THE MAIN FLEET ARRIVES
It was by a miracle, it seemed, that the _Queen Mary,_ the
_Indefatigable_, the _Marlborough_ and the _Lion_, now in the front
line, had escaped being struck in their vitals by the German shells
that flew all about. On the _Queen Mary_, dead men and wounded men
strewed the deck. They were being carried below as rapidly as possible,
where the ship's surgeon, with a corps of assistants, was attending to
their wounds.
Frank and Jack had been working like demons. From one part of the ship
to the other they had been running with orders ever since the battle
opened. The heart of each lad was in his throat--not because of fear--
but because the British were getting the worst of the engagement. Never
before had they seen an enemy fleet stand up to a British squadron of
this size and fight. Always before it had been the German policy to
run.
But now they were not only standing up to the British, but were giving
them a bad thrashing. Each lad realized, of course, that the British
were out-numbered and that the weight of guns was in favor of the
enemy; but in spite of this they felt that the enemy should be
defeated. They cast occasional glances to the west, hoping to catch
sight of the main British fleet, which should be drawing near now.
But at nine o'clock there was no smoke on the horizon.
The loss of the _Invincible_ had been a hard blow to the British. As
the others retreated now the Germans pressed them closely. A shot
struck the _Marlborough_ in the forward turret, exploding her guns
there and killing the gun crews. The effect of the explosion was
terrible. Men were hurled high in the air and came down in small
pieces.
Jack, in the forward turret of the _Queen Mary_ a moment later, was
hurled to the deck as a German shell struck one of the guns and blew it
to pieces. The lad escaped the rain of steel that descended a moment
later, but others in the turret were not so fortunate. Fully half the
men there were killed or wounded so badly that they could fight no
more.
Jack sprang to one of the guns himself. It was loaded. Quickly the lad
sighted it upon one of the enemy ships and fired.
He watched the effect of this shot. It was the German cruiser _Elbing_
at which he had aimed. He saw a cloud of missiles ascend from amidships
and knew that the shot had struck home.
Jack forgot all about reporting to Captain Raleigh for further orders,
and as the battle raged, he continued to fire one of the big 16-inch
guns--he and other unwounded British tars.
Frank had not seen his chum for an hour; and chancing to poke his head
into the forward turret, he was surprised to see Jack working like a
Trojan with the members of the gun crew.
"Good work, Jack! Keep it up!" he called.
Jack looked in Frank's direction long enough to wave his hand; then
turned back to his work.
Came a loud British cheer. "What's happened?" demanded Jack of the man
next him, shouting at the top of his voice to make himself heard above
the din of battle.
The man shook his head.
"Don't know," he shouted back, "unless the main fleet has been
sighted."
"We might have sunk one of the enemy," said another.
As a matter of fact, both men were right.
Two German torpedo boats had gone to the bottom almost simultaneously
under well directed British shots; and, far back across the sea, a
flotilla of battleships had been sighted.
Apparently the Germans had not yet sighted the British reinforcements,
for they continued to press their foes hard.
Four British torpedo boats had been sent to the bottom of the sea. They
were the _Tipperary_, the _Turbulent_, the _Nestore_ and the _Shark_.
The others gave slowly before the enemy; and a moment later two of
those sank--the _Sparrow Hawk_ and the _Ardent_.
There now remained facing the entire German fleet the _Lion_, the
_Queen Mary_, the _Indefatigable_, the _Marlborough_ and two torpedo
boats, the _Fortune_ and the _Alcaster_.
But the German losses had been great. The _Westphalen_ had been sunk.
So had the _Pommern_ and the _Freiderich_. The _Frauenlob_ had gone to
the bottom and the _Wiesbaden_, the new flagship, was badly crippled.
As another German torpedo boat sank, the Germans slackened their pace.
The British had a breathing spell.
But the battle was not over yet. The second German squadron had now
approached almost close enough to take a hand in the battle. Apparently
this Was what the German admiral was waiting for before resuming
operations.
It was plainly evident now that the Germans had sighted the approaching
British fleet, but at that distance they were unable to make out its
strength. The German admiral decided to continue the battle if he could
do so with any hope of success.
So, with the second squadron in range, he gave the command to advance
again.
The _Queen Mary_ and the _Indefatigable_ bore the brunt of this next
attack and for half an hour it seemed that it was impossible for the
two ships to live through the rain of shells that fell all about them.
