[Illustration: “Shells fell upon her like hailstones, sweeping her
decks, crashing into her sides.... She was on fire”]
THE BOY’S BOOK OF
THE SEA
BY
ERIC WOOD
Author of “The Boy’s Book of Heroes,” “The Boy Scouts’ Roll of Honour,”
etc., etc.
WITH FOUR COLOUR PLATES AND TWELVE
ILLUSTRATIONS IN BLACK-AND-WHITE
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
FUNK AND WAGNALLS COMPANY
CONTENTS
PAGE
NAVAL WARFARE--OLD AND NEW 1
_A comparison of ancient and modern naval warfare
is most interesting, and here, in the stories of the
Battles of Trafalgar and the Bight of Heligoland, the
comparison--nay, contrast--is particularly striking._
THE MEN WHO DISCOVERED THE WORLD 29
_The men who ventured forth on the unknown seas
laid the foundations of nations and commerce, and
opened up new worlds; and the stories of their voyages
are amongst the finest in the world’s history._
SOME EARLY BUCCANEERS 45
_The glamour of romance has been thrown around
the buccaneers, and not unjustly, for anything more
romantic--not to say exciting--it would be hard to
imagine than the story of those men who, from being
hunters of wild animals, became scourers of the seas:
heroic ruffians!_
MORGAN: BUCCANEER AND GOVERNOR 57
_Sir Henry Morgan, most renowned of the buccaneers,
was a born leader of men and a doer of mighty
deeds. He would have made a capital admiral or
general; as it was, he was merely a buccaneer, who
later forsook that profession for the safer one of
Governor of Jamaica._
UNDER THE JOLLY ROGER 76
_Who has not read with many a thrill the imaginative
stories of pirates? But no novelist can conceive
anything more dramatic than the deeds of the real
pirates whose tales are told here._
BLOCKADE RUNNING 94
_For peril, adventure, and courage blockade running
would be difficult to beat, and the man who succeeds in
slipping through earns all the money that he gets._
ADVENTURES ON A DESERT ISLAND 102
_The life and adventures of our old friend Robinson
Crusoe have always entertained us--old and young;
but we have no need to go to fiction to find adventures
quite as thrilling as any poor old Robinson Crusoe
experienced. Here is a tale of shipwrecked and
castaway mariners._
ADRIFT WITH MADMEN 113
_When the “Columbian” was burnt in the Atlantic
one of her boats, laden with sixteen men, was adrift for
thirteen days--days of terror, in which men went mad
from thirst._
FRANCIS DRAKE’S RAID ON THE SPANISH MAIN 122
_Drake and Hawkins went slave-trading on the
Main, and, having been played a treacherous trick
by the Spaniards, a few years later Drake went back
to take his revenge; and though ill-luck stepped in and
kept him from doing all he would, yet he exacted good
toll, and came back well pleased._
A GALLANT FISHERMAN 140
_The men who garner the harvests of the seas have a
perilous, adventurous life; here is a fisherman’s yarn
of heroism._
FIRE AT SEA 145
_There are few things more terrible than fire at sea,
where salvation depends, not on outside help, but on
the resource and heroic work of the endangered sailors._
ROMANCE OF TREASURE-TROVE 158
_Scattered about the Seven Seas are islands on which
tradition has it that vast hoards of treasure have been
hidden; and men have fitted out expeditions to find
them. Sometimes they are successful--sometimes not._
ADVENTURES UNDER SEA 166
_Father Neptune’s kingdom down below has been
invaded by presumptuous man, who not only goes upon
the sea in ships, but under as well; while when the
need arises he doesn’t even bother about a ship! These
are stories of divers and submarines._
CHASING PIRATES IN THE CHINA SEA 177
_Some tales of modern pirating._
A VOYAGE OF DANGER 186
_Of all the chapters in the sea’s history few are
more thrilling than those which tell of mutiny, and the
affair of the “Flowery Land” is a classic._
THE GUARDIANS OF THE COAST 196
_Coastguards and lighthousemen are hardy, noble
men, whose duties are manifold and arduous. Here
are some stories of the men who keep watch and ward
over the coasts, and in the doing of it win for themselves
glory._
GREAT NAVAL DISASTERS 206
_The Loss of the “Formidable” (1915) and the
“Victoria” (1893)._
INCIDENTS IN THE SLAVE TRADE 219
_Although Britain spent millions of pounds to put
down the slave trade, yet she also had to spend the lives
of many gallant sailors before the work was done._
A RACE TO SUCCOUR 226
_A story of a brilliant achievement by American
revenue men and lifeboatmen._
A TRAGEDY OF THE SOUTH POLE 233
_The quest of the South Pole lured men for years to the
ice-bound regions of the earth, and at last success crowned
the efforts which cost life and treasure and gave undying
honour to the conquerors._
STORIES OF THE LIFEBOAT 247
_The lifeboatmen are the saviours of men who sail
the seas, and their story is one of sublime indifference
to death and of glorious heroism._
TALES OF THE SMUGGLERS 260
_Stories of smugglers have always had a fascination,
and these incidents of smuggling days are full
of thrill and virility._
MODERN CORSAIRS 274
_When the Great War of 1914 turned the armed
hosts of Europe loose, the British Navy found before
it a gigantic task: the keeping open of the trade routes.
German cruisers and armed liners swept hither and
thither, holding up merchant vessels, as the privateers of
olden days did; and the “Emden” and the “Königsberg,”
etc. became the corsairs of the twentieth century._
THE WRECKERS 282
_False lights that lured the mariner astray and on to
the rocks; bold, unscrupulous men who lay in wait
for the ships to run to their doom; the looting of vessels
rendered helpless--all these things and many others go
to make up thrilling chapters in the story of the sea._
THE TRAGEDY OF A WONDER SHIP 295
_The “Titanic” was the finest ship in the world.
