CHAPTER XXV
A SUCCESSFUL RAID
Without pausing to learn the effect of the first shot, CaptainNicholson sent the submarine below with a lurch, ordered the helmhard a-starboard and made for mid-channel, where he knew thesecond first-class cruiser lay at anchor, stern to and nosing thestrong ebb-tide.
All members of the crew, as well as Frank and Jack, werejubilant. The men insisted that they had heard a roar that meantthe explosion of the cruiser, though this was highly improbable.Jack and Frank had heard nothing, and they turned to CaptainNicholson.
"Did you hit her, sir?" asked Jack eagerly.
"Sure," was the reply. "The shot couldn't have failed to gohome."
But the work was only one-third done, even less than that, whenthe fact that the submarine had to get out of the harbor again isconsidered.
The submarine, well down, now ran across the harbor at an angle,aiming to come up to the starboard of the second cruiser.Captain Nicholson explained his reason for doing this:
"I figure they will expect us on the side nearest the firstcruiser," he said. "Therefore, I believe we stand a fair chanceof surprising them by attacking on the starboard. At the sametime, we will have our movements masked from the third andsmaller cruiser by our second victim itself."
This sounded reasonable to the two lads, but they made nocomment.
To foster an appearance of an attack off the second cruiser'sport side, Captain Nicholson let go a decoy periscope to floatwith the tide's decided sweep to the left shore and draw the fireof the enemy in that direction.
Slowly the submarine advanced, and presently those on board couldhear the unmistakable boom of heavy guns. The ruse hadsucceeded, and the cruisers and guns of the fort were aiming atthe spot in the water where the decoy periscope led them tobelieve the submarine was floating.
The submarine rose so that the periscope took in the scene abovethe water. Captain Nicholson, glancing through the instrument,saw that he was at least 500 yards to the starboard of the secondcruiser. Under full speed, the Y-3 ran straight up to herenemy's bow.
The periscope, protruding above the water, was quickly sighted bythe cruiser, but before the vessel's guns could be brought tobear, Captain Nicholson released the second torpedo. Immediatelythe Y-3 dived again.
But before the submarine had entirely disappeared under thewater, there came a loud roaring boom. The second torpedo hadgone home.
"Magazine must have gone too," said Captain Nicholson briefly.
Frank and Jack glanced curiously at the members of the crew.Not at all nervous themselves, they were nevertheless surprisedat the apparent coolness of the British sailors.
Captain Nicholson noticed the expression on their faces, and tooktime to remark:
"I suppose we should all be thinking with pity of the dead anddying above us, but when you're a hundred feet or so below, theshots and cries of battle are neither exciting nor gruesome."
The gallant commander was now steering a course for the third ofthe Turkish cruisers.
"Guess I won't go so close this time," he remarked. "I'll fireat longer range, so we won't have so far to go among the wreckageof all three when we leave."
Ten minutes, later the submarine came within the desired range,unobserved by the cruiser, which was lowering her boats to go tothe help of the others. Captain Nicholson stood with his hand onthe toggle of the firing valve, reading the range scale.
Suddenly there was a terrific shock. Every man on board thesubmarine was knocked off his feet, and the submarine wentrapidly to the bottom. Jack was knocked unconscious by thesuddenness and force of the shock.
When he opened his eyes again, Frank was bending over him.
"What's the matter?" he gasped.
"Shot hit us, I guess," was Frank's calm reply.
The lad was right. Two small Turkish gunboats, whose presence inthe harbor was not known to Captain Nicholson, had approached thescene of battle, and making out the submarine's periscope, hadopened on her with the big guns. One shot had gone true, and itwas this that had sent the Y-3 careening to the bottom.
"Are we going to sink?" asked Jack.
"We've already sunk," replied Frank. "Whether we'll get to thesurface again or not I don't know."
The lads heard the hiss of air through the vent in the manifold.Brown was letting water into the ballast tank to keep thesubmarine down. He turned as Captain Nicholson walked over tohim.
"They got our periscopes, I think," he said coolly. "But ourtorpedo went just the same!"
Sure enough the tube was empty. The force of the shock hadcaused Captain Nicholson to launch the torpedo before he wasready, and there was no knowing whether it had been aimed true ornot.
The commander now took account of the casualties. One of the menhad an ugly gash across his forehead from being thrown against astanchion, another had a bleeding and probably broken nose.Brown applied first aid to the injured, while Captain Nicholsongot the submarine under way again and headed for the mouth of theharbor.
"I wonder if that last torpedo went home," said Frank. "Do yousuppose it did, captain?"
"I don't know," was the reply. "We are blind now, our periscopehaving been shot away, and there is no way of telling withoutgoing to the surface and exposing ourselves to gunfire."
"Is there any danger of our being sunk?" asked Jack.
"Danger!" he repeated. "You bet there's danger. Still, thanksto a tight hull and a true compass, we have a fighting chance."
The Y-3 was now making ten knots, for, as Captain Nicholson said,"there was no use wasting time and giving the enemy time to planta barrier."
Still five hundred yards from the sandbar which must be crossed,there was a jar, a moaning, grinding sound, and the motors wentinstantly dead. From the battery compartment there was a rush ofwater into the living quarters.
