WHEN THE TRAWLERS SHOWED FIGHT
"MUST be on the move at once," declared the A.P. "Ten precious hours
wasted."
"Hardly," corrected the sub. "We've bagged an important prize. But,
dash it all! Here I am in mufti, and my kit is at home. Telegraph
office is closed for to-night, and there's no train beyond Plymouth
even if there were time to make a dash for home."
"And that ramshackle motor has departed," added Eric. "In the words
of the great tragedian What's-his-name, 'Alas! sirs, I am undone.'
Now, the question is, how are two dog-tired fellows to get to
Devonport? It's a serious matter, old man. Who knows? Perhaps the
Admiralty have news that 'They' have come out at last. The papers
reported signs of German naval activity in the North Sea, you know."
"And therefore I am inclined to doubt whether the Huns have
ventured," said Tressidar. "You can bet your bottom dollar when they
do come out they won't give the papers time to advertise the fact.
But I quite agree with you, old man, this is a serious business. Have
you a time-table?"
"Here we are," exclaimed the A.P. triumphantly. "If we pad the hoof
to Totnes, we'll just catch the night mail. That will land us in
Plymouth at 1 a.m."
He was busy packing his portmanteau, desisting only to hunt up the
train. With the sub.'s assistance he contrived to close the bulky
leather case.
"Well, good-bye, mother," he exclaimed. "Sorry the governor and Doris
aren't here to say good-bye Suppose I can't grouse at having my leave
cut down.... May be home again in a few months. So buck up, mother;
it's no use being down in the dumps, is it?"
Tressidar had deliberately gone out of the house. The A.P. rejoined
him in a few minutes.
"Can't understand why the mater gets in such a stew," he remarked.
"She ought to be used to saying good-bye by this time. I do my level
best to tell her that there's little danger, certainly less than in
the trenches in France, but she won't see it. Now, then; it's six
good miles of hilly road. Wonder how old Overfirst, or whatever his
tally is, likes being in the cells?"
It was three in the morning when the two chums arrived at the Naval
Barracks. Here they received the information that they were both
appointed to the brand-new monitor "Anzac," in lieu of two officers
who had been sent to hospital. The "Anzac" was leaving the Hamoaze
for Portsmouth at 9 a.m.
"Kitted out" by an obliging brother-officer, who also undertook to
forward Tressidar's gear as soon as possible, the sub., accompanied
by Eric, hurried on board.
Viewed in the waning starlight, for day was on the point of breaking,
the "Anzac" appeared to be a vessel of about two hundred feet in
length, with a tripod mast surmounted by a large fire-control
platform. She had but one funnel, well abaft the mast. For'ard of the
conning-tower was a turret mounting a pair of fourteen-inch guns;
four six-inch quick-firers thrust their muzzles through casemates in
the superstructure; while four twelve-pounder anti-aircraft guns and
a pair of searchlight projectors were placed upon the bridge and a
raised platform at the after-end of the superstructure.
At first sight the monitor gave the impression that she was
top-heavy, until her enormous beam and length beyond each end of the
superstructure belied the suggestion. The hull proper was little less
than four hundred feet in length, with a maximum beam of one hundred
and twenty. Her draught was but five feet six inches, the freeboard
being but two feet for'ard and eighteen inches aft. Her maximum speed
was a bare seven and a half knots.
The "Anzac" was still in the throes that invariably attend the first
commissioning of a new vessel, for she had left the Clyde only three
days previously, and had put in to Devonport to ship her
fourteen-inch guns. On the run round to Portsmouth she was to undergo
gunnery trials, and if no serious defects were revealed, she was to
proceed to the North Sea to take part in impending operations.
Dog-tired, Tressidar turned in as soon as the chums had reported
themselves to the officer of the watch. It seemed less than five
minutes, although it was four bells (6 a.m.), when the sub. was
roused and informed that the captain wished to see him.
"A wigging for being late, I suppose," he soliloquised. "A jolly bad
beginning."
But he was mistaken. An armed trawler was to be navigated to
Portsmouth, and the "Anzac" had to provide an officer and crew for
the job. Tressidar, being the most recently joined, was selected by
his skipper for this service.