She was pronounced unsinkable--but, out of the night
there loomed an iceberg which ripped her plates asunder
like so much paper, and the safest ship in the world
dived beneath the surface with hundreds of unfortunate
passengers and crew._
MYSTERIES OF THE SEA 309
_Queer stories of ships that disappeared._
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOUR PLATES
“SHELLS FELL UPON HER LIKE HAILSTONES, SWEEPING
HER DECKS, CRASHING INTO HER SIDES. SHE WAS ON
FIRE” _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
“SWORD IN HAND, ROBERTS LED HIS MEN TO THE FIGHT,
DASHING THROUGH A VERY HAIL OF SHOT” 90
“THE FUNNELS AND VENTILATORS WERE BELCHING FORTH
MIGHTY COLUMNS OF FLAME, EVERY PART OF THE SHIP
WAS ABLAZE” 150
“THOUGH HER MEN WORKED HARD AT THE PUMPS, THEY
COULD NOT SAVE HER” 226
BLACK-AND-WHITE PLATES
FACING PAGE
“KENNEDY, WITH A COUPLE OF MIDDIES AND FEWER THAN
THIRTY MEN, RUSHED ABOARD” 8
“A MIGHTY GALE CAUGHT DIAZ, AND CARRIED HIS FRAIL
CRAFT BEFORE IT” 30
“PROMPTLY BOARDED THE _Vice-Admiral_. ‘SURRENDER!’
YELLED THE BUCCANEERS” 50
“THERE WAS A WHOOSH! WHOOSH! OF A ROCKET HEAVENWARDS--THE
WARNING TO THE BLOCKADING FLEET” 94
“WEYBHAYS AND HIS MEN FELL UPON THE PIRATES” 108
“‘FOR THE HONOUR OF THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, I MUST
HAVE PASSAGE THIS WAY!’ CRIED DRAKE, AND DISCHARGED
HIS PISTOL” 134
“THE SHIP WAS NOW IN ONE BLAZE, AND HER MASTS BEGAN
TO FALL IN” 154
“SWINGING FROM THIS SIDE TO THAT AS HE WAS ATTACKED,
THE DIVER MANAGED TO WARD OFF THE TIGERS OF
THE DEEP” 176
“TO THE RIGGING THEY FLED, SCRAMBLING UP IN FRENZIED
HASTE” 200
“IT WAS SIMPLY AGONISING TO WATCH THE WRETCHED MEN
STRUGGLING OVER THE SHIP’S BOTTOM IN MASSES” 216
“SHE FOUGHT BRAVELY AGAINST THE TUMULT, BUT WAS
DRIVEN BACK AGAIN AND AGAIN” 250
“MEN, STRONG-LIMBED, FULL-BLOODED, WITH THE ZEST
AND THE LOVE OF LIFE IN THEM, STOOD CALMLY BY” 300
THE BOY’S BOOK OF THE SEA
NAVAL WARFARE--OLD AND NEW
Trafalgar and Modern Fights in the North Sea
Not the least remarkable of the changes which have taken place during
the last hundred years--it is less than that, really--are those which
have come to pass in the sphere of warfare; and the accounts of the
battles here given show how different naval fighting is to-day from
what it was in Nelson’s time. Then wooden ships, now steel leviathans;
then guns that fired about 800 yards, now giant weapons that hit
the mark ten miles off; then close fighting, boarding, hand-to-hand
conflicts, now long-range fighting, with seldom, if ever, a chance
to board. Then shots that did what would be considered little damage
beside that wrought by the high-explosive shells which penetrate thick
armour-plate, and which, well-placed, can send a ship to the bottom.
Then none of those speeding death-tubes, the torpedoes, which work such
dreadful havoc with a floating citadel; then casualties in a whole
battle no more than those suffered by a single ship nowadays. And so
one could go on, touching on wireless telegraphy, fire-control--that
ingenious system which does man’s work of sighting the guns--aircraft
and submarines, which constitute so serious a factor in present-day
warfare. But the story of Trafalgar, that well-fought battle against a
noble foe who is now a gallant ally, and those of the North Sea, 1914
and 1915, will show the revolutions in modern naval warfare.
Nelson had determined to meet and beat Villeneuve, in command of
the allied French and Spanish fleet, which left Cadiz at the end of
September, 1805. The French admiral did not know how near Nelson was.
To-day the means of communication are vastly different, and battleships
are able to discover the proximity of their foes much more easily than
in those other days. It is one of the great changes in naval warfare.
So it was that the allied fleets were dogged until Nelson decided it
was time to strike.
On the 21st the rival fleets met. The English fleet was in order of
battle--two lines, with an advanced squadron of eight fast-sailing
two-deckers. Nelson, in the _Victory_, led one column, Collingwood, in
the _Royal Sovereign_, the other.
About half-past eight Villeneuve ordered his fleet to draw up in
such array and position that, if necessary, they could make for
Cadiz; but the manœuvre was badly executed, and the fleet assumed a
crescent-shaped formation, into which the English columns were sailing.
Nelson was longing for the fight; so were his men. But, although the
officers on board the _Victory_ were eager for the fight, they would
have been content to forgo the honour of opening the fight in favour of
some other ship, fearing lest Nelson should be killed.
Nelson was asked: “Could not the _Temeraire_ take the foremost place of
the column?”
