THE CHASE TO MALTA.
Before proceeding with the account of the _Mary Rose’s_ cruise, it
may be well to insert here two newspaper extracts. One is from the
_Gibraltar Guardian_ of Wednesday, May 14th; the other is from the
Paris _Moniteur de la Guerre_ of two or three days later.
Said the Gibraltar paper: “Something mysterious occurred last night
to disturb the enemy. At dusk he renewed the bombardment as usual,
and with, if possible, more than his usual fury, and the batteries
replied as they have replied every night since the 3rd inst. Soon
after midnight it was reported from the top of the rock that rockets
had been observed at the mouth of the Strait to the westward. A little
later the entire French Fleet ceased firing, formed in two columns of
line abreast, and steamed away in the direction in which the signals
had been seen. Heavy firing followed, but though the flashes were
distinctly visible, it was impossible to make out what was going on.
The warships, which for some days have been lying in the Bay with
banked fires, were ordered to get up steam for full speed, it being
believed that our Fleet had come down in force to raise the siege, and
that the co-operation of the naval flotilla here might be desirable.
In about an hour the French came back pell-mell, and apparently in
no sort of order, firing furiously. They went away to the eastward,
as if in flight or pursuit, but that they were not in flight became
evident early this morning, when most of them were discovered in their
ordinary position under the African shore. Speculation is rife as to
exactly what occurred, but it is certain that the enemy was surprised
and seriously disturbed. One opinion is that heavy reinforcements have
run through in order to strengthen the squadron at Malta. No news
bearing on the subject has come in from the Spanish side, and, all the
cables being cut, it is only from that side that we can hope to get any
definite explanation.”
The _Moniteur de la Guerre_ was more precise, but less accurate. It
headed its dispatch, “One more Victory in the Mediterranean,” and
described the affair as follows: “Early on the morning of the 14th,
the cruiser _Tage_, which had been dispatched to the westward by the
Admiral in command off Gibraltar to observe the mouth of the Strait,
signalled the approach of the enemy in force, coming from the direction
of the Atlantic. The enemy was soon afterwards observed by the cruisers
_Cosmao_ and _Coëtlogon_, which had been lying under Cape Spartel.
The three vessels, undismayed by the superior strength of the enemy,
advanced to the attack, and taking position on the flanks of the
English squadron, discharged a succession of terrible broadsides,
which must have been very murderous, but the effect of which could
not in the darkness be accurately measured. Certain vessels were, it
is declared, sunk by our fire; but the enemy was too powerful to be
destroyed by only three ships. It was therefore with a sense of relief
that the brave captain of the _Tage_ remarked that his signals had
been observed, and that, in reply, the whole of our magnificent Fleet,
abandoning for the moment the bombardment of Gibraltar--which, we are
assured, is already a heap of _débris_--was coming to complete the
destruction which he had so nobly begun. It approached in two lines. In
vain did the unfortunate English manœuvre to evade it. The shock was
tremendous. It is recounted that our splendid ironclads rammed several
of the enemy, which sank without leaving a trace. The struggle was
desperate. One could not suspect that our brave Fleet could sustain
so determined an attack without grievous loss. Alas! The beautiful
cruiser _Davout_, struck by a torpedo near the bows, when she had
already suffered severely from the gun fire of at least three ships,
sank in less than an hour. The ironclad _Terrible_ was also struck by
a torpedo, but, though cruelly injured, is capable of being repaired.
As for the brave _Tage_, she has received at least fifty balls, and has
suffered horribly; but she remains with the Fleet. It is believed that
but one vessel of the enemy escaped the disaster. She is an ironclad
of the largest size, and of immense speed; but, pursued by some of our
fastest ships, she should be by this time captured. Thus gallantly
has our immortal Fleet confounded the efforts of the enemy to put once
more his squadrons into the Mediterranean. That sea, cleared forever
from the presence of the usurper by the glorious battle of Toulon,
remains, and will remain, French. We offer the homage of our warm
and enthusiastic congratulations to the brave Admiral and the brave
officers who have added this triumphant page to the brilliant history
of our great country.”
The _Moniteur de la Guerre_ was not, it should be explained, an
official print; but as the Parisians preferred its accounts to the
official dispatches--which were by many degrees more modest--the paper
deserves to be quoted as a representative of French views. Even the
French Admirals were not able to give the true story of the night’s
work; but that was not their fault. Of nothing is it more difficult to
obtain a correct impression than an unexpected night action at sea.
