CHAPTER VIII.HELIGOLAND.
“Off there,” said Lord Hastings, pointing over his shoulder, “lies Heligoland, one of the strongest harbors in the world, and regarded by the Kaiser and his subjects as impregnable. A raid by an enemy has been deemed as impossible by strategists.”
“Nevertheless,” said Frank drily, “it is not impossible, as the Kaiser and his subjects will find out.”
“As I understand it,” said Jack, “Heligoland is a natural stronghold.”
“To a certain extent, yes,” replied Lord Hastings. “Heligoland, as you know, is an island, and nature has done her best to make it immune from attack. To nature’s work has been added the brains and brawn of the best German strategists and workers. An attack by a hostile battle fleet could have but one result—failure. But, so far as I have been able to determine, there as yet has been nothing devised that will ward off the attack of a submarine.”
“Except mines,” said Frank.
“True. But it is certain there can be no mines in the harbor proper, for they would be an eternal menace to the German fleet. Of course the entrance is strongly guarded by mines and the powerful guns of the forts. But it is our business to get beneath these and torpedo a few of the enemy’s vessels before we are discovered.”
“And then?” asked Jack.
“Why, then,” said Lord Hastings, “we shall make off as fast as possible to return at some future date, perhaps, and pay our respects once more. As I see it, there is but one thing that is likely to cause us any trouble.”
“And that, sir?” asked Frank.
“The enemy’s submarines,” replied his commander.
“But we have the heels of them, sir,” said Jack.
“True,” replied Lord Hastings, “but the trouble is we are liable to run into a net of them, and in that event we would have to fight. To my knowledge, there has never been a battle of under the sea vessels, and what the result might be it is impossible to determine.”
“Well,” said Frank, “we shall have to take a chance. That’s all.”
“That’s all,” agreed Lord Hastings.
Lord Hastings turned to the chart of the harbor of Heligoland and bent over it eagerly. The lads peered over his shoulder.
“We are down as deep as it is safe to go,” said the commander of the submarine. “The chart shows that the water is not so very deep here, and as it is all the guide we have, we must be careful.” He turned to Jack. “Proceed at five knots,” he commanded.
Jack gave the necessary command, and the D-16 slowed down perceptibly.
For many minutes there was intense silence, broken at last by Lord Hastings.
“I should say,” he said, “that we must now be in the harbor. I am positive we have passed under the mines safely.”
“Then shall we go up, sir?” asked Frank eagerly.
Lord Hastings hesitated for a moment, and then replied:
“Yes, we may as well.”
Jack took this as a command, and gave the necessary order.
Slowly the D-16 began to rise.
Lord Hastings glanced at his watch.
“Seven o’clock,” he said quietly, “and there should be no moon. A good night for our work.”
With the periscope barely reaching above the surface, the work of forcing water from the tanks was stopped. Lord Hastings stood quietly viewing the scene about him, and to his eyes was exposed an awesome sight.
Right in the midst of the giant German battle fleet he peered, and as he did so he could but wonder to himself that so powerful and so magnificent a fighting machine apparently had been afraid to venture forth and give battle to the fleet of England, powerful as the latter was.
The D-16, before ascending, had penetrated to the very middle of the harbor, and now that she was close to the surface, the powerful binoculars at the bottom of the periscope made clear the many vessels of the German fleet in all their majesty.
Clouds of smoke floated from their smokestacks, and this suggested something to Lord Hastings.
“Ready to set forth at any time,” he muttered to himself. “Just afraid, that’s all.”
He stepped away from the periscope, and Jack took a turn.
“Great Scott!” he exclaimed, turning away at last. “To think that a fleet the size of that should be afraid to give battle.”
“It does seem strange,” said Lord Hastings.
Frank now peered into the periscope, and as he looked one of the German dreadnoughts began to move from her moorings.
“One of ’em’s coming out,” cried Frank. “She’s headed for the open sea.”
“I thought they might have determined to try a little raid when I saw all that smoke,” said Lord Hastings. “We’ll stop her, at any rate.”