Nelson replied:
“Oh, yes, let her go--if she can!”
Captain Hardy hailed the _Temeraire_ to give her instructions; but,
meanwhile, Nelson was moving about the decks giving orders that made
the _Victory_ leap forward and hold her place in the vanguard.
“There!” he said to Hardy, as he came back. “Let the _Temeraires_ open
the ball, if they can--which they most assuredly can’t! I think there’s
nothing more to be done now, is there, till we open fire? Oh, yes, stay
a minute, though. I suppose I must give the fleet something as a final
fillip. Let me see. How would this do: ‘Nelson expects that every man
will do his duty?’”
Hardy suggested that “England expects” would be an improvement. Nelson
agreed. The order was given; and the message was soon fluttering in the
breeze.
What shouts of enthusiasm greeted the signal in Trafalgar’s Bay! Every
man took it as a message to himself, and forthwith vowed to do what was
expected of him.
“Now,” said Nelson. “I can do no more. We must trust to the great
Disposer of events and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this
opportunity of doing my duty!”
For all his apparent good spirits the Admiral had a foreboding of
impending ill, and when Captain Blackwood left him to take up his place
on the _Euryalus_, the Admiral gripped him by the hand and said:
“God bless you, Blackwood! I shall never see you again.”
The battle was opened by the French ship _Fougueux_, which fired upon
the _Royal Sovereign_.
“Engage the enemy more closely,” was now Nelson’s signal, and the
English closed in upon the foe. Collingwood broke through the enemy’s
line astern the _Santa Anna_. He reserved his fire until he was almost
at the muzzles of their guns, then, with a roar, his port broadside
was hurled at the _Santa Anna_, and four hundred men fell killed and
wounded, and fourteen of the Spaniard’s guns were put out of action.
The starboard guns spoke to the _Fougueux_ at the same time. Owing to
the dense smoke and the greater distance, the damage done was not so
great.
“By Jove, Rotherham!” cried Collingwood to his flag-captain. “What
would Nelson give to be here?”
“And,” says James in his Naval History, “by a singular coincidence
Lord Nelson, the moment he saw his friend in his enviable position,
exclaimed: ‘See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into
action.’”
Collingwood now pressed still closer on the _Santa Anna_, and a smart
battle began between the two great ships, till four other ships bore
down upon the _Royal Sovereign_, so that she was very soon the centre
of a ring of fire. So close were the ships, and so continuous was the
fire, that often cannon-balls met in mid-air, though more frequently
they fell on board and did much damage. Badly aimed shots often passed
over the _Royal Sovereign_, and found their mark on the decks of French
or Spanish vessels. Presently the four new-comers veered off when they
noticed that other British ships were bearing down upon them.
With a roar the British _Belleisle_ sent a broadside into the _Santa
Anna_ as she passed; and then Collingwood was alone with his foe.
For over an hour the duel raged, and the _Royal Sovereign_, although
she carried a dozen guns fewer than the _Santa Anna_, suffered less.
Battered, mastless, with hundreds of men lying in pools of blood, the
_Santa Anna_ still fought on, refusing for a long time to strike her
colours. At last, however, there was nothing for it but to give in, and
the Spanish flag fluttered down the mast.
When the battle began the foe opened fire at the _Victory_, which they
knew was Nelson’s flagship. The English Admiral had made sure that he
should not be lost sight of, for he had hoisted several flags lest one
should be carried away. The _Victory’s_ maintopgallant sail was shot
away, and broadsides were hurled at her, but still she kept on.
Nelson wished to encounter Villeneuve, and, despite a raking fire
poured in upon him by the _Santissima Trinidad_, he kept on his way,
taking the _Victory_ into the thick of the fight. He refused to have
the hammocks slung higher lest they should interrupt his view, although
they would have afforded shelter from the enemy’s fire. Men dropped
all about the ship, shots ploughed up the deck or bored their way
through the sides, yet the gallant _Victory_ held on her way for the
_Bucentaure_, which Nelson knew carried Admiral Villeneuve.
Eight ships, however, surrounded her, and made it impossible for the
_Victory_ to be brought alongside. These, belching forth their heavy
fire at her, smashed her wheel, hurled her mizzen-mast overboard,
shattered her sails. The wind had dropped, too; the _Victory_ was
almost at a standstill, and it was impossible to bring a gun into
action.
Pacing his quarter-deck Nelson waited for his time to come. While doing
so, a shot passed between him and Hardy, bruising the latter’s foot,
and tearing the buckle from his shoe. Both stopped in their promenade,
looking anxiously at each other.
“This is too warm work to last long, Hardy,” said Nelson.
“The enemy are closing up their line, sir,” said Hardy. “See! We can’t
get through without running one of them aboard!”
“I can’t help that,” said Nelson, “and I don’t see that it matters
much which we tackle first. Take your choice. Go on board which you
please.”
Villeneuve on the _Bucentaure_ was therefore given a treble-shotted,
close-range broadside, which disabled four hundred men and put twenty
guns out of action, and left the ship almost defenceless.
Then, porting his helm, Nelson bore down on the _Redoutable_ and the
_Neptune_. The latter veered off, but the former could not escape the
_Victory_, which she therefore received with a broadside. Then, fearing
that a boarding party would enter her, the lower deck ports were shut.
Meanwhile the _Temeraire_ had fastened on to the _Redoutable_ on the
other side, and the most momentous episode in that great day’s work
took place. In it we can see the difference between the naval fighting
of a century ago and that of to-day, the latter being fought at long
range, with no attempt at boarding.
