CHAPTER XX.
RAMMED AMIDSHIPS.
In the captain's cabin Hythe heard Devoran shouting for the helm to beput hard a-port. He felt the vessel begin to slew round, then a crashthat shook the "Aphrodite" from stem to stern, sent him and the otheroccupants of the cabin reeling against the starboard side.
Simultaneously the watertight doors in the two principal transversebulkheads were hermetically sealed, save a small emergency exit fromNumber Three Platform to the fore compartment. Through these those ofthe crew who were in the holed division made their hasty escape. Theywere not a moment too soon, for, although the "Vorwartz" made no attemptto back out, the fracture was ragged enough for the water under greatpressure to pour in cascades into the midships compartment of theill-starred submarine.
As soon as the men were safely in the fore part of the vessel Devorangave orders for the remaining watertight doors to be closed. He knewthat, although the danger was great, there still remained a chance ofsaving at least two-thirds of the "Aphrodite."
"If only I had been in the fore conning-tower," he thought, "I wouldhave given that 'Vorwartz' something to remember us by. I'll try it,though."
And calling up Carnon, who was the senior hand in the now isolated forepart, he ordered him to stand by with electrical destructors, whereby apotential charge of electric fluid could be directed upon the "Vorwartz"as soon as she had backed a certain distance from the vessel she hadrammed.
In answer Carnon replied: "I've tried the gadget, sir, and there's nocurrent on."
"For goodness' sake try the supplementary current!" exclaimed the chiefofficer anxiously, but the result was the same. The apparatus by whichthe powerful means of offence was controlled was out of order. Eitherthe lightning or the shock of the impact of the "Vorwartz's" stem hadthrown the delicate mechanism out of gear. Nor could the torpedoes beused, for the tubes, having an arc of only four degrees on either sideof the bows, could not be brought to bear upon the rival submarine.
This time Karl von Harburg had scored heavily, and stood every chance ofgetting clear without the "Aphrodite" being able to revenge herself uponthe submarine that had caught her napping.
Meanwhile the crew of the "Aphrodite," after the first shock, had takenup their stations with consummate coolness. Every man knew that thedamage was great, and that the "Vorwartz" was the cause of it. Onechance yet remained for them to revenge themselves upon Karl vonHarburg. Directly the "Vorwartz" backed out of the rent in her rival'sside, the "Aphrodite" might be able to turn sufficiently to discharge atorpedo. At the same time steps must be taken to prevent the strickencraft from sinking into depth where the pressure of the water wouldliterally crush their as yet undamaged sections of the submarine like anegg-shell under a hundred-ton hammer.
As soon as the water in the midship section rose to the level of thecentre platform Devoran gave orders for the detachable keel of thatcompartment to be dropped. Kenwyn touched the emergency switch, and themassive dead weight fell. Relieved of this mass of iron the "Aphrodite"lurched in an effort to rise to the surface.
The sudden strain wrenched her free of the bows of the "Vorwartz."Instantly the water, pouring through the greatly enlarged aperture,filled the whole of the centre compartment, and before the submarine hada chance to turn and let fly a torpedo at her antagonist, the"Aphrodite" sank slowly and surely.
This, although serious, was a point in her favour, for Karl von Harburg,observing with savage glee the havoc he had wrought, concluded that hisrival's craft was sinking for the last time to the bottom of the RedSea. Accordingly, satisfied that he was now free to pursue hispiratical acts, since the "Aphrodite" was the only submarine he feared,he backed astern, rose to the surface, and proceeded in a southerlydirection towards the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Hardly a word was spokenas the "Aphrodite" sank. Devoran, his eyes fixed upon the depth gauge,was waiting his time. He, too, realized that should the submarine riseto the surface it would merely be giving her antagonist a uniqueopportunity of holing another of the sections that as yet remainedintact. On the other hand, he had to guard against the danger ofdescending too far.
Thirty fathoms; the "Aphrodite" was now in total darkness as far as thewater was concerned. Within the electric lamps still burned brightly,save for a few that had been shattered at the moment of impact.
"Easy ahead!" he ordered, and as the partially flooded vessel forgedslowly and laboriously ahead, the chief officer trimmed the horizontalrudders so that the resistance at a certain angle just corrected thetendency of the whole vessel to sink.
Devoran set a course due east, hoping to fetch the shallower water onthe African shore. Twenty minutes later he ventured to switch on theparallel bow searchlights. Even these powerful rays failed to revealanything more than fifty miles away. Huge fish, that are rarely seen inshallow water, flitted past the thick scuttles. They made no attempt todart out of the way of the submarine; they were blind, since the gift ofsight at these depths is useless to them.
"She's standing the strain all right," remarked the chief officer toHythe in quite a cheerful tone.