But live they did and they gave as good or better than they received.
The German battleship _Hindenburg_, pierced by half a dozen shells at
almost the same time, staggered back and fell out of line. But the
British had no mercy on her. Shell after shell they poured upon her;
and at last she sank.
The _Wiesbaden_, the German flagship, pressed hotly to the attack.
Although struck in a dozen places and her port side batteries out of
commission, she continued to play on the _Queen Mary_ and the
_Indefatigable_ with her forward turret guns.
As a matter of fact, it was fortunate for the _Queen Mary_ and the
_Indefatigable_ that they had begun to retire; for their forward turret
guns had been silenced and the only pieces that they could now bring
into play were in the turrets aft.
A shell from the German battleship _Lutzow_ exploded on the bridge of
the _Marlborough_. The bridge was carried completely away and the
commander of the ship was killed, as were half a score of other
officers. A second shell struck the _Marlborough_ and carried away her
steering apparatus. Absolutely uncontrollable now, the _Marlborough_
drifted toward the _Lion_, with which she almost collided before the
_Lion_ could get out of the way.
There was nothing that could be done for her until after the battle, at
any rate, and the others left her to her fate. Drifting as she was, the
_Marlborough_ continued her fire; and of a sudden she put a shot aboard
the _Lutzow_ in a vital spot.
The _Lutzow_ blew up with a terrible roar. The crew of the
_Marlborough_ cheered and waved their hands to their companions on the
other British ships.
Apparently this was more than the German admiral had bargained for.
With his whole second squadron intact and the British apparently
helpless, he had thought to crush these few ships before aid should
reach them; and then, if the approaching British were not too
formidable, to offer them battle also.
Now there were only three British ships in line--the _Lion_, the
_Queen Mary_ and the _Indefatigable_--and these were really not fit
nor able to continue the fight.
But the men fought on doggedly. None of the others had thought of
surrender and no such idea entered the head of a single man aboard any
of the British ships. Help was at hand and then the Germans would get
the thrashing of their lives, the men told themselves. They would keep
the Germans busy until this help arrived.
Hardly a man aboard the _Queen Mary_ that had not been wounded. Sweat
poured from their faces, hands and body as they continued to fight
their guns; and as they fought they shouted and yelled encouragement to
one another.
"Boom!"
There was a different tone to this deep voice and every man on board
the hard pressed British ships knew what it meant.
The first ship of the main British fleet had come within range and had
opened with her biggest gun.
Other new voices took up the challenge and within a few moments the
roar of battle was at its height once more.
Still a considerable distance away, the dimensions of the approaching
British fleet now became apparent to the German admiral. He had
thought, at first, that perhaps the newcomers would number a few ships,
attracted by the sounds of battle, but as he looked at the formidable
array now bearing down on him he knew that his plans, whatever they
were, had been frustrated.
"And we had it all planned so carefully," he said between clenched
teeth.
He strode up and down angrily, beating the palm of one hand with a
knotted fist.
"How could they have learned of it?" he cried. "How could they?"
He was very angry. An officer approached him.
"Shall we draw off, sir?" he asked, and pointed to the fresh British
ships bearing down on them.
"No!" thundered the admiral. "Why don't you sink those three ships
ahead of you there? Sink them, I tell you!"
The officer saluted and moved away.
For some moments the German admiral continued to talk to himself in
great anger; then he suddenly cooled down. With a finger he summoned
the officer who had accosted him a moment before. The officer
approached and saluted.
"I forgot myself a moment ago," said the admiral. "You may give the
signal to retire!"
A moment later the big German ships began to come about; and from the
decks of the _Queen Mary_, the _Lion_ and the _Indefatigable_ there
came loud British cheers.
The _Marlborough_, still helpless, poured shell after shell upon the
enemy.
Some distance away still, the British fleet was approaching in an
endeavor to intercept the retreat of the enemy. Captain Raleigh of the
_Queen Mary_ took in the situation at a glance.
"They'll never do it!" he exclaimed.
He determined upon a bold step. He gave command to bring the _Queen
Mary_ about. Then, disabled as his ship was, he started in pursuit of
the enemy.
There was a cheer from the _Indefatigable_, and presently the head of
that vessel also came about She started after the _Queen Mary_!