The _Victory’s_ guns were depressed so that they should not do damage
to the _Temeraire_, and broadside after broadside was poured into
the _Redoutable_, which made a brave show. The two ships were almost
rubbing sides (now we fight at eight-mile range or more!), and men
stood by the British guns with buckets of water in their hands, which,
immediately the guns were fired, they emptied into the hole made in the
_Redoutable’s_ side lest she should catch fire, and so the prize be
lost.
In the _Redoutable’s_ top riflemen were posted, and throughout the
fight picked off man after man--a practice which Nelson himself
abhorred. It was from one of these snipers that the great Admiral
received his death-wound.
While pacing the poop deck, Nelson suddenly swung round and pitched
forward on his face. A ball had entered in at the left shoulder, and
passed through his backbone.
Hardy, turning, saw three men lifting him up.
“They have done for me at last, Hardy,” Nelson said feebly.
“Oh, I hope not!” cried Hardy.
“Yes,” was the reply; “my backbone is shot through!”
The bearers carried him down the ladders to the lower deck. On the
way, despite his awful agony, Nelson had thoughts for nothing but the
battle; he ordered that new tiller ropes should be rigged to replace
those which had been shot away at the moment the _Victory_ had crashed
into the _Redoutable_. Then, that they might not recognise him, he
covered his face and stars with his handkerchief.
They carried him into the cockpit. We will leave him, and return to the
conflict.
The men in the _Redoutable’s_ top still kept up their galling fire, as
also did the guns of the second deck, and in less than fifteen minutes
after Nelson had been shot down, no fewer than fifty of the _Victory’s_
officers and men had met a like fate.
Then the French determined to board. As it was impossible to do this by
the bulwarks, they lowered their main yard and turned it into a bridge,
over which they scrambled on to the deck of the _Victory_.
“Repel boarders!”
It was a cry like that of a wild beast, and it brought the lion’s
whelps from the lower decks. They hurled themselves at the venturesome
Frenchmen. With pistol and pike, cutlass and axe, the English fought
with the ferocity that had made them so dreaded in the past; when other
weapons failed they fought with bare fists, hurling the trespassers
overboard.
It cost the _Victory_ thirty men to repel that attack. But it cost the
_Redoutable_ more; and very soon not a Frenchman was left alive on the
decks of Nelson’s ship.
As we have said, while the _Victory_ was engaging the _Redoutable_ on
one side, the _Temeraire_ was tackling her on the other, the three
ships hugging each other with muzzles touching muzzles. Soon after the
attempt to board the _Victory_, the _Temeraire_ lashed her bowsprit to
the gangway of the _Redoutable_ so that she could not escape. Then she
poured in a raking fire until the Frenchman was compelled to surrender,
though not before she had twice been on fire, and more than five
hundred of her crew had been killed or wounded.
Some of the _Temeraire_ men then turned to deal with the _Fougueux_,
which had attacked her during the fight with the _Redoutable_.
Captain Hardy was too busy with the _Redoutable_ to do much; but
Lieutenant Kennedy quickly set a party to man the starboard batteries.
With these they opened fire at about one hundred yards, and crash! the
_Fougueux’s_ masts fell, her wheel was smashed, her rigging shattered,
and she was so crippled that she ran foul of the _Temeraire_, whose
crew lashed their foe to them, and Kennedy, with a couple of middies
and fewer than thirty seamen and marines, rushed aboard her.
Five hundred Frenchmen were still fresh for battle on the _Fougueux_,
but the Britishers did not hesitate. With a bound they were on the
enemy’s deck, and, slashing and hacking at the crowd that came up
against them, drove them back and still back. Dozens were killed and
others leapt overboard to escape the whirlwind that had fallen upon
them. The remainder scuttled away below, the English clapped the
hatches on them, and the ship was won.
[Illustration: “Kennedy, with a couple of middies and fewer than thirty
men, rushed aboard”]
Meanwhile the _Victory_ had been pouring a heavy fire into the
_Santissima Trinidad_ on one side and the _Redoutable_ on the other.
Through and through the former was raked, her deck swept clear of men,
until the Spaniards dived overboard and swam off to the _Victory_,
whose crew helped them aboard.
The _Belleisle_, which had hurled her broadside into the _Santa Anna_
early in the conflict, had been pounced upon by about half a dozen
ships of the enemy, which poured in a deadly fire, battering her sides,
tearing her rigging to pieces, and twisting her mizzen-mast over the
aft guns, putting them out of action. Sixty men also had been sent to
their account, but the rest fought on with British courage.
The _Achille_ bore down upon her and attacked her aft, the _Aigle_,
assisted by the _Neptune_, fell on her starboard, aiming at her
remaining masts and bringing them down.
“Crippled, but unconquered,” masts gone by the board, nearly all
the guns useless, men mostly killed or wounded, the _Belleisle’s_
few remaining men stood to their three or four guns and hurled
defiance at the foe. Pounding away for all they were worth, not a man
flinched--except at the thought that the flag had been shot away. They
fastened a Union Jack to a pikehead, waved it defiantly, yelled out
a cheer of determination, and fought on again, keeping their ship in
action throughout the battle, refusing to strike the pikehead flag.
The English _Neptune_ assailed the _Bucentaure_, and brought her main-
and mizzen-masts down; then the _Leviathan_ came up, and at a range
of about thirty yards gave the French flagship a full broadside which
smashed the stern to splinters. The _Conqueror_ completed the work thus
begun, and brought down the flag.