It was true that some of the fastest ships of the French Fleet were
engaged in the pursuit of the _Mary Rose_. When the sun was well up,
Maintruck had little difficulty in making out that astern of him, at
distances varying from two to six miles, were the _Cécille_, _Alger_,
_Troude_, and _Cosmao_. The first, a new protected cruiser, of 5766
tons displacement, headed the enemy; then came the _Alger_, of 4122
tons, and, in order, the remaining pair, craft of 1877 tons. The two
smaller vessels were nominally the fastest of the flotilla, having done
at their trials about 19·5 knots, or half-a-knot more than the other
two; but they were not big enough to do that speed in broken water,
and, indeed, both chased and chasers were not actually doing much more
than 17·5 knots, for all experienced some little difficulty in getting
the coal out of the bunkers. Maintruck was assured, however, by Mr.
Macpherson, that, if things came to a pinch, the privateer had nearly
a knot of speed in hand, but the trimmers and stokers, who had been
working like niggers all night, were naturally very much exhausted, and
the chief engineer deemed it wise to spare them as much as possible.
There was much to be done that morning. The ship was in an awful
condition, blood, splinters, and wreckage being everywhere; but a
liberal use of the hose, and the exertions of the carpenter’s mate,
Mr. Prism Brown, and Mr. Tiller, soon reduced things to something like
order, and cleared away the most repulsive traces of the fight. The
dead men were reverently committed to the deep, Maintruck reading over
them the appointed simple service; and the wounded were attended to
more fully than had been possible during the heat of the action. The
enthusiasm of all hands was now extraordinary. Even men who had been
badly hurt, and who, of course, had not closed their eyes for more
than twenty-four hours, men who had worked hard at coaling ship off
Wadi Gloug, and who had worked harder at the guns all night, declined
to return themselves as injured, stuck to their posts, and expressed
themselves as quite ready for another brush with the enemy. And Bowling
himself set the example. He could not walk, but he caused a splintered
arm-chair to be taken from his cabin and set on the quarter-deck, and
then had himself carried up and placed in it in the warm sunshine,
whence, as the good ship pitched slightly, he could see the foe in
hot chase, with the spray flying white from their bows and the smoke
rolling black from their funnels.
“Glad to see you on deck, sir,” said Maintruck, “though I suspect that
you would be better in your bunk.”
“Nonsense,” said Bowling, “this air does one good. Besides, it doesn’t
do to knock under. It shows a bad example to the men. It will be time
enough to turn in when I get to Malta. But I’ll have you, Mr. Binnacle,
and Mr. Tompion turn in at once. It won’t do for you to break down.
Mr. Echo and one of the midshipmen shall keep watch, and you shall be
called if necessary. How are Mr. Day and Mr. Salthorse?”
“They are both on deck, sir, and won’t go below,”
“Then send for them, if you please, Mr. Maintruck.”
The two officers quickly appeared, Day with his left arm in a sling
and a bloody bandage, and Salthorse with his coat cut open, and his
blood-stained shirt showing through the aperture. Both were pale but
cheerful.
“Why don’t you go below, Mr. Day?” asked the captain. “I’m sorry to see
that you are badly hurt.”
Day took his glasses from his nose, and said: “Oh, it’s not much,
sir. If I stay on deck I can carry on well enough, but if I turn in,
you know, I may get stiff, and not be able to be up when they come on
again.”
“And what have you to say, Mr. Salthorse?” demanded Bowling.
“Say, sir?” returned Salthorse. “Well, you know how long I’ve been at
sea, and you know that, until this cruise, the only fighting I have
ever seen has been with niggers, Egyptians, Arabs, and that sort of
ullage. Never had a chance, sir. Now there is a chance, sir, and with
your permission I don’t intend to lose it. I’ll go below, but if I go,
sir, you must put me under arrest.” He said this almost angrily, as
if he suspected Bowling of aiming in an unjustifiable manner at the
liberty of the subject.
“I shan’t order you below, then, at present,” replied Bowling, with
a painful smile. “But do take care of yourselves, please, gentlemen.
