinople, for the Turks are fierce
fighters, and Mohammedans at that.”
“Why do you add that remark; how does the fact of their being followers
of Mahomet make any difference, I’d like to know?”
“Only this,” explained Jack, “as a part of his religion a Mohammedan
believes that it is a great honor to be killed in battle, and anyone
dying in that way will be transported direct to Paradise. This makes
them utterly fearless, and has accounted for most of their victories.”
“Well, well! But it’s almost time for us to get busy, seems like, Jack.
There, you can see the big gun is moving with the turret, so as to get
in line with some strong Turkish fort far up the waterway, perhaps
Kilid Bahr itself in the Narrows.”
Amos made sure to obtain a good grip on something as he stood on his
tip-toes, and opened his mouth in the bargain, after the most approved
method of lessening the coming shock. His ears were stuffed with
cotton, and it had been necessary for Jack to fairly shout in order to
be heard by his companion.
Then came the terrific crash. They knew that strong glasses were
instantly brought into use to learn what sort of success the gunners
had obtained. Doubtless those especially deputized for the work watched
a certain aeroplane to learn from the signals whether the shell had
fallen in the enemy fort, or dropped short. Getting the range in this
fashion while at a distance of several miles from the unseen target was
the modern method of sea fighting.
Those in the artfully concealed forts and batteries could easily see
their floating targets, and rain shells upon them. That the vessels
were not hit more frequently was caused by their being constantly in
motion, for there were expert German gunners behind those shore guns
doing most of the work. Had it been left entirely to the Turks the
battle fleet would have made short work with the defenses of the famous
Dardanelles.
Again and again did the _Thunderer_ take her turn to hurl a monster
shell at the Turkish forts. It was plainly the object of this morning
assault to do as much damage as possible, while the sweepers kept
busily at work catching such of the dangerous mines as came within
their reach.
Much of the lower five miles of the waterway had already been well
cleared of these perils, so that the big battleships could move along
without incurring extraordinary danger of being blown up.
In the midst of all this confusion and racket there suddenly came
a crash of a distinctly different nature, and both boys felt the
concussion of air. As they instinctively shrank back appalled, they
realized that a shell had actually struck and exploded aboard the
battleship!