A marine officer and five men put off from the _Conqueror_ to take
possession. Villeneuve and two chief officers at once gave their
swords to the officer, who, thinking that the honour of accepting them
belonged to his captain, refused the weapons, put the Frenchmen in his
boat, pocketed the key of the magazine, left two sentries to guard the
cabin doors, and then pulled away to rejoin his ship. For some time the
little boat searched for the _Conqueror_, which had gone in quest of
other foes. Eventually, however, the boat was picked up by the _Mars_,
whose acting commander, Lieutenant Hennah, accepted the surrendered
swords, and ordered Villeneuve and his two captains below.
The _Leviathan_ next tackled the Spanish _San Augustino_, which
opened fire on her at a hundred yards. The _Leviathan_ replied with
fine effect, bringing down the Spaniard’s mizzen-mast and flag. Then
she lashed herself to her foe. Clearing the way for boarders by a
galling fire, the English captain sent across his boarding party. A
hand-to-hand fight took place, and the Spaniards were steadily but
surely forced over the side or below, and at last the ship was won.
The French _Intrépide_, seeing the plight of her ally, now bore down
on the _Leviathan_, raking her with fire as she came, and getting her
boarders ready for attack. They did not board, for the _Africa_ pitted
herself against the _Intrépide_, and smaller though she was got the
best of it, and the Frenchmen were compelled to strike their flag.
Meanwhile the _Prince_ and the _Swiftsure_ were engaged with the
_Achille_, into which many English ships had sent stinging shots,
bringing her masts to the deck, and making the ship a blazing mass.
Unable to quench the flames, the crew began cutting the masts,
intending to heave them overboard.
The _Prince_, however, gave her a broadside which did the cutting,
and sent the wreckage down into the waists. The whole ship immediately
took fire. The _Prince_ and the _Swiftsure_, ceasing fire, sent their
boats to save the Frenchmen. It was a noble but dangerous act, for the
heat discharged the _Achille’s_ guns, and many of the would-be rescuers
perished as a result. Blazing hulk though she was, the _Achille_ kept
her colours flying bravely, her sole surviving senior officer, a middy,
refusing to strike. The flames reached her magazine, and with colours
flying she blew up, carrying all her remaining men heavenwards.
Meantime, Nelson lay dying in the cockpit of the _Victory_ in agony,
yet rejoicing that he was victorious. The rank and file were kept
ignorant of his condition, though the Admiral himself knew that the end
was near, and urged the surgeons to give their attention to others.
“He was in great pain, and expressed much anxiety for the event of the
action, which now began to declare itself. As often as a ship struck
the crew of the _Victory_ hurrahed, and at every hurrah a visible
expression of joy gleamed in the eyes and marked the countenance of the
dying hero.”
Every now and then Nelson asked for Hardy. “Will no one bring Hardy to
me?” he cried; and when at last Hardy came, the two friends shook hands
in silence.
“Well, Hardy, how goes the day with us?” asked Nelson presently.
“Very well, my lord. We have got twelve or fourteen of the enemies’
ships, but five of their van have tacked, and show an intention of
bearing down on the _Victory_. I have therefore called two or three of
our fresh ships round us, and have no doubt of giving them a drubbing.”
“I hope none of _our_ ships have struck, Hardy?”
“No, my lord; there is no fear of that.”
“Well, I am a dead man, Hardy, but I am glad of what you say. Oh, whip
them now you’ve got them; whip them as they’ve never been whipped
before!”
Hardy then left him for a time, returning somewhat later to report that
some fourteen ships had been taken.
“That’s well,” cried Nelson, “though I bargained for twenty. Anchor,
Hardy, anchor.”
Hardy suggested that Admiral Collingwood might now take over the
direction of affairs.
“Not while I live, Hardy!” said Nelson. “Do _you_ anchor.”
“Shall we make the signal, sir?”
“Yes,” answered Nelson. “For if I live, I’ll anchor.”
For a little while Hardy looked down at his admiral.
“Kiss me, Hardy,” said Nelson; and Hardy kissed him. “Don’t have my
poor carcass hove overboard,” whispered Nelson, as Hardy leant over
him. “Get what’s left of me sent to England, if you can manage it. Kiss
me, Hardy.”
Hardy kissed him again.
“Who is that?” asked the hero.
“It is I--Hardy.”
“Good-bye. God bless you, Hardy. Thank God, I’ve done my duty.”
Then Hardy left him--for ever.
Nelson was turned on to his right side, muttered the words that he
would soon be gone. Then, after a little silence, he sighed and
struggled to speak, but all he could say was:
“Thank God, I have done my duty!”
Then Nelson died; and England was the poorer by her greatest sea
captain.
Hardy took the news to Collingwood, who assumed command, and refused
to carry out Nelson’s instructions to anchor, because the fact that a
gale was blowing up would make it unsafe to do so.
The battle was now over; the allied fleets had been defeated, eighteen
of their ships were captured, and with these Collingwood stood out to
sea. The enemy, however, recaptured four of the prizes, one escaped to
Cadiz, some went down with all hands, others were stranded, and one
was so unseaworthy that it was scuttled; and only four were taken into
Gibraltar.
* * * * *
Now for a different picture!
* * * * *
It was the early hours of August 28, 1914. Under cover of the darkness
and the fog, the first and third flotillas of our destroyers, commanded
by Commodore R. Y. Tyrwhitt, under orders from the Admiralty, had
crept towards Heligoland Bight, preceded by submarines E6, E7, E8,
and followed by the first battle cruiser squadron and the first light
cruiser squadron.
The submarines, submerged to the base of their conning-towers, swept
into the Bight, and when the grey fingers of the dawn crept across
the sky the Germans behind the fortress saw what they imagined was a
British submarine in difficulties, with sister ships alongside, and two
cruisers, _Lurcher_ and _Drake_, in attendance, intent only on giving
her assistance until help could reach them.