There may be plenty for us to do yet. Get chairs on deck or on the
bridge, and then, if you really think that we can keep watch among us,
I’ll order all the unwounded officers, and as many of the men as can be
spared, to turn in. That is, perhaps, the best economy. We are not good
for much more fighting just now, but we can keep some sort of look-out.”
And thus it happened that soon after breakfast, few beside the wounded
remained on deck. Those who had only been bruised or scratched, or
who had escaped unhurt, were all asleep or, at least, lying down.
None took off their clothes, and hardly any enjoyed much more than
broken snatches of slumber; but a sailor does not need sleep in
large quantities at a time, and for him a rug on the bare deck or a
ward-room sofa makes as pleasant a resting-place as any other in war
time.
The _Cécille_ occasionally fired her bow guns and the machine guns in
her tops; but the range was long, the motion was still considerable,
and Salthorse, who had placed a chair for himself behind the wreck
of the conning tower, was able to keep a good look-out without much
exposing himself. Nevertheless before dinner-time one man had been
killed, and a second had received a further wound. The enemy’s vessels
gained little if anything on the _Mary Rose_; but by noon they were
more together, and the _Alger_ was nearly abreast of the _Cécille_,
and had also begun to fire. Bowling had the chart brought down to him,
and having caused an observation to be taken, and having looked at the
log, made out that at eight bells the ship was still 960 miles from
Malta, and that if all went at the best, she could not get into Valetta
Harbour before five or six o’clock on Saturday, May 16th. She had still
therefore, or might have, to run for about fifty-four hours before the
enemy. He shook his head doubtfully, and having got a bluejacket to
bring him his pipe, considered the matter silently, until, at half-past
three, Maintruck--who had had a bath and some tea--came on deck again,
declaring that he felt quite refreshed and fit for anything.
“Look here, Mr. Maintruck,” said Bowling, “we have before us a fifty
hours’ run to Malta. After what we have been doing, our boilers can’t
be as good as they were. A hundred slight accidents may occur to
temporarily disable us. Tubes may burst or leak, the bearings may
heat, a chance shot may damage our helm as the ship lifts; or we may
smash a shaft. Even if we have no accidents, how can we expect the
engine-room staff to carry on for another fifty hours on end? Flesh and
blood can’t stand it. I wonder that I haven’t had reports already of
men knocking up. They are sticking to it like Britons down there, but
we musn’t forget that they are human beings. Now, what do you think?”
“Perhaps, sir, if the night is dark,” said the first lieutenant, “and
if for a few hours we can pile on that extra knot which Mr. Macpherson
tells us he has in reserve, we might manage to give the enemy the slip,
especially if we steam without lights.”
“That’s the point,” soliloquised Bowling aloud. “First, can we give
them the slip? I think not. If we pile on that extra knot, we shall
have such a flame dancing from the tops of our funnels that we shall be
visible all over the Mediterranean. Secondly, do we want to give them
the slip? Again I think not. There are four ships there, it is true,
but not one of them is armoured, while we, after our last night’s work
especially, may almost be classed as a battleship. The question, then,
is: Shall we run, or shall we turn; shall we flee, or shall we fight?”
“I see what you mean, sir,” said Maintruck. “Of course we are now very
short-handed, and the men, particularly the stokers, are tired.”
“They will be more tired if we carry on like this for long. No,
Maintruck; I think that we will fight. That’s what the people at home
would like us to do. Here is what I intend to attempt. Just before it
grows dusk I shall crack on that extra knot of Mr. Macpherson’s. This
will induce the enemy, who now seem to think that if they can’t catch
us they can at least hold on, to crack on steam also. The result will
be that in a few hours we shall spread them out in a long tail as they
were the first thing this morning. We will carry no lights. Suddenly we
will shut off steam, and let the enemy come down right on top of us.
They will think that some accident has happened to us. One or two of
them will perhaps be venturesome; and then, starting our engines again,
we will let them have it. The swell is very much less than it was. We
shall make far better shooting than we did last night. What do you
think?”
Mr. Maintruck was not the officer to shrink from any action that
promised the remotest chance of success; and this project, though
a daring one, seemed, upon the whole, to be less risky than the
alternative of keeping everybody and everything at the highest possible
tension for another fifty hours. “If that is your plan, sir,” he
answered, “all I have to say is that I am sure your officers and men
will try to carry it through.”
“Then, if you please, send all hands aft that I may explain things to
everyone.”
