CHAPTER XVII
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 frontline, had escaped being struck in their vitals by the German shellsthat flew all about. On the _Queen Mary_, dead men and wounded menstrewed the deck. They were being carried below as rapidly as possible,where the ship's surgeon, with a corps of assistants, was attending totheir wounds.
Frank and Jack had been working like demons. From one part of the shipto the other they had been running with orders ever since the battleopened. The heart of each lad was in his throat--not because of fear--but because the British were getting the worst of the engagement. Neverbefore had they seen an enemy fleet stand up to a British squadron ofthis size and fight. Always before it had been the German policy torun.
But now they were not only standing up to the British, but were givingthem a bad thrashing. Each lad realized, of course, that the Britishwere out-numbered and that the weight of guns was in favor of theenemy; but in spite of this they felt that the enemy should bedefeated. They cast occasional glances to the west, hoping to catchsight 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. Asthe others retreated now the Germans pressed them closely. A shotstruck the _Marlborough_ in the forward turret, exploding her gunsthere and killing the gun crews. The effect of the explosion wasterrible. Men were hurled high in the air and came down in smallpieces.
Jack, in the forward turret of the _Queen Mary_ a moment later, washurled to the deck as a German shell struck one of the guns and blew itto pieces. The lad escaped the rain of steel that descended a momentlater, but others in the turret were not so fortunate. Fully half themen there were killed or wounded so badly that they could fight nomore.
Jack sprang to one of the guns himself. It was loaded. Quickly the ladsighted 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 amidshipsand 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-inchguns--he and other unwounded British tars.
Frank had not seen his chum for an hour; and chancing to poke his headinto the forward turret, he was surprised to see Jack working like aTrojan 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; thenturned back to his work.
Came a loud British cheer. "What's happened?" demanded Jack of the mannext him, shouting at the top of his voice to make himself heard abovethe din of battle.
The man shook his head.
"Don't know," he shouted back, "unless the main fleet has beensighted."
"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 simultaneouslyunder well directed British shots; and, far back across the sea, aflotilla 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. Theywere the _Tipperary_, the _Turbulent_, the _Nestore_ and the _Shark_.The others gave slowly before the enemy; and a moment later two ofthose 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 torpedoboats, 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 tothe 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 nowapproached almost close enough to take a hand in the battle. Apparentlythis Was what the German admiral was waiting for before resumingoperations.
It was plainly evident now that the Germans had sighted the approachingBritish fleet, but at that distance they were unable to make out itsstrength. The German admiral decided to continue the battle if he coulddo so with any hope of success.
So, with the second squadron in range, he gave the command to advanceagain.
The _Queen Mary_ and the _Indefatigable_ bore the brunt of this nextattack and for half an hour it seemed that it was impossible for thetwo 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 atalmost the same time, staggered back and fell out of line. But theBritish 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 ofcommission, 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 turretguns had been silenced and the only pieces that they could now bringinto play were in the turrets aft.
A shell from the German battleship _Lutzow_ exploded on the bridge ofthe _Marlborough_. The bridge was carried completely away and thecommander of the ship was killed, as were half a score of otherofficers. A second shell struck the _Marlborough_ and carried away hersteering 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, atany 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 aboardthe _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 theother British ships.
Apparently this was more than the German admiral had bargained for.With his whole second squadron intact and the British apparentlyhelpless, he had thought to crush these few ships before aid shouldreach them; and then, if the approaching British were not tooformidable, 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 fitnor able to continue the fight.
But the men fought on doggedly. None of the others had thought ofsurrender and no such idea entered the head of a single man aboard anyof the British ships. Help was at hand and then the Germans would getthe thrashing of their lives, the men told themselves. They would keepthe Germans busy until this help arrived.
Hardly a man aboard the _Queen Mary_ that had not been wounded. Sweatpoured from their faces, hands and body as they continued to fighttheir guns; and as they fought they shouted and yelled encouragement toone another.
"Boom!"
There was a different tone to this deep voice and every man on boardthe hard pressed British ships knew what it meant.
The first ship of the main British fleet had come within range and hadopened with her biggest gun.
Other new voices took up the challenge and within a few moments theroar of battle was at its height once more.
Still a considerable distance away, the dimensions of the approachingBritish fleet now became apparent to the German admiral. He hadthought, at first, that perhaps the newcomers would number a few ships,attracted by the sounds of battle, but as he looked at the formidablearray now bearing down on him h
e knew that his plans, whatever theywere, had been frustrated.
"And we had it all planned so carefully," he said between clenchedteeth.
He strode up and down angrily, beating the palm of one hand with aknotted 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 Britishships bearing down on them.
"No!" thundered the admiral. "Why don't you sink those three shipsahead 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 ingreat anger; then he suddenly cooled down. With a finger he summonedthe officer who had accosted him a moment before. The officerapproached and saluted.
"I forgot myself a moment ago," said the admiral. "You may give thesignal to retire!"
A moment later the big German ships began to come about; and from thedecks of the _Queen Mary_, the _Lion_ and the _Indefatigable_ therecame loud British cheers.
The _Marlborough_, still helpless, poured shell after shell upon theenemy.
Some distance away still, the British fleet was approaching in anendeavor 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 _QueenMary_ about. Then, disabled as his ship was, he started in pursuit ofthe enemy.
There was a cheer from the _Indefatigable_, and presently the head ofthat vessel also came about She started after the _Queen Mary_!