RAMMED AMIDSHIPS.
In the captain's cabin Hythe heard Devoran shouting for the helm to be
put hard a-port. He felt the vessel begin to slew round, then a crash
that shook the "Aphrodite" from stem to stern, sent him and the other
occupants of the cabin reeling against the starboard side.
Simultaneously the watertight doors in the two principal transverse
bulkheads were hermetically sealed, save a small emergency exit from
Number Three Platform to the fore compartment. Through these those of
the crew who were in the holed division made their hasty escape. They
were not a moment too soon, for, although the "Vorwartz" made no attempt
to back out, the fracture was ragged enough for the water under great
pressure to pour in cascades into the midships compartment of the
ill-starred submarine.
As soon as the men were safely in the fore part of the vessel Devoran
gave orders for the remaining watertight doors to be closed. He knew
that, although the danger was great, there still remained a chance of
saving at least two-thirds of the "Aphrodite."
"If only I had been in the fore conning-tower," he thought, "I would
have given that 'Vorwartz' something to remember us by. I'll try it,
though."
And calling up Carnon, who was the senior hand in the now isolated fore
part, he ordered him to stand by with electrical destructors, whereby a
potential charge of electric fluid could be directed upon the "Vorwartz"
as soon as she had backed a certain distance from the vessel she had
rammed.
In answer Carnon replied: "I've tried the gadget, sir, and there's no
current on."
"For goodness' sake try the supplementary current!" exclaimed the chief
officer anxiously, but the result was the same. The apparatus by which
the powerful means of offence was controlled was out of order. Either
the lightning or the shock of the impact of the "Vorwartz's" stem had
thrown the delicate mechanism out of gear. Nor could the torpedoes be
used, for the tubes, having an arc of only four degrees on either side
of the bows, could not be brought to bear upon the rival submarine.
This time Karl von Harburg had scored heavily, and stood every chance of
getting clear without the "Aphrodite" being able to revenge herself upon
the submarine that had caught her napping.
Meanwhile the crew of the "Aphrodite," after the first shock, had taken
up their stations with consummate coolness. Every man knew that the
damage was great, and that the "Vorwartz" was the cause of it. One
chance yet remained for them to revenge themselves upon Karl von
Harburg. Directly the "Vorwartz" backed out of the rent in her rival's
side, the "Aphrodite" might be able to turn sufficiently to discharge a
torpedo. At the same time steps must be taken to prevent the stricken
craft from sinking into depth where the pressure of the water would
literally crush their as yet undamaged sections of the submarine like an
egg-shell under a hundred-ton hammer.
As soon as the water in the midship section rose to the level of the
centre platform Devoran gave orders for the detachable keel of that
compartment to be dropped. Kenwyn touched the emergency switch, and the
massive dead weight fell. Relieved of this mass of iron the "Aphrodite"
lurched in an effort to rise to the surface.
The sudden strain wrenched her free of the bows of the "Vorwartz."
Instantly the water, pouring through the greatly enlarged aperture,
filled the whole of the centre compartment, and before the submarine had
a chance to turn and let fly a torpedo at her antagonist, the
"Aphrodite" sank slowly and surely.
This, although serious, was a point in her favour, for Karl von Harburg,
observing with savage glee the havoc he had wrought, concluded that his
rival's craft was sinking for the last time to the bottom of the Red
Sea. Accordingly, satisfied that he was now free to pursue his
piratical acts, since the "Aphrodite" was the only submarine he feared,
he backed astern, rose to the surface, and proceeded in a southerly
direction towards the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Hardly a word was spoken
as the "Aphrodite" sank. Devoran, his eyes fixed upon the depth gauge,
was waiting his time. He, too, realized that should the submarine rise
to the surface it would merely be giving her antagonist a unique
opportunity of holing another of the sections that as yet remained
intact. On the other hand, he had to guard against the danger of
descending too far.
Thirty fathoms; the "Aphrodite" was now in total darkness as far as the
water was concerned. Within the electric lamps still burned brightly,
save for a few that had been shattered at the moment of impact.
"Easy ahead!" he ordered, and as the partially flooded vessel forged
slowly and laboriously ahead, the chief officer trimmed the horizontal
rudders so that the resistance at a certain angle just corrected the
tendency of the whole vessel to sink.
Devoran set a course due east, hoping to fetch the shallower water on
the African shore. Twenty minutes later he ventured to switch on the
parallel bow searchlights. Even these powerful rays failed to reveal
anything more than fifty miles away. Huge fish, that are rarely seen in
shallow water, flitted past the thick scuttles. They made no attempt to
dart out of the way of the submarine; they were blind, since the gift of
sight at these depths is useless to them.
"She's standing the strain all right," remarked the chief officer to
Hythe in quite a cheerful tone.