No one who was able to move and who was not detained by duty failed to
appear in answer to the call. It was a motley assemblage. Half the
men wore bandages, the clothes of all were torn and dirty, all were
powder-stained and unkempt; but all were ready for anything; and there
was not one who preferred fleeing to fighting when Bowling, from his
arm-chair, told them how matters lay. Their general demeanour removed
from the captain’s mind any traces of hesitation that may have lingered
there. “My men,” he said warmly, when he saw how they received his
ideas, “I am proud to command you; and if you do your duty as I believe
you will, you will be hereafter as proud as I shall to have sailed in
the _Mary Rose_.”
The events of the previous night had given everyone great confidence
in the captain, and after Bowling’s brief address the men clustered
together as if debating something which caused them considerable
uneasiness. Suddenly a tough old quartermaster stepped forward. “We
means no offence, sir, to any of the orficers,” said he bluntly; “and
we’ll do our best no matter who commands us, but we begs respectful to
arst whether you feels yourself well enough, sir, for this ’ere bit
of work, seein’ as if you don’t, and if you think as ’ow you might
feel more inclined like to-morrow night, why, sir, we ain’t got no
objections to waiting for you. Only we do ’ope, sir, as you’ll command
the ship, sir, if so be as it’s conwenient.”
Bowling laughed, and managed to rise. It hurt him to laugh, and it cost
him a most painful effort to stand up, but it did him good to have
this awkward but honest token of the confidence of the lower deck.
“My men,” he said, “I’m not much use, as you may see, but no bones are
broken, and while I can stay on deck I shall be the captain of the
_Mary Rose_. You needn’t fear about that.”
The chase continued without much incident all the afternoon, except
that the _Cosmao_, having apparently broken down, abandoned the
pursuit, and that shots were exchanged at intervals. The swell almost
disappeared, and the shooting consequently became less wild. Indeed,
some very fair practice was made with the _Mary Rose’s_ after guns,
both the _Alger_ and the _Cécille_ being struck more than once. On the
other hand, a shell from the _Alger_ burst in the captain’s cabin of
the _Mary Rose_, and would, had Bowling been present, have infallibly
made an end of him.
The gun on the starboard sponson was, as has been noticed, disabled.
Bowling, determined, therefore, to fight his port side as much, and
his starboard side as little as possible. Just before dusk, as he
had intended, he increased speed to the utmost limit, and, as he had
expected, this induced the _Cécille_ to forge a little ahead of her
consorts. The truth, no doubt, was that all day she had been adapting
her speed to theirs, so as to avoid leaving them or being herself
unsupported, and that now, with darkness coming on and the _Mary Rose_
drawing away, she was afraid of losing sight of the privateer in the
night. Mr. Binnacle, who gave the subject his very careful attention,
was of opinion that when the _Mary Rose_ quickened to 18·5 knots the
_Cécille_ did the same, and that thus she left her consorts each hour
about a knot further behind her in her wake, for they appeared to be
incapable of materially increasing speed.
Speed was raised at seven o’clock, and was admirably maintained by
Mr. Macpherson and his people. The result was that at eleven o’clock,
when about two miles still intervened between the _Mary Rose_ and the
_Cécille_, there was a gap of at least six miles between the _Cécille_
and the _Alger_, and a further gap of over one mile between the _Alger_
and the _Troude_.
Bowling, with a rug thrown over him, had since about eight o’clock been
dozing in his arm-chair on deck, after leaving word that he was to be
roused at one bell. He was not, however, able to secure as much sorely
needed rest as he had bargained for. At about ten minutes past eleven
the enemy played a wholly unexpected card, which, but for the _Mary
Rose’s_ admirable look-out, and the coolness and discipline of the men
at the guns, would have inevitably and very summarily decided the game.
