The Boy Allies At Jutland
or
The Greatest Naval Battle of History
By Ensign ROBERT L. DRAKE
AUTHOR OF
"The Boy Allies Under the Sea" "The Boy Allies In the Baltic" "The Boy Allies on the North Sea Patrol" "The Boy Allies Under Two Flags" "The Boy Allies with the Flying Squadron" "The Boy Allies with the Terror of the Seas"
1917
CHAPTER I
H.M.S. "QUEEN MARY"
A great, long, gray shape moved swiftly through the waters of theThames. Smoke, pouring from three different points in the middle ofthis great shape, ascended, straight in the air some distance, then,caught by the wind, drifted westward.
It was growing dark. Several hours before, this ocean greyhound--one ofGreat Britain's monster sea-fighters--had up-anchored and left herdock--where she had been undergoing slight repairs--heading eastwarddown the river.
Men lined the rails of the monster ship. These were her crew--or someof her crew, to be exact--for the others were engaged in duties thatprevented them from waving to the crowds that thronged the shore--asdid the men on deck.
Sharp orders carried across the water to the ears of those on shore.The officers were issuing commands. Men left the rail and disappearedfrom the view of the spectators as they hurried to perform theirduties. Came several sharp blasts of the vessel's siren; a moment laterher speed increased and as she slid easily through the waters of theriver, a cheer went up from both shores.
The crowd strained its eyes. Far down the river now the giantbattleship was disappearing from the sight of the men and women wholined the banks. In vain, a few moments later, did many eyes try topierce the darkness. The battleship was lost to sight.
The vessel that had thus passed down the Thames was H. M. S. _QueenMary_, one of the most formidable of England's sea fighters. It waswith such ships as the _Queen Mary_, supported by smaller and lesspowerful craft, that Great Britain, for almost two years of the greatwar, had maintained her supremacy of the seas.
This great ship was new in service, having been completed only a fewyears before the outbreak of the war. She was constructed at a cost of$10,000,000. She was 720 feet long, of 27,000 tons burden and had acomplement of almost 1,000 men. For fighting purposes she was equippedwith all that was modern.
In her forward turret she carried a battery of six 16-inch guns. Aft,the turret was similarly equipped. Also the _Queen Mary_ mounted otherbig guns and rapid firers. She was equipped with an even half-dozen12-inch torpedo tubes. She was one of the biggest ships of war thatroved the seas.
The _Queen Mary_ was one of the fleet of battleships that had patrolledthe North Sea since the outbreak of hostilities. Already she had seenher share of fighting, for she had led more than one attack upon theenemy when the Germans had mustered up courage enough to leave thesafety of the great fortress of Heligoland, where the main German highsea fleet was quartered.
It had been in a skirmish with one of these venturesome enemy vesselsthat the _Queen Mary_ had received injuries that necessitated her goinginto dry dock for a few days, while she was given an overhauling andher wounds healed. True enough, she had sent the foe to the bottom; butwith a last dying shot, the Germans had put a shell aboard the _QueenMary._
Her damage repaired, the _Queen Mary_ was now steaming to the openwaters of the North Sea, where she would again take up patrol duty withthe other vessels that comprised the British North Sea fleet, undercommand of Vice-Admiral Beatty, whose flagship, the _Lion_, had takenup the additional burden of patrolling the _Queen Mary's_ territorywhile the latter was being overhauled.
Aboard the battleship, the British tars, who had become fretful at thedelay, were happy at the thought of getting back into active service.While they had been given an opportunity to stretch their legs ashore,they, nevertheless, had been glad when the time to steam back into theopen sea had come. Now, as the _Queen Mary_ entered the mouth of theThames and prepared' to leave the shores of Old England for the broadexpanse of the North Sea, they sang, whistled and laughed gaily.
They were going back where they would get another chance at the enemy,should he again venture from his lair.
Forward, upon the upper deck, stood two young officers, who peered intothe darkness ahead.
"To my mind," said one, "this beats a submarine. Just look about you.Consider the size of this battleship! Look at her armament! Think ofthe number of men aboard!"
"You may be right," returned the second officer, "but we have had somegrand times beneath the sea. We have been to places and seen thingsthat otherwise would have been impossible."
"True enough; but at the same time, when it came to a question offight, we have had to slink about like a cat in the night, afraid toshow ourselves to larger and heavier adversaries. Now, aboard the_Queen Mary_, that will be done away with. Now we are the cat ratherthan the mouse."