"The 'Gannet' is lying off Wilcove," continued the skipper of the
"Anzac." "She's ready for sea with the exception of victualling
stores. You will have to demand these from Royal William Yard. She'll
do twenty knots easily, without having to drive her, and even if we
have a good start you ought to overhaul us before Portland Bill is
abeam."
Already the crew told off for the service had fallen in for
inspection. They numbered ten hands, including a chief petty officer.
The "Gannet's" engine-room staff were already on board, having been
shipped when the vessel left Belfast, where she had been re-engined.
The "trawler" was in fact a trawler no longer. A comparatively new
boat, with lines that promised a fair turn of speed, she had been
taken over by the Admiralty for use as a patrol vessel. Her machinery
was removed and turbine engines substituted, giving her a maximum
speed of twenty-eight knots. Her armament consisted of two
twelve-pounder quick-firers, so woe betide the luckless German
submarine that might mistake the "Gannet" for a slow and helpless
fishing-craft.
Disquieting reports of the presence of a hostile submarine off St.
Catherine's Point, a craft that had hitherto successfully evaded all
attempts at capture or destruction, had necessitated the presence of
the "Gannet" off the Isle of Wight, and arrangements had been made to
"turn over" the R.N.R. crew of another armed trawler directly
Tressidar brought his command into Spithead.
By dint of strenuous exertion the "Gannet" was able to leave Plymouth
Sound at noon--the "Anzac" having had three hours start--and once
outside the Breakwater, the sub. ordered fifteen knots, which were
increased to twenty as soon as Bigbury Head was broad on the port
beam.
"It would be a rare slice of luck," thought the sub., "if we could
bag the strafed 'U' boat in the run up Channel, but that is asking
for too much, I'm afraid."
The sea was smooth, with a long, oily roll. The sky was inclined to
be misty, although it was possible to discern The Start, now less
than ten miles off on the port bow. There were no signs of the
"Anzac." The sea appeared to be deserted, except for two large
Brixham trawlers, that, with all sail set, were floundering in almost
a dead calm at a distance of about three miles on the starboard bow.
"Those luggers seem pretty close together, sir," remarked the
helmsman of the "Gannet."
The sub. brought his glasses to bear upon the trawlers. Even allowing
for the lack of ability to judge distance when seen through a pair of
binoculars, Tressidar was bound to confess that there was something
strange about the position of the two vessels. They appeared to be
almost side by side. The wind, such as it was, was dead astern. One
of the trawlers had her mainsail right out on the port tack, the
other on the starboard, so that the outer cloths of each sail were
rubbing against each other as the boats rolled sluggishly in the long
swell.
"They are showing no signals of distress," said Tressidar. "At least,
none are visible. I fancy there's smoke arising from one of them.
Deucedly fishy, by Jove! I've a mind to see what the game is. Port
your helm, quartermaster. Keep her at that."
With his glasses still bearing upon the Brixham boats, Tressidar
puzzled over the situation until the "Gannet" was within a mile of
the trawlers.
Suddenly he replaced his binoculars, grasped the handle of the
telegraph indicator and called for full speed ahead, at the same time
ordering all hands to action stations, for lying between the two
fishing luggers was a German submarine.
Almost before the guns' crews could stand to their quick-firers the
"Gannet" was within hailing distance. To Tressidar's surprise, he
discovered that the unterseeboot was lashed to the fishing-vessels
and that four of her crew were standing with their hands held above
their heads, while the skipper and deck hands of each trawler were
calmly surveying the Germans from the decks of their respective
craft.
"You'm too late, maaster," sung out one of the Devon skippers. "Us'n
done the trick proper-like. Still, if you'm a mind tu finish the
business 'twill save we a mort o' trouble."
"I thought that the Germans were sinking you," replied Tressidar.
"Stand by with a line. We are running alongside."
The "Gannet," losing way, made fast to one of the trawlers, and
Tressidar, accompanied by half a dozen armed men, gained the
fishing-lugger's deck.
