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 front line, had escaped being struck in their vitals by the German shells that flew all about. On the Queen Mary, dead men and wounded men strewed the deck. They were being carried below as rapidly as possible, where the ship's surgeon, with a corps of assistants, was attending to their wounds.
Frank and Jack had been working like demons. From one part of the ship to the other they had been running with orders ever since the battle opened. The heart of each lad was in his throat—not because of fear— but because the British were getting the worst of the engagement. Never before had they seen an enemy fleet stand up to a British squadron of this size and fight. Always before it had been the German policy to run.
But now they were not only standing up to the British, but were giving them a bad thrashing. Each lad realized, of course, that the British were out-numbered and that the weight of guns was in favor of the enemy; but in spite of this they felt that the enemy should be defeated. They cast occasional glances to the west, hoping to catch sight 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. As the others retreated now the Germans pressed them closely. A shot struck the Marlborough in the forward turret, exploding her guns there and killing the gun crews. The effect of the explosion was terrible. Men were hurled high in the air and came down in small pieces.
Jack, in the forward turret of the Queen Mary a moment later, was hurled to the deck as a German shell struck one of the guns and blew it to pieces. The lad escaped the rain of steel that descended a moment later, but others in the turret were not so fortunate. Fully half the men there were killed or wounded so badly that they could fight no more.
Jack sprang to one of the guns himself. It was loaded. Quickly the lad sighted 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 amidships and 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-inch guns—he and other unwounded British tars.
Frank had not seen his chum for an hour; and chancing to poke his head into the forward turret, he was surprised to see Jack working like a Trojan 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; then turned back to his work.
Came a loud British cheer. "What's happened?" demanded Jack of the man next him, shouting at the top of his voice to make himself heard above the din of battle.
The man shook his head.
"Don't know," he shouted back, "unless the main fleet has been sighted."
"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 simultaneously under well directed British shots; and, far back across the sea, a flotilla 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. They were the Tipperary, the Turbulent, the Nestore and the Shark. The others gave slowly before the enemy; and a moment later two of those 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 torpedo boats, 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 to
the 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 now approached almost close enough to take a hand in the battle. Apparently this Was what the German admiral was waiting for before resuming operations.
It was plainly evident now that the Germans had sighted the approaching British fleet, but at that distance they were unable to make out its strength. The German admiral decided to continue the battle if he could do so with any hope of success.
So, with the second squadron in range, he gave the command to advance again.
The Queen Mary and the Indefatigable bore the brunt of this next attack and for half an hour it seemed that it was impossible for the two 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 at almost the same time, staggered back and fell out of line. But the British 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 of commission, 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 turret guns had been silenced and the only pieces that they could now bring into play were in the turrets aft.
A shell from the German battleship Lutzow exploded on the bridge of the Marlborough. The bridge was carried completely away and the commander of the ship was killed, as were half a score of other officers. A second shell struck the Marlborough and carried away her steering 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, at any 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 aboard the 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 the other British ships.
Apparently this was more than the German admiral had bargained for. With his whole second squadron intact and the British apparently helpless, he had thought to crush these few ships before aid should reach them; and then, if the approaching British were not too formidable, 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 fit nor able to continue the fight.
But the men fought on doggedly. None of the others had thought of surrender and no such idea entered the head of a single man aboard any of the British ships. Help was at hand and then the Germans would get the thrashing of their lives, the men told themselves. They would keep the Germans busy until this help arrived.
Hardly a man aboard the Queen Mary that had not been wounded. Sweat poured from their faces, hands and body as they continued to fight their guns; and as they fought they shouted and yelled encouragement to one another.
"Boom!"
There was a different tone to this deep voice and every man on board the hard pressed British ships knew what it meant.
The first ship of the main British fleet had come within range and had opened with her biggest gun.
Other new voices took up the challenge and within a few moments the roar of battle was at its height once more.
Still a considerable distance away, the dimensions of the approaching British fleet now became apparent to the German admiral. He had thought, at first, that perhaps the newcomers would number a few ships, attracted by the sounds of battle, but as he looked at the formidable array now bearing down on him he knew that his plans, whatever they were, had been frustrated.
"And we had it all planned so carefully," he said between clenched teeth.
He strode up and down angrily, beating the palm of one hand with a knotted 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 British ships bearing down on them.
"No!" thundered the admiral. "Why don't you sink those three ships ahead 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 in great anger; then he suddenly cooled down. With a finger he summoned the officer who had accosted him a moment before. The officer approached and saluted.
"I forgot myself a moment ago," said the admiral. "You may give the signal to retire!"
A moment later the big German ships began to come about; and from the decks of the Queen Mary, the Lion and the Indefatigable there came loud British cheers.
The Marlborough, still helpless, poured shell after shell upon the enemy.
Some distance away still, the British fleet was approaching in an endeavor 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 Queen Mary about. Then, disabled as his ship was, he started in pursuit of the enemy.
There was a cheer from the Indefatigable, and presently the head of that vessel also came about She started after the Queen Mary!