It was nothing more than a trap, into which the Germans fell.
A torpedo boat destroyer swung out of the harbour, making full
steam ahead for the apparently helpless submarines, who kept their
hazardous positions until they saw that the Germans had come far away
from the island fortress. Then, one after the other, they sank, and
simultaneously the cruisers swung about and raced madly away from the
German torpedo craft.
Search though they did, the Germans found no trace of the submarines;
all they could see were light cruisers tearing away from them at full
speed. These cruisers had acted as an additional decoy, and other
destroyers slipped out, bent on making short work of the Britishers
who had dared to flaunt themselves within sight of Heligoland. Then,
in the distance, appeared the funnels of other British cruisers and
destroyers; and it would seem that the Germans realised that they had
fallen into a trap, and endeavoured to escape, for Commodore Tyrwhitt’s
dispatch says: “The _Arethusa_ and the third flotilla were engaged with
numerous destroyers and torpedo boats which were making for Heligoland;
course thus altered to port to cut them off.” This was from 7.20 to
7.57 A.M., when two German cruisers appeared on the scene and were
engaged.
It was a gallant fight. The jolly Jack Tars of Britain had been waiting
these many days for a smack at the foe, who had not dared to come out
and meet them until it seemed they were in overwhelming force; and now,
when the opportunity had come, they entered into the fight with a zest
worthy of the Navy that rules the seas. They watched their shots; the
gunlayers worked methodically, as though at target practice; and when a
shot went home, men cheered lustily and rubbed their hands with glee.
And the Germans began to think they had a handful of work before them,
despite numbers.
They had a bigger handful soon! Here and there, with startling
suddenness, periscopes dotted the water, to be followed by the grey
shells of submarines, which, getting the range for their torpedoes, as
quickly disappeared, and became a menace to the German ships. It began
to dawn upon the foe that they were being trapped.
“Full speed ahead!” had come the command when the Germans were sighted,
and on went the destroyers in the van. “We just went for them,” said
one of the sailors afterwards; “and when we got within range we let
them have it hot!”
Hot it was, when at last they did come to grips. But before that
happened other things were to take place. The cruiser _Arethusa_,
leader of the third destroyer flotilla--a new ship, by the way, only
out of dock these forty-eight hours, of 30,000 horsepower, with a
2-inch belt of armour, and 4-inch and 6-inch guns--sped on towards the
Germans, who, owing to the morning mist, could not see how many foes
they were to meet, and fondly dreamed they were in the majority.
The German cruisers, like the destroyers, were successfully decoyed out
to sea, and then the real fighting began.
The _Arethusa_ tackled some of the destroyers and two cruisers, one
a four-funnelled vessel. A few range-finding shots, then the aim was
obtained, and a shell put the German’s bow gun out of action. The
_Fearless_ and the _Arethusa_ were now in “Full action,” and, together
with the destroyers of the flotilla, were quickly engaged in a stern
piece of work.
The saucy _Arethusa_ didn’t budge when the second cruiser (two funnels)
came at her, but simply fired away for all she was worth. For over half
an hour she fought the Germans at a range of 3,000 yards. What would
Nelson have thought of this long-distance fighting? And “it was a fight
in semi-darkness, when it was only just possible,” wrote one of her
crew, “to make out the opposing grey shadow. Hammer, hammer, hammer, it
was, until the eyes ached and smarted and the breath whistled through
lips parched with the acrid fumes of picric acid.”
It was a gallant fight. Those deadly 6-inch guns of hers did their
proper work, and battered at the Germans; while, on the other hand, the
Germans battered away at her; apparently misliking her entertainment,
the four-funnelled German turned her attention to the _Fearless_, which
kept her men as busy as bees for a time. About ten minutes, and the
_Arethusa_ planted a 6-inch shell on the forebridge of the German,
and sent her scurrying away to Heligoland. But the _Arethusa_ had not
escaped injury in the stern fight, and once or twice, but for the
gallant assistance of the _Fearless_ and the destroyers, she seemed
likely to be even more severely damaged, if not destroyed. As it was,
a shell entered her engine-room, all her guns but one were put out of
action, a fire broke out opposite No. 2 port gun, and was promptly
handled by Chief Petty Officer Wrench.
Presently the _Arethusa_ drew off for a while, like a gladiator getting
his wind, ready to come back again.
And while the _Arethusa’s_ crew were working like niggers putting
things to rights, the _Fearless_ standing by to help, the British
destroyers were engaged in swift, destructive, rushing-about conflicts,
now with opposing destroyers, now with German cruisers. Two of the
British “wasps” tackled a couple of cruisers, for instance. Getting in
between their larger foes, they placed the latter in such a quandary
that they did not know what to do. To fire meant risking hitting each
other, and, seizing the hazardous opportunity, the destroyers worked
their will upon their opponents; and then, when it was not possible to
do more, sped off into the haze. The _Liberty_ and _Laertes_ did good
work during these early hours of the fighting. They opposed themselves
to several German craft, roared out their thunderous welcome “to the
North Sea,” and, with well-aimed shots, sent one boat out of the
fighting line with a hole clean through her hull, wrenched off the
funnel of another, smashed up the after gun of yet a third, and blew
the platform itself to pieces.
Aye, ’twas a glorious scrum! Yet not without its nasty knocks
for the Britishers. Standing on his bridge, working his ship,
Lieutenant-Commander Nigel Barttelot heard the crash of a shell as
it struck his mast; and before he could move the whole structure had
fallen with a crash upon the bridge, killing him and a signaller
instantly.