The chasing squadron must either have been accompanied by, or have
fallen in with and picked up a division of torpedo boats. It is
possible that the boats followed the chase all the way from Gibraltar,
and that the “tailing off” of the French cruisers may, after all,
have been deliberately devised in order to enable the torpedo boats
to remain well out of sight in the rear without losing touch of
the privateer. On the other hand, the boats may have been scouting
independently, and have been accidentally sighted by the French senior
officer and then taken under his orders. The point is immaterial, and
in all probability it will now never be cleared up. All that is certain
and material is that, at a few minutes past eleven, the look-out in
the _Mary Rose’s_ mizzen-top reported that three suspicious-looking
objects were creeping up ahead of the _Cécille_, one being nearly under
her bows, and the two others betraying a tendency to work round on the
_Mary Rose’s_ quarters. Bowling was at once apprised of the discovery,
and he caused himself and his chair to be carried up on to the after
end of the superstructure at the foot of the mizzen, whence he could
not only see the enemy, but could direct the fire of all the after
guns, _i.e._ of the 9·2-in. breech-loading and the four 4·7-in. guns
on the poop, of two 6-pounder quick-firing and two Nordenfelts on the
upper deck, of the Maxim R.C. machine gun in the mizzen-top, and of
two 6-pounder quick-firing guns mounted in his own cabin on the main
deck. It was by no means very dark, and, bearing in mind the experience
gained in the action off Toulon, Bowling, who speedily saw that a
torpedo attack was pending, gave orders that, though the search-lights
were to be kept in readiness, they were on no account to be used
without special and definite instructions. He also ordered cordite
ammunition to be got up for all the quick-firing and machine guns, and
no other to be employed. On previous occasions he had used ordinary
powder, except for rifle fire; but he realised that in the coming
crisis smoke would seriously inconvenience him, and be of no possible
counterbalancing advantage.
[Illustration: “SUSPICIOUS-LOOKING OBJECTS WERE CREEPING UP.”]
The boats, as has been said, were first noticed at 11° 10′. The _Mary
Rose_ was then doing about 18·3 knots, and the _Cécille_, though
holding her own, was not coming up. After a few minutes of careful
observation, Binnacle came to the conclusion that the boats were doing
about 20·3, or two knots more than the privateer. There was apparently
a distance of about four cables between the centre boat and each of
the two flank ones. The centre one kept a course immediately ahead of
that of the _Cécille_. The outer ones were disposed on each of her bows
about four points before her beam, and it was tolerably obvious that
the tactics of the foe contemplated holding the centre boat in reserve
under the dark bows of the _Cécille_, and utilising her to attack
during the confusion which, it was anticipated, would be caused by the
simultaneous onslaught of the two other boats, one on each quarter of
the _Mary Rose_.
These tactics, though ingenious, were demonstrably faulty, for it is a
cardinal rule that no torpedo attack upon an armed vessel under steam
should--especially when the attacking force is weak--be attempted from
astern; and the reason for this is simple and obvious.
For the sake of argument, let the armed vessel be steaming at a rate of
10 knots, or 17 ft. a second; and let the attacking boats be steaming
at a rate of 18 knots, or 30 ft. a second; and let the “dangerous
zone” of fire from the armed vessel be taken to be 2000 yards, and the
effective range of the boats’ torpedoes discharged at night at a moving
mark at 150 yards. The great object of the attacking boats is, of
course, to traverse the “helpless zone”--the zone, that is, in which,
although they may be fired at, they cannot effectively discharge their
torpedoes--in as brief a period as possible. This zone is 1850 yards
broad. If the boats enter it from directly ahead of the armed ship,
they traverse it in 1′ 58″; but if they enter it from directly astern,
it takes them 7′ 7″ to cross it. Therefore, other things being equal,
a boat attacking from ahead has much more than three times as good a
chance of escaping unhurt as a boat attacking from astern has. But in
addition to this, in the particular case in question, if the boats
had passed unseen ahead of the _Mary Rose_, and had attacked her from
ahead, they would probably--even if they had not seriously damaged
her--have forced her to turn, and would so have allowed their consorts
the cruisers to come up with her. To pass from a position two miles
astern of her to one, say, two miles ahead of her, without undergoing
risk of being sighted by her, would, it is true, have taken the torpedo
boats in this instance a period of three or four hours at least; but,
then, the result might easily have been success, instead of failure and
disaster.
The non-employment of the search-lights by the _Mary Rose_ left the
French ignorant as to whether or not the progress of the attack
was observed. Bowling, on the other hand, was able to keep his men
perfectly cool and unflurried. He ordered that fire from everything,
the 9·2-in. guns only excepted, that would bear, should be opened upon
the enemy when he was at a distance of 400 yards, and not before.