"It may be that I shall come to your way of thinking in time," said thesecond speaker, "but at this moment I would rather have the familiarfeel of a submarine beneath my heel. I would feel more at home there.Besides, we have lost one thing by being assigned to the _Queen Mary_that hits me rather hard."
"I know what you mean," said the first speaker. "We indeed have lostthe companionship of a gallant commander. Captain Raleigh undoubtedlyis a first class officer--otherwise he would not be in command of the_Queen Mary_--but we are bound to miss Lord Hastings."
"Indeed we are. Yet, as he told us, things cannot always be as wewould like to have them. He was called for other service, as you know,and he did his best for us. That is why we find ourselves here as minorofficers."
"Yes; and it's a whole lot different than being the second and third incommand."
At that moment another young officer hurried by.
"Coming, Templeton? Coming, Chadwick?" he asked as he passed.
"Where?" demanded the two friends.
"Didn't you hear the call for mess?"
"No; By Jove! and I'm hungry, too," said the young officer addressed asTempleton. "Come along, Frank. We have been so busy talking here thatwe had forgotten all about the demands of the inner man."
The two hurried after the officer who had accosted them; and while theyare attending to the wants of the inner man, as Templeton termed theirappetites, we will take the time to explain how these two lads came tobe aboard the giant battleship, steaming into the North Sea in searchof the enemies of Great Britain and her allies.
Frank Chadwick was an American youth of some eighteen years. Separatedfrom his father in Naples at the outbreak of the great war, he had beenshanghaied aboard a sailing vessel when he had gone to the aid of a manapparently in distress. There he was made a prisoner.
Some days later he had been rescued by Jack Templeton, a youngEnglishman, who had boarded the vessel off the coast of Africa, seekingpayment for goods he had sold to the mutinous crew. The two lads hadbeen instrumental in helping Lord Hastings, a British nobleman, putthrough a coup that kept Italy out of the war on the side of Germanyand Austria. Lord Hastings had become greatly attached to the lads, andwhen he had been put in command of a vessel, he had both boys assignedto his ship.
Through gallant service Frank and Jack had won their lieutenancies.Later Lord Hastings had assumed command of a submarine and had madeJack his first officer and Frank his second officer.
Through many a tight place the lads had gone safely, though they hadfaced death more than once, and faced it calmly and bravely. Also, atthis period of the war, they had seen service in many seas. They hadbeen engaged in the first battle of the North Sea, w
hen Great Britainhad struck her first hard blow; they had participated in the sinking ofthe German Atlantic squadron near the Falkland islands, off the coastof Argentina, in South America; they had fought in Turkish waters andin the Indian Ocean, and also had been with the British land forceswhen the Japanese allies of the English had won the last of the Germanpossessions in China.
In stature and disposition the boys were as different as could be.Frank, though large for his age, looked small when alongside of Jack.The latter, though no older than his friend, was a huge bulk of a boy,standing well over six feet. He was built proportionately. Strong as anox, he was, and cool of head.
Here he differed from Frank, who had something of a temper and waslikely to do something foolish on the spur of the moment if he becameangry. Jack had served as a damper for his friend's anger andenthusiasm more than once.
That they could fight, both boys had shown more than once. Jack,because of his huge bulk and great strength, was, of course, harder tobeat in a hand-to-hand struggle than was Frank; but what the latterlacked in this kind of fighting, he more than made up in the use ofrevolver, rifle or sword.
Frank was a crack shot with a revolver; and more than once thisaccomplishment had stood them both in good stead. Each was a goodlinguist and conversed in French and German as well as in English. Thisalso had been of help to them in several ticklish situations.
On their last venture, at which time they had been under command ofLord Hastings, they had reached the distant shores of Russia, wherethey had been of some assistance to the Czar. In reaching Petrograd ithad been necessary for them to pass through the Kiel canal, which theyhad done safely in their submarine in spite of the German warships andharbor defenses. Also they had managed to sink several enemy vesselsthere.
Returning, Frank and Jack had gone home with Lord Hastings, where LadyHastings had insisted that they remain quiet for some time. This theyhad done and had been glad of the rest.
One day Lord Hastings had come home with the announcement that he hadbeen called back into the diplomatic service. It was the aim of theBritish government to align Greece and Roumania on the side of theAllies. Realizing that they could not hope to accompany Lord Hastings,and not wishing to remain idle longer, Frank and Jack had requestedLord Hastings to have them assigned on active duty at once. LordHastings promised to do his best.
And this was the reason that Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton foundthemselves aboard H.M.S. _Queen Mary_ when she steamed out to the NorthSea on an evening in the last week of May, 1916.