Whenever a British submarine goes down there is a tale of gallantry to
relieve the sorrow of it.
"C 11," on her way to join the Fleet display in the Thames, was run
down by a steamer which came suddenly upon her in the night.
A submarine, as you know, is a long, tube-like boat, shaped like a
hollow cigar, with one trap-door on the top leading to a small
look-out tower. She runs along with this tower above water until she
gets near to an enemy's ship; then the trapdoor is closed, and she
sinks herself down below water, and runs under the ship and fires a
torpedo into her in passing.
I was on board a submarine not long ago, and when I was down in her
dark, narrow inside, surrounded with a tangle of pipes and engines of
every kind, I could quite picture to myself what the inside of the
whale's belly must have looked like to Jonah. Also I could picture the
hopeless feeling of dismay which must come over a crew of thirteen men
boxed up in this small vessel if an accident occurred to her.
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