The _Laertes_, too, received her punishment. Her for’ard gun was
damaged, and its crew either killed or wounded, while the ’midship
funnel was ripped from top to bottom, and a shell sang its horrific way
into the dynamo-room, while another made havoc of her cabin.
Presently the _Arethusa_, her wreckage cleared away, her guns--some
of them--working again, steamed into the battle area, and, undaunted
as ever, took on another couple of German cruisers. “It looked as if
she was in for a warm time,” said one of the crew; “but the fortunate
arrival of our battle squadron relieved the situation.”
The first light cruiser squadron came first, and engaged the Germans.
There is much meaning in that “fortunate arrival.” It had been planned
and carried out to a nicety. Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty and the
two cruiser squadrons had been waiting, as arranged--waiting for the
time to come when he should go to the aid of the torpedo flotillas.
While waiting the squadrons were attacked by German submarines, which
were not successful in wounding any of the ships. A German seaplane,
scouting over the North Sea, espied the squadrons, and sped back to
Heligoland with the news. They brought out reinforcements, which made
the flotillas signal to the vice-admiral for help. This was before noon.
The first light cruiser squadron came first, and swept the Germans with
a tornado of fire. Then, when the _Fearless_ and the first flotilla
were returning, while the light cruiser squadron engaged the enemy,
the battle cruiser squadron came up: the _Lion_, the _Princess Royal_,
the _New Zealand_, and the _Invincible_, armed, the first two, with
13.5 guns, and the others with 12-inch. The work that the _Arethusa_
and her smaller fry had commenced was now carried to a finish. The
German cruisers _Mainz_ and _Köln_ shook to the impact of the rain of
shells poured upon them; great holes were torn in their sides, flames
spurted out, and roared their angry way about the ships. The _Mainz_,
more badly wounded, was in a sinking condition before the arrival of
the battle cruisers, and now, tortured by the horrific projectiles,
began to sink rapidly by the head. With a _siss! siss!_ as the flames
met water, and a roar as the boilers exploded, the good ship _Mainz_,
after a plucky fight, went to her last anchorage, followed later by the
_Köln_.
Destroyers which had been battering at the unfortunate Germans now
ceased their fire, and sped towards them on errands of mercy, seeking
to save their foes. A large number of the crew of over 350 of the
_Mainz_ still lived, and the destroyers’ crews were horrified to see
that German officers were shooting at their own men as the ship began
to sink rapidly by the head. The _Lurcher_ (Commodore Roger J. B.
Keyes) rescued 220 of her crew.
British sailors helping to rescue the crew told later that the scene
on deck was terrible. Steelwork had been twisted and bent as hairpins
bend; the deck was a shambles--grim testimony to the deadly character
of the British fire.
While the destroyers were still fighting, after the sinking of the
_Mainz_ and _Köln_, a third German cruiser, the _Ariadne_, appeared on
the scene, and, after the destroyers had tackled her unsuccessfully,
the battle cruisers, turning from their earlier victims, spoke to her
in the language of death. Shells fell all about her, battering her
sides, gouging great holes in her, wrecking her so completely that
within a short time she was going down to keep the _Mainz_ and _Köln_
company. Later it was reported that yet a fourth cruiser had been set
on fire.
We must now go back to the destroyer action, which was no less sharp
than the other. The small craft sped here and there, firing their
4-inch guns as rapidly as possible, and inflicting damage on one
another. Out of the chaos of the fighting there shone the bright light
of foes who would show mercy. The German destroyer V187 was so badly
mauled that there was no hope for her or her crew, and the British
destroyer _Goshawk_ ordered the others to cease fire while she lowered
her boats and sought to rescue the Germans, who, however, heeding not
the humane mission of their foes, opened fire on the _Goshawk_ at a
range of about 200 yards. The German official reports eulogised this as
“a glorious fight,” but the British tars saw in it something other than
“glorious.” Forced to fight even when they would save, they opened fire
in reply; and in double quick time the V187 was silenced, and began
to settle down, her men being flung or leaping into the shell-whipped
seas. British boats now endeavoured to save the lives of the men who
had fired at them when they would have done so before, and several
boats managed to pick up survivors.
But, as if the blatant callousness of V187 were not enough, a
German cruiser came swinging up, and opened a deadly fire upon the
destroyers--the boats whose errand was a merciful one. The destroyers,
picking up what boats they could, made away at full speed; but some
boats, containing Britishers and Germans, were left behind. At that
moment, Lieut.-Commodore Leir, of submarine E4, appeared on the scene,
and engaged the cruiser, which altered her course before he could get
the range. Down went E4 for safety’s sake.
The two boats of the _Defender_, left thus, were in a precarious
situation, shells flying all about them and their ship far away. Then,
to their amazement, there appeared on the surface the periscope of a
submarine; then, presently, the conning-tower. It was E4 again. This
time she hailed the boats, and, though she was a plain mark for the
cruiser’s fire, she remained on the surface, bent on saving whom she
could. She could not embark them all, but took a lieutenant and nine
men of the _Defender_. There were also two of the officers and eight
men of V187, unwounded, and eighteen wounded men, and, unable to take
them on board, Leir left an officer and six unwounded men to navigate
the British boats to Heligoland, taking steps to see that they were
provided with water, biscuits, and a compass. It was the British sailor
all over!
Thus it was that the Battle of the Bight was fought--and won--by the
tars of Old Britain. They had hankered long after the outcoming of the
Germans, who sulked in their harbours, and had had to be lured out.