He took Frank’s place at the periscope and then commanded:
“Ten knots ahead, Mr. Templeton, and prepare for action!”
Jack jumped to obey this order, and a moment later the D-16 was in fighting trim. The engines throbbed and fussed, the water parted before the sharp prow of the vessel with an angry hiss, and the men stood at their posts.
The signal board flashed its first command, in letters of fire.
“No. 1 torpedo!”
The gunner was ready, and the second command—“attention”—was scarcely necessary.
Now, through the periscope, Lord Hastings gauged the range, and the signal board showed:
“Submerge!”
Almost at the same moment a second command showed plainly.
“Fire!”
“Click!”
The first torpedo sped on its way, and at the same moment Lord Hastings shouted in Jack’s ear:
“Due north, Mr. Templeton. Fifteen knots!”
The D-16 leaped ahead, and at the distance of half a mile, rose slowly to the surface.
Lord Hastings and his two officers ascended to the bridge, where they took in the scene about them with their night glasses.
In the very center of the German fleet, a huge battleship was sinking. The glare of the searchlights of the others showed her plainly to the eyes of the British. Terrified cries carried over the water. The confusion aboard the sinking vessel was terrible to behold.
Men ran hither and thither about the decks, yelling and fighting, so great was their fear. From other vessels of the fleet small boats put into the sea, to pick up those who had jumped from the wounded warship.
Suddenly there was a terrific explosion, and the German warship sprang into flames, lighting up the sky for miles around. But the D-16, in the very edge of the fiery glare, so far had been unnoticed.
“They evidently think it was an internal explosion,” said Lord Hastings quietly to the two lads.
“Looks like it,” replied Jack, “or they would certainly be using their searchlights to make out the presence of an enemy.”
“They haven’t the slightest idea an enemy could have penetrated the mined area safely,” replied the commander of the submarine. “But look, she is about to go.”
He pointed toward the wounded German warship. His words were true. Amidst the flashing searchlights of her sister ships, the dreadnought reared high in the air. There she poised herself for a moment; then, slowly, midst a broad circle of brilliancy, she sank, the cries of those of her crew still aboard mingling with the shouts and commands from the other ships making the night hideous.
A fierce red flame, from the top of her to the very water’s edge, where it hissed loud and long, enveloped the sinking ship, as the smoke arose in a dense cloud. Came another dull explosion, and the ship split in twain. For a moment there were two distinct sheets of flame, and then the fore and aft parts of the vessel disappeared beneath the water simultaneously.
“Well, she’s gone,” said Lord Hastings. “Now for the next one.”
“We are safe enough here, sir,” said Jack, “and we are close enough to hit her. Why not fire without submerging?”
“All right,” replied his commander quietly. “Order No. 2 torpedo launched immediately,” and he gave the range.
Jack hastened below, only to hurry back upon the bridge again, which he reached just in time to see the second ship in the German line stagger, and sway drunkenly.
Again loud cries of fear carried across the water, and the searchlights of the still unhit German ships played upon the second wounded vessel.
“No. 3 and No. 4 torpedoes right into the midst of them!” cried Lord Hastings, and Jack jumped below to give the command.
“Click! Click!”
Two more terrible engines of destruction sped on their way.
Jack sprang back to the bridge to watch the effect of these shots.
And the effects were terrible, as the watchers could plainly make out.
Confusion reigned throughout the German fleet. Not a ship but on which there was panic, and the officers were having serious trouble with the crews.
For there could no longer be any doubt in the minds of the Germans as to the cause of the three terrific explosions that now shattered the stillness of the night.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” they came, and showers of steel, iron, wood and débris rose high in the air, to be scattered far across the surface of the sea.
Now the searchlights of the uninjured German ships left their sinking sister ships and flashed swiftly across the water. Suddenly the D-16 was lighted up by a circle of light as bright as day.
“We are discovered!” cried Frank, and at the same moment Lord Hastings gave a command:
“Down, quick!”
He led the way through the conning tower with rapid strides, and the lads hurried after him.
“Submerge!”
A moment more and the D-16 was again beneath the sea, safe from chance German shells, and steaming toward the east.