The sub. was greeted by a tall, broad-shouldered Devonshire man of
about fifty years of age. His heavily bearded face was almost hidden
under a sou'wester, in spite of the fact that the sun was shining
brightly. On the deck just abaft the windlass was a young German
unter-leutnant, bound hand and foot and obviously half dazed with the
result of a blow on the left temple. Two German seamen, their clothes
saturated with water, were lashed to the mizzen mast.
[Illustration: "ON THE DECK WAS A GERMAN UNTER-LEUTNANT, BOUND HAND
AND FOOT"]
The trawler had sustained damage. Her bitts had been carried away,
with the result that her bowsprit had run in, and a raffle of head
sails and gear littered the fo'c'sle. The other trawler appeared to
be undamaged, with the exception of a large rent in her mainsail. The
submarine, or as much as was visible above water, looked a wreck. The
cover of her conning-tower hatchway was buckled, her twin periscopes
had been snapped off close to the deck. Her ensign staff, with the
Black Cross flying, was trailing over the side, and one of her
disappearing guns had been dismounted.
"She tried her tricks on we, an' we wouldn't have any," declared the
skipper proudly. "Them didn't reckon wi' Devon lads, did 'em, Bill?"
His mate, thus appealed to, merely grinned and scratched his head.
Nor was the master of the second lugger more communicative.
"Us seed Charlie a-doin' the job properlike, so we gi' a hand. Not as
though Charlie wasn't good enough for the job," he explained, "but us
thought 'twas a good chance to get our own back, so we chipped in."
Early that morning the luggers "Crown and Sceptre" and "Unity" had
left Brixham in company. The weather then was considerably more hazy
that it was later in the day. Having made good hauls, the trawlers
were beating up towards The Start when a German submarine suddenly
poked its ugly snout above water. Making certain that the two craft
were really fishing-boats and not armed trawlers, the Hun commander
decided to replenish his grub-locker with fish from the English craft
and then send the Brixham trawlers to the bottom.
The "Crown and Sceptre," being nearest to the "U" boat, was hailed
and ordered to heave-to. Cap'n Charles Hunnable quickly hauled his
headsails to windward and took way off the trawler. The "Unity"
meanwhile held on, trusting for a breeze to enable her to escape.
"Shall us put up a fight, boys?" asked the Devon skipper. "If us
does, there must be no half measures, mark you."
Her crew, consisting of two men and a boy, agreed. The fighting
spirit of the shire that boasts of such gallant seamen as Drake and
Raleigh still lives, and the Brixham men are worthy upholders of the
traditions of the Devon forbears.
"'Tes good," continued Skipper Hunnable. "Long Jarge, do 'ee stand by
t' hellum. Jim, you keep along o' me. Peter, slip for'ard an' when I
give the word do'ee let jib and fores'l draw."
The submarine had now slowed down and was lying less than twenty
yards on the trawler's starboard quarter. It was originally the
intention of the German commander to order the Englishmen to launch
their boat and bring the fish to their captors, but realising that
the boat was a heavy one and that it would take some time to be
hoisted out, he ordered the submarine's collapsible boat to be
manned.
Into the frail craft stepped an unter-leutnant and three seamen.
"You vos throw us a rope," shouted the young Hun as the boat came
alongside. "Your hatches you uncover must and fish ve vos take. Den
ve vos you sink in five minutes."
A rope was thrown, the canvas boat was made fast alongside, and the
unter-leutnant scrambled up and over the bulwarks, which were about
three feet above the deck and seven feet from the waterline.
Directly his legs were astride the rail, Skipper Hunnable's powerful
fist shot out like a sledge-hammer.
"You'd take my fish, would you!" he roared. "Take that, you young
sausage."
The German officer, stunned by the blow, was grasped by the skipper
before he fell overboard. Simultaneously Peter drove a triple-barbed
eel spear through the canvas boat and cut the rope that held her.
"Up helm!" ordered the skipper. "Boy, trim your heads'l sheets."
"'Tes no half measures, say I," he continued, and he lifted the
unconscious German officer and bore him aft. "Ef 'em shoots, then
the'll shoot this gold-braid pup too."