It was but the work of a moment for the crew to "dog down" thedoors of that compartment to segregate the damage and prevent theflooding of other compartments. But even then, the Y-3 was in abad way, and all on board realized it.
"I guess we are gone this time," said Frank quietly to Jack.
"Looks like it," was Jack's cool reply. "However, while there islife there is hope."
Captain Nicholson noticed the look of anxiety on the lads' faces.
"Don't you worry," he said cheerily. "We'll get out of hereyet."
But now the deadliest foe of the submarine was at work--chlorinegas. The action of the salt water on the sulphuric acidof the battery cells was generating it with fatal quickness.Already the boys could feel a deadly burning sensation in theirthroats and noses.
Fifteen minutes of that atmosphere would have left all on boardthe submarine gasping and stifling sixty feet below the fresh airthat meant life. There was but one thing to do--come to thesurface and run for it in the face of the fort.
Captain Nicholson realized that it would be the end if the upperexhaust of No. 3 cylinder failed now, for with the electricengines gone, running on the surface with the Diesels was theonly hope. He acted on the instant.
The submarine rose rapidly to the surface, and when well awash,the engines were started at full speed. The hatches were openedand the ventilating fans started, blowing out the gases andletting in the cold, damp air. All on board drew a breath ofthis invigorating air, and then Captain Nicholson turned hisattention to escaping from beneath the big guns of the fort.
From his place in the conning tower he cold plainly see theactivity of the fort when the lookout made out the submarine.Now the two lads, at a sign from the commander, joined him.
Glancing in the direction he pointed, they made out the fightingtops of the first two cruisers, victims of the submarine's daringraid, just reaching out of the water. The third cruiser wasafloat, but from her heavy list to starboard, it was plain thatshe was badly damaged and sinking fast.
The fort was getting the range now, and shells fell all aroundthe Y-3. One struck the water nearby, hurling water ov
er theconning tower and drenching the three who stood there.
"Well," said Captain Nicholson, "they may get us, but we gotthree of them."
"And there is some satisfaction in that, anyhow," said Frank.
"You bet there is," Jack agreed.
The submarine was halfway across the bar, and had not been hit,and every instant meant that much more chance for life. Thehelmsman stuck nobly to his post, head down, and without a lookat the fort. The submarine shook and trembled with the vibrationsof the hard-pushed engines, straining to get the submarine todeep water.
The gallant lads in the engine-room were doing their best. Ashell from long range, with most of its force expended, glancedoff the port bow of the submarine, carrying away the towingpennant. The nose of the Y-3 ducked under a bit, but came upserenely in half a second.
The commander of the vessel, perceiving deep water ahead, encouragedthe helmsman with a cry. Already the vessel was almost over the bar.The fire from the fort was decreasing. Only the longer range gunscould come into play now.
Looking back, the lads saw two destroyers racing in the wake ofthe submarine, preceded by a small gunboat.
The first shells of the gunboat whizzed by the submarine.Captain Nicholson slammed down the hatch.
"Water armor for us!" he cried.
A moment later the submarine was on the safe haven of the bottomwith 100 feet of solid protecting water between it and hostileshells.
"That was pretty ticklish," said Frank, drawing a breath whenthey were out of reach of the gunboat's fire.
"It was," was the commander's response, "and we are not safe yetby any means."
"Why--?" began Frank.
"We can't go up again now, can we?" demanded Captain Nicholson."We shall have to stay down here until they believe we haveescaped. Then we will rise and try to sneak out."
"But surely we are safe enough down here."
"Don't you believe it. They'll trawl for us all day; but luckilyfor us they don't know we have lost our batteries, so they'llprobably search over a wide area, and we run that much morechance of not being discovered."
"But surely no shell would reach us here," said Frank.
"No," replied the commander grimly, "but if they discover us,they are likely to dump a few barge loads of pig iron orsomething down on us and crush our steel plating."
But the submarine was not discovered by the enemy and remainedbelow the water all the rest of the day "went to sleep on thebottom," as the phrase goes. And that is what literally wasdone, for all on board were tired out.
An hour after sunset, the Y-3 came once more to the surface.There was no sign of an enemy. The sky was still banked withheavy clouds, and there was a choppy sea running.
Captain Nicholson started to run for safety at full speed ahead.Having no batteries for submerged running now, the Y-3 had toremain on top of the water, or else sink to the bottom and liestill; and for this reason Captain Nicholson kept prepared for aquick submersion.
Mines were the worst dangers the Y-3 bad to encounter now, and acareful watch was kept and the speed of the vessel reduced.Twice the vessel was picked up by the searchlight on the fort,and each time submerged.
But the engines stood up well, and at last Captain Nicholson saidquietly to the two lads:
"Well, we're safe at last."
"Good," said Frank, "but I wouldn't have missed this experiencefor a fortune."
"Nor I," declared Frank.
"You take my advice," said Captain Nicholson, as he headed theY-3 for the spot where they had left the Sylph almost 40 hoursbefore, "and stay on the top. Don't spend any more time on asubmarine than you have to."