Boldly had the Germans issued forth when the odds had seemed all on
their side, when they saw before them but a few small vessels; and, to
their credit be it said, they fought well when the truth came to them.
It was the first engagement in the war worthy of the name of a naval
battle, and the British reaped the honours, though, when the tally
was taken, they had not escaped scot free. There were battered ships
amongst those that put into port later. The _Liberty_ had fourteen
great holes in her port bow, her bridge was smashed, her searchlight
gone, her wireless installation vanished, and nothing but a stump
remained of her mast. The _Laertes_, hit four times, had had to be
taken in tow for a while, and the _Arethusa_, who had started the fight
in good style, had, as we have seen, received much beating about. The
_Fearless_ also had honourable wounds, receiving no fewer than nineteen
hits, though none of them in a vital part.
Beginning in the early morning, with the sea-mist shrouding the sea,
the battle had continued for six or seven hours; and then the Germans,
knowing themselves outmatched, drew off, dropping mines as they went,
while the British squadrons, finding there was nothing more to be
done when the Germans had scurried to the shelter of their harbour,
also drew away, without a ship lost, and with but comparatively few
men _hors de combat_. During the return journey some of the British
cruisers were attacked by submarines but escaped damage. The saucy
_Arethusa_, wounded pretty badly, steamed away at about six knots until
7 o’clock, and then, finding it impossible to proceed farther, drew her
fire in all boilers except two and called for assistance. Up came the
_Hogue_, at 9.30, and took her in tow, while the _Amethyst_ took in tow
the _Laurel_, which had also suffered a fair amount of damage.
Thus, with the blood surging through their veins as they thought of the
victory won, and longing for the day to come when they might once more
meet their foes, the British tars steamed to port. Five months later
there was another action on a large scale.
What would the hero of Trafalgar have said if anyone had suggested to
him the possibility of a running battle in which the opponents should
never be nearer than eight miles? He would probably not have regarded
it as a fight! In those good old times the guns could not carry much
more than a thousand yards, and the end very often came by boarders,
and the capture of the ship in a hand-to-hand fight. Nowadays sea
fights are at long range; and yet another account of a battle in the
North Sea (January 24, 1915) shows how greatly methods of warfare have
changed. It is difficult to imagine the story of such a fight, as
will be understood when the classes of ships engaged are considered:
mighty battle cruisers, such as the _Lion_, whose guns can fire 10
miles, hurling a broadside of 10,000 lbs. twice in every minute; light
cruisers, speedy destroyers, and submarines; while over all hovered
the long grey shapes of airships and the darting forms of seaplanes
dropping bombs. And all the time the battling ships are tearing through
the seas at top speed, belching forth terrible high-explosive shells.
The battle of January 24 was the outcome of a German attempt to raid
the east coast of England, as had been done before--Yarmouth first,
then the Hartlepools, Scarborough, and Whitby. In the case of the last
three towns a large number of defenceless women and children had been
murdered by the German fire, and the War Lord proclaimed it a mighty
victory for his navy. Issuing forth again, in the hope of achieving
something as noble, the German admiral brought with him four battle
cruisers, six light cruisers, and two flotillas of torpedo craft and
submarines. When about thirty miles off the English coast they were
sighted by a light cruiser, which engaged them and signalled to
Admiral Beatty’s squadron the news of the coming of the foe. Instantly
the British vessels, which had been cleared for action for over an hour
(it was now 7.30 A.M.), closed up and prepared to chase the raiders,
then 14 miles away. Admiral Beatty’s force, thus once more destined
to play its part in the drama of war, consisted of the battle cruiser
squadron--_Lion_ (flagship), _Tiger_, _Princess Royal_, _Indomitable_,
_New Zealand_, and several light cruisers and torpedo craft. The battle
cruisers were Britain’s most formidable fighting ships, outcome of
what proved to be a far-sighted policy, namely, that of big guns; the
first three carried twenty-four 13.5-in. guns, and the last two sixteen
12-in. guns, against which the German _Derfflinger_ (a new ship) had
eight 12-in. guns, the _Moltke_ and _Seydlitz_ twenty 11-in., and the
_Blücher_ twelve 8-in. guns. It will be seen, therefore, that the
British ships had the superiority in weight and range.
As soon as the news was brought to the admiral he gave instructions for
the destroyers to chase the enemy and report his movements, while the
squadron steered south-east, “with a view to securing the lee position,
and to cut off the enemy, if possible.”
The Germans, immediately they realised that they had been seen, and
that they were about to be met by a large force, turned tail and ran
away. It must not be thought that this was a sign of cowardice; far
from it, for in all probability the German manœuvre was deliberate,
and in keeping with the policy that had arranged the larger number of
heavier guns in the stern of the ships, so that, in the event of a
running fight, such as this was destined to be, the fleeing ships would
not be at a disadvantage. The British ships have the majority of their
guns fixed to fire ahead. One great disadvantage attaching to pursuers
lies in the fact that the ships fleeing before them may drop mines,
into which the chasing ships might run.
Working at a speed of from 28 to 29 knots an hour, the British squadron
raced after the Germans, gradually overhauling them, and at 20,000
yards opened fire upon the foe, keeping at it until, at 18,000 yards’
range, the shots began to tell, and the fire was returned by the
Germans. The fight had begun in real earnest. The German destroyers
made a plucky attack, in the hope of torpedoing the British ships, but
the “M” division of British destroyers raced ahead of the cruisers and
engaged the Germans and drove them off. The German destroyers belched
forth great clouds of smoke, which screened the cruisers from their
pursuers.