The sub nodded appreciatively. Under similar conditions on board a
British submarine the state of affairs would be hopeless. With a rent
amidships, extending from the upper platform to the bilges she would
have sunk instantly, and given her crew no possible chance of escape;
but here was the "Aphrodite" still under control and with the odds
greatly in her favour. Next to Captain Restronguet, Devoran was the
most capable man in whom to trust.
"Bottom shoaling!" exclaimed the sub, as the head searchlights glimmered
upon an expanse of ooze, so shapeless and ill-defined that it required a
practised hand to distinguish it from the deep sea.
The chief officer instantly adjusted the planes, and the submarine,
though lacking her usual sensitiveness to the action of the horizontal
rudders, rose steadily.
At twenty fathoms the bottom ceased to shoal, and in place of the slimy
mud appeared fantastic formation of coral; a sure sign that shallower
water was not far off. Again the "Aphrodite" was brought nearer the
surface, till the welcome sunlight could be faintly noticed.
"Ten fathoms," announced Devoran. "This is our limit. We must carry on
till we ground. Look! what a rent, by Jove!"
He pointed out of the scuttle, and Hythe following his gaze saw the
fracture that the "Vorwartz" bow had caused. Her comparatively straight
stem had cut nearly five feet into the upper platform of the "Aphrodite"
in addition to making a vertical gash nearly fifteen feet in length in
the stricken vessel's side. As a result the whole of the centre
compartment had become a dead weight, and the buoyancy of the submarine
being imparted only by the fore and aft compartments the tendency of the
whole vessel was to sag amidships. Already the upper platform was
curving ominously. It would not take much more strain to buckle the
"Aphrodite." Although her steel plating was badly cracked and jagged,
the restronium sheathing was severed as evenly as if made of wax. This,
no doubt, accounted for the fact that the inrush of water at the moment
of impact was comparatively slight, and in consequence the men stationed
in the midship compartment were able to make good their retreat long
before the water completely filled the space between the two principal
transverse bulkheads.
"Let her down gently, Carnon!" ordered Devoran, as the "Aphrodite"
passed the broad belt of coral and a clear sandy bottom was visible on
all sides.
The quartermaster in the fore conning-tower knew his business
thoroughly, and with hardly a bump the submarine settled on the bed of
the Red Sea.
"All ready to let go?" asked the chief officer, and from the for'ard
compartment came the alert reply that everything was in order.
"It is almost like abandoning one's ship," remarked Hythe.
"Hardly so bad as that," replied Devoran. "But all the same we are
shedding a large portion of her. Would you mind standing by that lever,
and when I give the word push it hard down. No, not just yet. We will
wait and watch the fore part shake itself clear."
It was indeed a strange sight. At one moment Hythe saw the slightly
buckling deck and the fore conning-tower, the upper platform, except for
the fracture caused by the collision, being all in one piece. The next
instant the whole of the bow compartment, including the conning-tower,
gave a sudden bound and darted upwards towards the surface. Hythe could
see the bulkhead with its watertight doors securely fastened, and the
bright copper electrical contacts with their surrounding belt of
insulated material. It reminded him of a salmon cut clean in halves.
Already the ballast tanks of the freed section were being filled, till,
the upward motion checked, the structure slowly sank and settled once
more in the bottom of the sea a few yards to the left of the remaining
portion of the submarine. There, cut off from all communication with
the still intact after part, the compartment had to remain, till,
worm-like, the third section was detached from the damaged portion and
united to form a smaller yet still efficient submarine.
Kenwyn had meanwhile opened the scuttle in the bottom plates of the
vessel in order to guide her on her descent. Since the after portion
alone possessed propelling machinery it was necessary that the fore part
should be disconnected first.
"Down with it!" exclaimed Devoran, at the same time operating a switch.
Hythe instantly depressed the lever as he had been instructed. The
motion following the action was similar to that experienced in the
sudden rising of a lift.
The damaged midship section had been abandoned to its ocean grave.
Directly the sub liberated the after portion of the vessel the hiss of
the inrushing water could be heard, and, as in the case of the fore
part, the surface was still several fathoms off when the upward tendency
was checked.
At a few feet from the bottom Kenwyn announced that the required depth
was reached, and the chief officer gave the order for "Half speed
ahead."
The best engine-driver in the kingdom could not have brought his
locomotive up to a train of waiting carriages easier than Devoran
manoeuvred the after part of the "Aphrodite" up to the fore compartment.
There was no perceptible shock, in fact nothing to indicate the fact
that the union had been accomplished except that telephonic
communication was automatically reestablished in all parts of the
reduced "Aphrodite."
Into the air locks next to each exterior bulkhead divers were quickly
sent. As soon as the water was admitted into these spaces new locking
bolts were passed through and secured, and within twenty minutes of
being placed in position the two parts of the submarine were made one.
But instead of her two hundred feet from stem to stern the new
"Aphrodite" was reduced by about one third. Nearly seventy feet of
valuable length had been sacrificed; but, as Devoran remarked, "It might
have been worse."
"That is true," agreed Hythe. "But what will Captain Restronguet say?"