CHLORINE GAS
Confident of security behind the mass of mines and submarine traps
spread ingeniously across the harbor entrance, devoting their attention
almost solely to the artillery duel with the dreadnoughts outside, the
German cruiser knew naught of the stealthy torpedo from the daring
_Monitor_ until it shot suddenly forward below the surface of the
water, revealed in the glare of her own searchlight. But it was
too late then to avoid the deadly missile and it struck home abaft
the engines and directly at the after magazine chambers. With a great
roar and the upheaval of a mighty column of water the torpedo exploded
against the side of the warship. One carefully aimed shot from the
leading American submarine had laid low a ten-thousand-ton cruiser!
"Quick, down we go!" shouted McClure to his navigating officer. The
_Monitor_ shot down now out of sight, and the helm was thrown hard to
starboard. That one shot was sufficient to apprise the Germans of
the presence of submarines and McClure realized full well he would be
a marked man next time he showed his periscopes above water.
It was in mid-channel that the _Monitor_ ventured to the surface
again. The periscopes showed another vessel, a second line battleship
of the pre-dreadnought type, off the starboard beam. Undaunted by
the hail of lead slugs that splashed the sea all around, the _Monitor_
swerved and ran straight for the battleship's bows.
"This one ought to settle scores for that poor old mine sweeper!"
yelled the Yankee skipper as he sighted through the periscope glass
on the wide target in front of him not more than six hundred yards
away.
"Give it to 'em, Mack! Give it to 'em!" cried Jack.
Again, a torpedo leaped from the bowcap of the _Monitor_ and hurled
its ton and a quarter of steel gray mass directly upon the port bow of
the German craft.
As the _Monitor_ dived away again her captain beheld the battleship
listing badly, going down by the bow at a rapid rate.
"Two strikes!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Some night!" gasped Ted as he clutched the foot rail that ran up the
side of the conning tower.
"And some battle!" responded Jack at his side.
With engines slowed down the _Monitor_ ran along a hundred and fifty
yards and then turned her nose upward again for another stab at the
German fleet. As her periscopes cleft the crest of the waves again
and she emerged into the arena of activity McClure caught sight of
a destroyer off the starboard bow not more than five hundred feet away.
A searchlight on the forward deck of the German vessel swept the water
in front of the _Monitor_ with a long white finger of light that fell
in a moment upon the eyes of the American submarine.
"A destroyer driving directly at us at full tilt with all her guns in
action!" roared McClure.
At the same moment he touched off another torpedo; but, in his eagerness
for another "bull's eye" the American commander had fired too soon,
and the torpedo shot past the destroyer, missing the mark by ten yards.
In retaliation, the forward guns of the German craft belched forth a
salvo of leaden hail that followed the path of the searchlight's rays
directly upon the eyes of the _Monitor_. With unerring aim the
German gunners had found their mark. A sharp crash; a roar as the
water above the _Monitor's_ conning tower was converted into a boiling
maelstrom, and the impact of steel against steel betokened the fact
that a shot had struck home in the superstructure of the attacking sub.
"Our periscope's cutoff clean as a whistle," exclaimed McClure as he
backed away from the tube through which he had been observing the
approach of the enemy craft.
"Quick, lower away!" he commanded.
Shipping ballast in all her tanks, the _Monitor_ began dropping into
the depths.
"Look, look!" yelled Jack as he pointed to the steel dome roof of the
conning tower.
In consternation McClure and Ted followed the extended finger to a spot
in the steel casement where a jagged hole had been torn by a fragment
of the German shell fire and where now a thin stream of water was
percolating through the crevice.
"We've got to submerge, boys; that destroyer is almost on top of us
now!" cried McClure in frenzied tones. "Get down into the control
chamber---hurry!" he commanded.
Ted dived down the hatch as fast as he could scramble, followed
closely by Jack, who observed by now a steady stream of water pouring
into the turret of the _Monitor_ and splashing on clear through to
the flooring of the chamber deep down into the hold.
As Jack lowered himself away into the inner chamber amidships the
_Monitor_ was clutched suddenly by a terrific explosion that rocked
the already crippled submarine with the force of a hurricane and
swamped it as though by a tidal wave. She quivered under the whip
of the mighty lash of steel from above.
The German destroyer, driving full speed at the spot where they had
sighted the periscopes of the American tormentor, had crossed directly
over the _Monitor_ and dropped a depth bomb that had exploded nearly
upon the turret of the doughty fighter!
A great gap was torn in the turret through which the sea swept in
a torrent. Fighting madly for the exit hatch into the chamber below,
McClure was dashed off his feet by the lurch of the smitten submarine
and sprawled against the steel side of the conning tower. With the
spray dashing in his face Jack had a fleeting glimpse of his commander,
and by a superhuman effort drew himself back into the turret against
the mass of water. Hurling himself forward, he groped about for his
captain and found him finally on the floor of the turret. Exerting
all his strength, he succeeded in hurling "Little Mack" down into
the control chamber.
Blinded by the swirling water, the youth dived headlong for the opening
in a mad effort to escape the flood and get below that he might shut
off the crushed turret from the rest of the submarine and hold the
deluge in check.
"Close the steel partition!" he yelled to Ted as he leaped for the
opening.
His chum, grasping the air lever, rolled shut the heavy curtain, but
in such precipitate haste that it caught Jack just above the knees
and pinned him fast. There he hung head down with the water pouring
in all around his body.
"Pull me through, Ted! Hurry! Pull me through!" gasped the young
executive officer, as he winced in pain from the smashing blow dealt
his limbs by the steel partition.
Grasping his chum under the armpits, with the water splashing in his
face, Ted braced himself against the side of the control chamber and
pulled with all his might. Inch by inch Jack's body was dragged
through the aperture, Navigating Officer Binns leaping to the assistance
of Ted and hauling away until finally Jack's limbs cleared the opening
and the steel partition closed entirely, shutting off the volume of
water above.
"Are you hurt, chum?" asked Ted.
"Yes, but don't mind me," came the reply, as Jack sprawled out with
both legs hanging limp and useless. Gritting his teeth to stifle a
groan, Jack drew himself up into a sitting posture. By his side lay
McClure unconscious. All around them flowed water, working its way
fore and aft through the submarine.
"Go aft, Ted; find out how things are in the engine room," directed
the injured executive officer. "And you, Binns, make an inspection
forward."
The two officers hurried to make an investigation, returning soon to
report that the boat had not suffered from the depth bomb so far as
could be ascertained except for the damage to the conning tower.
Jack directed that the _Monitor_ be submerged until she rested on the
bottom of the channel. The vessel dropped away until it came to
rest shortly with the depth dial showing one hundred and forty-two feet.
McClure, stunned by a blow on the head, sustained when he was hurled
against the side of the conning tower, was carried away still unconscious
to his bunk. Jack, his limbs bruised, torn and partially paralyzed,
insisted upon remaining at his post of duty and directed the dressing
of his wounds.
"I'll be all right in a little bit," he murmured in response to
inquiries.
Ten minutes passed, twenty and then a half hour, while the crippled
submarine lay inactive with a foot of water in her hull and her
commanding officers seriously injured. And then came an added horror
when the electric lights throughout the vessel began slowly to fade
away into darkness. Chief Engineer Blaine came hurrying into the
control chamber:
"Batteries short circuited by the saltwater!" he exclaimed in a tone
of dismay.
"And that means chlorine gas," added Jack.
"Yes, we notice it already aft," said Blaine all righted.
The pungent odor of the deadly fumes swept into the control chamber
as he spoke!