The port quarter guns were devoted to the boat on the port quarter;
the starboard quarter guns to that on the starboard quarter. The
Maxim gun was bidden to divide its attentions, and the riflemen were
also divided; and, just upon the stroke of midnight, without having
previously given forth the least warning of what was intended, the
privateer opened. It was short, quick, terrible work. Harried by very
little smoke, the men fired as fast as was consistent with the most
careful aiming, and the boats, though most gallantly handled, really
had no chance. A landsman might have experienced difficulty in seeing
the low, dark, ill-defined masses upon the water; but to the trained
eyes of men who had followed the sea, the scene was almost as clear as
was to be desired; and, even when the boats themselves occasionally
showed doubtfully, their white bow-waves sufficiently betrayed them
and guided the gunners. All was over in five minutes. Torpedoes may
have been discharged; but if so, they did not reach the privateer, or
run anywhere near her; and as for the boats, they sank under the awful
storm of projectiles that rained upon them. The third one, coming up
astern under a great head of steam in the thick of the fight, blew
up. Whether her boilers had exploded, or she had been struck by a
projectile, can never be known. No one in the _Mary Rose_ received so
much as a scratch.
[Illustration: “IT WAS SHORT, QUICK, TERRIBLE WORK.”]
[Illustration: “THEIR WHITE BOW-WAVES BETRAYED THEM.”]
At half-past twelve, determined, if the enemy should still give him a
chance of doing so, to carry out his original plan, Bowling ordered
Mr. Tompion to see that the poop and forecastle heavy guns, and all
the guns that would train over on to the port side, were loaded and
once more ready for action. Then he caused himself to be moved to a
partially sheltered position near the wreck of the conning tower,
whence he could shout down his commands through one of the deck
scuttles already mentioned. “When we stop the engines, Mr. Tompion,” he
said, “or rather, when we go dead slow--for perhaps it is not wise to
have no way on the ship--I shall bring her very gently round to port,
so that if the enemy keeps on his course we shall lie right across his
bows. If he doesn’t keep on his course, I shall still endeavour to put
myself in that position, and to maintain it as long as I safely can. It
will at least entice him to attempt to use his ram, though, of course,
I don’t intend to let him go as far as that. Now, I want you to have
every gun, great and small, concentrated on his bows as he comes up.
Have them sighted for five hundred yards, and fire at that distance
only. You give the word. I know you won’t estimate the distance very
wrongly. I will confine myself to handling the ship, but I must have
the first lieutenant close at hand, so that he may take command in
an instant, should anything happen to me. Please, therefore, ask Mr.
Maintruck to come here, and ask Mr. Tripper to stand by with the
underwater torpedoes in case we want them.”
Mr. Maintruck, who had been making the round of the ship, reported
everything ready. The men, including many of the wounded, were at
their quarters; Day and Salthorse had taken command of their own guns,
almost as if they had never been hurt; and there was everywhere an
orderly quietness that seemed marvellous in a vessel that had been
fitted out and commissioned in so great a hurry. But by this time
confidence reigned throughout, and there is nothing so conducive to
discipline as well-placed confidence in a ship and in her officers.
Both had been tried; neither had been found wanting.
The _Cécille_, two miles astern, was just visible--a blacker spot than
the rest of the darkness. She showed no lights ahead, though doubtless,
for the benefit of her consorts, she showed some astern. They were, of
course, out of sight.
“Reduce speed to sixty revolutions,” cried Bowling, and added at
intervals of a few seconds: “Reduce to forty!” “Reduce to twenty!”
In a minute or so the growing blackness and distinctness of the
_Cécille_ indicated that she was rapidly coming up. To assist her,
Bowling reversed his engines gently for a short time, and then went
ahead again at twenty revolutions and put his helm over. The Frenchman
was approaching at the rate of a mile in four minutes. There was not,
therefore, much delay. Yet to the men at the guns, and especially to
the captains, who had their eyes along the luminous sights, the period
seemed an eternity. Suddenly a rocket shot up from the _Cécille_,
followed by another and another.
[Illustration: “SUDDENLY A ROCKET SHOT UP.”]
“That must be her signal that we have broken down, sir,” said
Maintruck. “She will slow up now, I suspect.”
“Let her think what she likes,” said Bowling, “so long as she doesn’t
think that we have surrendered,” and he looked aloft, where three
enormous blue ensigns were fluttering, one from each truck, and one
from the forestay, these being in addition to the ensign on the
ensign-staff. “I don’t want her to be able to say that she thought that
we had given up the game. Gad! she is coming straight down on us.”