The sub nodded appreciatively. Under similar conditions on board aBritish submarine the state of affairs would be hopeless. With a rentamidships, extending from the upper platform to the bilges she wouldhave sunk instantly, and given her crew no possible chance of escape;but here was the "Aphrodite" still under control and with the oddsgreatly in her favour. Next to Captain Restronguet, Devoran was themost capable man in whom to trust.
"Bottom shoaling!" exclaimed the sub, as the head searchlights glimmeredupon an expanse of ooze, so shapeless and ill-defined that it required apractised hand to distinguish it from the deep sea.
The chief officer instantly adjusted the planes, and the submarine,though lacking her usual sensitiveness to the action of the horizontalrudders, rose steadily.
At twenty fathoms the bottom ceased to shoal, and in place of the slimymud appeared fantastic formation of coral; a sure sign that shallowerwater was not far off. Again the "Aphrodite" was brought nearer thesurface, till the welcome sunlight could be faintly noticed.
"Ten fathoms," announced Devoran. "This is our limit. We must carry ontill we ground. Look! what a rent, by Jove!"
He pointed out of the scuttle, and Hythe following his gaze saw thefracture that the "Vorwartz" bow had caused. Her comparatively straightstem had cut nearly five feet into the upper platform of the "Aphrodite"in addition to making a vertical gash nearly fifteen feet in length inthe stricken vessel's side. As a result the whole of the centrecompartment had become a dead weight, and the buoyancy of the submarinebeing imparted only by the fore and aft compartments the tendency of thewhole vessel was to sag amidships. Already the upper platform wascurving ominously. It would not take much more strain to buckle the"Aphrodite." Although her steel plating was badly cracked and jagged,the restronium sheathing was severed as evenly as if made of wax. This,no doubt, accounted for the fact that the inrush of water at the momentof impact was comparatively slight, and in consequence the men stationedin the midship compartment were able to make good their retreat longbefore the water completely filled the space between the two principaltransverse bulkheads.
"Let her down gently, Carnon!" ordered Devoran, as the "Aphrodite"passed the broad belt of coral and a clear sandy bottom was visible onall sides.
The quartermaster in the fore conning-tower knew his businessthoroughly, and with hardly a bump the submarine settled on the bed ofthe Red Sea.
"All ready to let go?" asked the chief officer, and from the for'ardcompartment came the alert reply that everything was in order.
"It is almost like abandoning one's ship," remarked Hythe.
"Hardly so bad as that," replied Devoran. "But all the same we areshedding a large portion of her. Would you mind standing by that lever,and when I give the word push it hard down. No, not just yet. We willwait and watch the fore part shake itself clear."
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bsp; It was indeed a strange sight. At one moment Hythe saw the slightlybuckling deck and the fore conning-tower, the upper platform, except forthe fracture caused by the collision, being all in one piece. The nextinstant the whole of the bow compartment, including the conning-tower,gave a sudden bound and darted upwards towards the surface. Hythe couldsee the bulkhead with its watertight doors securely fastened, and thebright copper electrical contacts with their surrounding belt ofinsulated material. It reminded him of a salmon cut clean in halves.
Already the ballast tanks of the freed section were being filled, till,the upward motion checked, the structure slowly sank and settled oncemore in the bottom of the sea a few yards to the left of the remainingportion of the submarine. There, cut off from all communication withthe still intact after part, the compartment had to remain, till,worm-like, the third section was detached from the damaged portion andunited to form a smaller yet still efficient submarine.
Kenwyn had meanwhile opened the scuttle in the bottom plates of thevessel in order to guide her on her descent. Since the after portionalone possessed propelling machinery it was necessary that the fore partshould be disconnected first.
"Down with it!" exclaimed Devoran, at the same time operating a switch.Hythe instantly depressed the lever as he had been instructed. Themotion following the action was similar to that experienced in thesudden rising of a lift.
The damaged midship section had been abandoned to its ocean grave.
Directly the sub liberated the after portion of the vessel the hiss ofthe inrushing water could be heard, and, as in the case of the forepart, the surface was still several fathoms off when the upward tendencywas checked.
At a few feet from the bottom Kenwyn announced that the required depthwas reached, and the chief officer gave the order for "Half speedahead."
The best engine-driver in the kingdom could not have brought hislocomotive up to a train of waiting carriages easier than Devoranmanoeuvred the after part of the "Aphrodite" up to the fore compartment.There was no perceptible shock, in fact nothing to indicate the factthat the union had been accomplished except that telephoniccommunication was automatically reestablished in all parts of thereduced "Aphrodite."
Into the air locks next to each exterior bulkhead divers were quicklysent. As soon as the water was admitted into these spaces new lockingbolts were passed through and secured, and within twenty minutes ofbeing placed in position the two parts of the submarine were made one.But instead of her two hundred feet from stem to stern the new"Aphrodite" was reduced by about one third. Nearly seventy feet ofvaluable length had been sacrificed; but, as Devoran remarked, "It mighthave been worse."
"That is true," agreed Hythe. "But what will Captain Restronguet say?"