Quick on her helm the "Crown and Sceptre" gathered way and showed her
stern to the astonished submarine. The German commander was in a
quandary. He dare not shell the trawler for fear of hitting his
subordinate, until he drew ahead sufficiently to enable her
quick-firer to plank a shell for'ard and between wind and water. He
was convinced that the "Crown and Sceptre" was attempting to seek
safety in flight, but he was grievously mistaken. Skipper Hunnable's
blood was up.
Gybing "all standing," since there was little risk of loss of
top-hamper as the wind was light, the Brixham trawler turned and tore
straight for her antagonist. Before the submarine could manoeuvre to
avoid the blow, the lugger's massive bowsprit struck her on the
conning-tower. The hefty spar stood the strain, but not so the bitts.
With a rending crash the bowsprit was forced inboard, but the
mischief to the "U" boat was already done. The metal hatch was partly
torn from its hinges, while in falling off the bowsprit made a clean
sweep of the periscopes, wrecked the for'ard gun, and hurled the
gun's crew into the sea.
A four-pound hammer hurled by the brawny skipper of the "Crown and
Sceptre" hurtled through the air. With unerring aim it struck the Hun
commander on the side of the head, killing him instantly.
Held by the raffle of cordage for'ard the lugger swung round
broadside on to the submarine.
"Come on, lads!" roared Skipper Hunnable. "The old boat won't hurt
where she be."
Seizing axes and crowbars, the crew followed the daring skipper to
the deck of the submarine. "Long Jarge," brandishing a formidable
hatchet, took his stand by the conning-tower hatchway, ready to deal
a smashing blow to the first man that appeared, while the skipper and
the rest of his little crew chased the two German seamen who were on
deck and drew the watertight slide of the after-hatchway.
The Devon men now had things all their own way. The "U" boat could
not dive with her conning-tower hatchway in a damaged condition, or
she would fill and sink like a stone. Nor could the trapped Huns use
their rifles and revolvers. One foolhardy man attempted to take a
chance shot through the after-hatchway, but directly his hand
appeared above the coaming, Peter smashed it to a pulp.
The state of affairs now developed into a deadlock. The submarine
could not escape, nor could the British fishermen regain their craft
without risk of losing the advantage they at present held.
At this juncture the crew of the "Unity," perceiving that Skipper
Hunnable was putting up a fight, but ignorant of how matters stood,
determined to go to their comrades' aid, and sink or swim in the
attempt.
Luffing smartly under the submarine's submerged stern, Skipper
Biddlecombe brought the "Unity" up on the "U" boat's starboard side
and made fast.
"What be you a-shovin' your five eggs in for, I'd be likin' tu know?"
was Skipper Hunnable's greeting to the newcomers.
"No offence, Charlie," replied the fellow-skipper. "Us don't get the
chance tu fight the Huns every day."
"True, true," rejoined the master of the "Crown and Sceptre." "You'm
handy just now. Bid young Jack bring a shovelful o' coals and a bit
o' junk. We'll have to be smokin' them chaps out, I'm thinkin'."
Ignorant of the risk they ran, the fishermen were about to throw
smouldering tow down the hatchways into the petrol-laden atmosphere
of the interior of the submarine when the Germans, realising the fate
that threatened them, began to raise shouts of "kamarade."
"Thought better of it, eh?" said Skipper Hunnable. "Douse them coals,
Jack. Now, you rascals, up you come. Four o' you. Drat you! I said
four o' you. One, two, dree, four--not a round dozen. That's better.
Now, hands up, an' keep 'em up. Rest o' you chaps below there are you
a-listenin'?"
"Ja, ja!" was the reply.
"Don't you yah me, you lubbers," shouted the skipper. "Just you stand
by, and don't get up to any tricks. If you du, down the lot o' you
goes to Davy in double-quick time."
Having secured uninterrupted possession of the prize, the two
skippers returned to their respective boats. Then it was that the
crew of the collapsible boat that had been stove in, finding that the
fishermen did not kill the prisoners in cold blood, swam to the
"Crown and Sceptre" and were taken on board and secured.
"Charlie!" bawled the skipper of the "Unity," "wind's fair for home.
Shall us try and take this craft in?"
"No need," replied his friend. "Look astern--there's a Government
vessel a-comin' up at the rate o' knots."