“But now she is swerving, sir. She is going to range up on our port
hand.”
“Hang it!” cried Bowling, staggering to his feet; “I can’t sit here and
fight the ship from an arm-chair. Yes, by Jove! she is going round to
port, but she is slowing! Pass the word, there, to go ahead at forty
revolutions. I can still bring the ship nearly across her bows.”
But the _Cécille_ turned only slightly. Her captain seemed, on second
thoughts, to conclude that he could not take up a more advantageous
position than circumstances had prepared for him; and, firing a single
shot, which whistled harmlessly between the _Mary Rose’s_ funnels, he
held on as before, keeping his head straight for the privateer, but
slowing considerably. When he was but eight hundred yards distant he
fired again. This time the projectile struck the deck forward, scooped
out a great hole, drove up a torrent of splinters, and ricochetted away
to the eastward. The enemy was clearly beginning to think that he did
not quite know what to make of the situation. Once more he swerved
to port, but as he did so, Bowling put the _Mary Rose’s_ helm over to
starboard, and so kept his ship still more or less across the cruiser’s
bows. A minute later, Tompion, in a voice like the bellow of a bull,
gave the word to fire; and three 9·4-in. and four 4·7-in., besides
smaller guns, were discharged almost simultaneously, making the ship
tremble from stem to stern.
What breeze there was was from the west. The rush of smoke, therefore
(for ordinary powder was being used again), floated gently across the
privateer’s deck, and, for an instant, blinded everyone. But already
Bowling had ordered full speed ahead, and had put his helm still
further over to starboard, so that the _Mary Rose_ began to round the
cruiser’s bows, and to pass alongside of her, though in the contrary
direction.
“It is ticklish work, Maintruck,” said the captain, “and I know it; but
I must do it, because we can only fight the port guns.”
“We shall clear her easily,” cried the first lieutenant as the smoke
drifted off. “By heavens! What’s the matter, sir? They’re hanging out
lights.”
The two vessels were still about five hundred yards distant one from
the other, and no one in the _Mary Rose_ could make out very clearly
what was going forward in the _Cécille_, but there was great shouting
on board, and lanterns were being waved, and the ship was not firing.
“Mr. Tompion wishes me to say, sir, that he believes the enemy has
struck,” said Echo, suddenly appearing and saluting Bowling.
The captain, with a great effort, dragged himself on to the bridge, and
gazed for a moment, but not at the _Cécille_.
“Struck or not struck,” he said to Maintruck, as he staggered down
again, “I don’t care. The others are coming up. We have not finished
this business yet.” And regaining his chair, into which he sank from
sheer weakness, he cried through the scuttle, “That will do! Helm
amidships! Full speed!”
The _Mary Rose_, now heading nearly west, passed the _Cécille_, on
board of which the shouting and waving of lights continued, and quickly
sighted the _Alger_ approaching on the port bow, but at a considerable
distance. This distance, however, rapidly decreased. “Concentrate your
fire again, Mr. Tompion,” shouted Bowling, “and let this one have it,
like the other, at five hundred yards.” And he held on, still keeping
the enemy about four points on his port bow. The Frenchman evidently
intended to do his best to ram, for he came up gallantly, not even
firing until he was well within a thousand yards. In this position
only two of the _Mary Rose’s_ 9·4-in. and two of her 4·7-in. guns
would bear, but at the right distance they were fired, and at the next
instant Bowling ported his helm, and so brought his after port guns
to bear. They, too, were fired, but they did not stop the _Alger_,
which pluckily began to follow the privateer’s motions and to circle
in pursuit of her, firing furiously at the same time. The work was
getting warm. Men flung up their arms and fell forward on their faces.
Splinters flew. Two shells, in rapid succession, burst below. Maintruck
staggered sideways, and collapsed under the break of the poop.
“Stand by to fire the stern torpedo,” shouted Bowling hoarsely. “Full
speed astern starboard engine! Full speed ahead port engine!”
This order and “Port helm!” brought the ship round so rapidly that the
_Alger_, turning less quickly, passed under the privateer’s stern.
The distance was barely two cables, when Bowling, seeing the enemy’s
broadside fully exposed, gave the word. Fifteen seconds later the
Whitehead struck its mark, and as Bowling heard the explosion he sank
senseless on deck.