A Double Bag
It was a sea-plane, flying at fifteen hundred feet above the Warner and
The Nab Lightships, that had detected an elongated shadow creeping
stealthily over the shingly bottom close to the Dean Tail Buoy. The
shadow was that of a German unterseeboot, since none of the British
submarines were known to be in the eastern approaches to Spithead.
Evidently she had gone out of her course, for instead of being in the
main channel she was well to the north of it. More than likely the
strong east-going tide, which hereabout surges at such a rate that it
causes the shingle 30 or 40 feet beneath the surface to emit a deep
rumble, had taken the unterseeboot in its grip.
Promptly the sea-plane wirelessed the news, and quickly a "general
call" was sent to the patrol vessels in the vicinity. The _Capella_
was one of the craft that picked up the welcome order.
She was now only seven sea miles distant from the Dean Tail Buoy.
Within ten minutes of the receipt of the wireless she was on the
spot--one of the very first of a regular hornet flotilla bent upon
adding yet another of Von Tirpitz's pets to the "bag".
For the next quarter of an hour it looked as if a novel kind of marine
waltz was in progress. Nearly a score of swift vessels were executing
fantastic movements at full speed, circling and interchanging positions
until it seemed as if collisions were impossible to avoid.
Their object was to thoroughly bewilder the already doomed U-boat, for,
if possible, her capture in a practically intact condition was desired.
In very deep water, salvage of a sunken submarine was out of the
question; here, in a comparatively shallow depth, and close to an
important naval base, to which the prize could be taken with little
trouble, the opportunity for capture rather than instant destruction
was too good to be missed.
Suddenly a cloud of white smoke shot up from the sea. Its appearance
was greeted by hearty cheers from the patrol vessels. It was a signal
that the U-boat, in her attempt to find deep water, had floundered
blindly into the trap. Over and over again the hunters passed, towing
non-explosive grapnels, until it was certain that the prey was helpless
in their toils.
Then, in obedience to an order from the senior officer, the swift
vessels withdrew for nearly three cables' length from the spot where
the boat lay. Two slow but powerfully engined trawlers approached at a
cable's length abreast, towing the bight of a massive steel hawser
between. Doing little more than drift with the tide they crept past
the submerged U-boat, one on either side of the mark-buoy that
indicated her position.
Presently the strain on the hawser increased. It was only by making
full use of the twin-screws that the trawlers were able to prevent
themselves from swinging together. The steel rope stretched until it
resembled two metal bars which bore silent testimony to the strain.
Just then the two vessels shot ahead. Although the hawser was still
intact, it no longer took any strain. But its work was done. The
bight, engaging the conning-tower of the unterseeboot, had turned the
submarine on its side. In the space of a few seconds the deadly fumes
from the capsized batteries had almost painlessly accounted for the
crew of the U-boat, who themselves had neither pity nor consideration
for the hapless victims, men, women, and children, massacred against
all dictates of humanity and convention of civilized warfare.
"A bit of work for the dockyard lighters to-morrow," commented
Sub-lieutenant Barry, as the _Capella_ parted company to resume her run
up-Channel. "They'll raise the U-boat, and take her into dry dock,
before the sulphuric acid has had time to do much damage to her
mechanism."
"I shouldn't be surprised if there were another U-boat knocking
around," remarked Vernon. "From our limited experience we know that
they work either in pairs or threes."
"Then the worse for them," rejoined Barry. "It would be a great wheeze
to bag two of them in one day. Desperate diseases need desperate
remedies, you know."
Therein the Sub voiced the unanimous opinion of the British Navy. At
the commencement of the war, the torpedoing of several battleships and
cruisers by German submarines aroused no enmity within the hearts of
the British tars. They realized that a warship is "fair sport" to the
submarines of the opposing side. To run the risk of being blown up was
one of the excitements to undergo in the course of duty. But when it
came to torpedoing helpless merchantmen, and jeering at the
death-struggles of the unfortunate crews, Jack Tar began to regard the
unterseebooten in the light of pirates and murderers. The wanton
destruction of the _Lusitania_, accompanied by the appalling death-roll
of non-combatants, women and children, literally sounded the
death-knell of the crews of von Tirpitz's jolly-Roger-flying
submarines. In their methods of "frightfulness" they had overreached
themselves. They had sown a wind: they were now reaping a whirlwind
with a vengeance.
And now the great silent Navy was paying back von Tirpitz in almost,
but not quite, his own coin. While the much-advertised blockade of
Great Britain was petering out, British submarines were playing havoc
with German shipping in the Baltic--a sea which the Teutons regarded as
being almost their very own. Yet what a difference marked the methods
adopted by the humane commanders of our submarines when dealing with
German mercantile shipping. A punctilious regard for the safety of the
crews of overhauled merchantmen won admiration even from the seamen of
the destroyed vessels. Humiliation and reproach seemed to haunt the
white-bearded dotard, whose hands had sought in vain to wrest the
trident from Britannia's virile grasp.
At about five in the afternoon the _Capella_ arrived at her station off
Beachy Head, relieving her sister ship the _Markab_, that, with three
other motor-driven craft, had been engaged in a vigorous, but for the
most part uneventful, patrol.
Day and night for a fortnight at a stretch, unless anything unforeseen
took place, the _Capella_ was to cruise up and down, keeping a smart
look-out for any sign of an object resembling a hostile periscope. In
order to economize her fuel supply her speed was reduced to 10 knots.
It was then that her bad qualities showed themselves. With her shallow
draught and high freeboard she rolled like a barrel, since speed was
essential to impart steadiness. The motion was certainly
disconcerting, although it did not imply that the _Capella_ was
unseaworthy.
"'Fraid our chances of bagging another U-boat to-day are off," remarked
Barry to Ross.
It was within half an hour of sunset. The chums had been temporarily
separated. It was Vernon's "watch below". The senior Sub and young
Trefusis were on the bridge. In spite of the still-prevailing east
wind it was a grand evening. Three miles away, broad on the starboard
beam, the chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters were beginning to be
tinted by the crimson hues of the western sky. To seaward, three large
vessels were in sight. One, a liner bound down-Channel, was pelting
along at such a pace with the wind that the smoke from her funnels was
rising almost perpendicularly. Forging ahead in the opposite direction
were two big tramps, the smoke from their funnels, beaten down by the
strong breeze, trailing across the surface of the water for a couple of
miles in their wake.
"An object lesson," remarked Barry. "The arteries of the Empire. Hang
it all! The blockade reminds me of a pigmy treacherously stealing up
behind a giant and trying to cut his jugular vein. Instead, he merely
scratched a comparatively unimportant capillary, and feels mighty sorry
for himself when the giant turns and scruffs him by the neck."
Leaning over the bridge-rails, the Sub startled his companion by
bellowing in a voice loud enough to be heard a mile away:
"On look-outs! Stand by bow and stern lights!"
The _Capella_ was making preparations for the night. Unlike the armed
merchantmen that are compelled to scour the North Sea, summer and
winter alike, without showing the faintest glimmer of a lamp, the
_Capella_ observed the rules and regulations for preventing collision
at sea. Her port, starboard, and bow lamps were lighted by
electricity, but, in order to guard against possible break-down of
current, oil lamps had also to be trimmed and lighted, ready, should
occasion serve, to take their places.
It was part of Ross's duty to report to the officer of the watch that
these lamps were in order, and also, at regular intervals, that the
navigation lights were burning brightly.
Presently the Sub prepared to take a cross-bearing. He was fairly
certain that the _Capella_ had reached the westernmost limit of her
patrol-ground. From that point she was to proceed due south for 10 sea
miles, and then due east for 20 miles until she fell in with her
"opposite number".
While Barry was thus engaged, Ross noticed a sail about 2 miles distant
on the starboard quarter.
"By Jove!" he muttered as he brought his glass to bear upon the
stranger. "That's a funny rig."
The craft was a "two-sticker". She was square-rigged on the foremast,
carrying fore-topsail and fore-course. No jibs were set; neither, as
far as he could see, was any sail set on the mainmast. The vessel's
sides were painted green with a broad red band.
Even as he kept the craft under observation she starboarded her helm,
shaping a course that would converge upon that of the rearmost of the
two tramps. By so doing she exposed a considerable portion of her
broadside.
Ross gave an exclamation of astonishment. Above the green sides
appeared what was undoubtedly the conning-tower and housed periscope of
a submarine. "Submarine on the starboard quarter, sir!" he reported.
"What!" exclaimed Barry, levelling his telescope. "By Jove, yes! What
luck!"
The unterseeboot had, of course, noticed the _Capella_, and had
mistaken her for a trawler. She realized that she ran a risk in case
the latter might be armed, but, trusting to her disguise, she hoped to
get within torpedo range of the tramp--a vessel of over 3000 tons--sink
her, and make her escape in the confusion that was bound to ensue. On
the other hand, her Kapitan had good reasons for thinking that the
supposed trawler was not one of the armed patrol, since they usually
worked in company. By rigging canvas bulwarks and setting sail upon
dummy masts, he was able to approach with little fear of detection.
"Action!"
Quickly the _Capella's_ crew were at their stations. The quick-firers
were loaded, and their screens lowered so as not to impede their arc of
fire. Until these preparations were complete the vessel still held on
her course.
Then Captain Syllenger, who had come on deck, telegraphed for full
speed ahead. Like a racehorse the _Capella_ leapt forward.
A double, converging line of white foam marked the track of a torpedo
from the doomed U-boat. By a slight alteration of helm the _Capella_
avoided it. The action was hardly necessary: it was merely a matter of
precaution, since the _Capella's_ peculiarities of construction made
her practically immune from torpedo attack.
Captain Syllenger had no intention of ramming his opponent. Ramming
with a lightly built vessel, such as the _Capella_, would only be
employed as a last resource.
At an almost point-blank range of 400 yards both bow guns were fired
simultaneously. There was no need for another shot. One of the
projectiles, hitting the U-boat at the base of the conning-tower, tore
a jagged hole a couple of feet in diameter. The other shell hit her
about 10 feet from the bows, and, with an erratic peculiarity that such
missiles have after the first impact, was deflected downward, expending
the full force of its explosive charge in the submarine's bow
torpedo-room.
In a moment the luckless U-boat was done for. A huge column of smoke
marked the spot where she had disappeared like a stone, while flying
pieces of metal hurtled far and wide through the air. Several of the
fragments clattered upon the _Capella's_ deck as she swung round to
avoid any possibility of fouling debris. Of the crew not a man was to
be seen. Those who had not been killed by the shell-fire had been
wiped out by the explosion of their own torpedoes.
"We've pulled off a double event to-day, after all," remarked
Sub-lieutenant Fox as he disappeared down the companion-ladder to
resume his interrupted "watch below". "Barry has got his wish."