CHAPTER XX THE 'PHANTOM SHIP' IN A TRAP
At the mouth of Tralee Bay we met a stiff north wind, and here and there the waves were topped with foam. A couple of small steamers deeply laden were crawling along northwards, hugging the coast, for they were too much afraid of the German submarines to venture out on the open sea. The second one was a Norwegian—'like ourselves.' The name was, on account of the distance, unreadable, but the shape of the vessel was devilishly like that of the Aud. I wonder if this was the real Aud, which was due back from the Mediterranean just about this time. It would have been a nice rencontre for us. Unfortunately, I was unable even afterwards to ascertain the facts. The only information about our double that reached me was a newspaper article some months later which stated that the Norwegian steamer Aud, from Bergen, had been torpedoed and sunk on the 2nd of October of the same year.
Favoured by wind and current, we were now steaming at a good speed into the Atlantic, slowly but surely turning away from the coast so as to raise no suspicion. Shall we succeed?... I would really have preferred to see the sky overcast and a good high sea running. That would have been the best protection against the English patrol ships. It was, however, now and afterwards, most beautiful clear weather. Not a wisp of smoke was visible on the horizon. We had still nearly four hours of daylight in front of us.
I need not tell how anxiously we all waited for the sun to go down.
In view of our successful flight from Tralee the crew were already busy with plans for the future. They thought we could now start at once on our war with the dummy guns. They were so pleased with the imminent prospect of commerce-raiding that they sang all sorts of lively songs to the accompaniment of a concertina, and in order to avoid spoiling their fun I did not let them notice how little enthusiasm I have for concerts of this sort.
Towards 6 p.m., a smoke-cloud was noticed in the south-west, which grew larger every moment and rapidly came nearer. Soon afterwards we noticed a second smoke-cloud, and it came so close after the first that it was evidently from the same vessel. So we had a two-funnelled steamer ahead of us. Then the mastheads came in view, the wireless-masts, and the spotting-top. There could be no doubt about it—she was an English warship. We estimated that she was doing at least twenty knots. If we now tried to run away at our tramp-steamer speed she would catch us in a hour—if she did not honour us before then with a shell. So carry on! only cool heads could help us now—together with a fair amount of impudence.
The warship was travelling at top speed, and it was not long before her upper works and then the whole of her hull came into view. It was an auxiliary cruiser, one of the fast channel steamers which in peace-time ply between England and France. By this time we were, of course, at action stations on board the Aud; that is to say, all preparations had been made for blowing up the ship, the suspicious material was all packed away in the 'magic-box,' the engines were at half-speed, and I myself was marching dead slow up and down the bridge. We were once more the old tramp-crew of a few days before.
The cruiser was no doubt one of those which had been warned some hours previously by the wireless-ship. What we had to expect this time was, at the very least, a thorough examination of the vessel. And even if we came successfully through this we should probably be escorted to the nearest port, where the suspicious Aud would be unloaded and her cargo of munitions revealed. Now followed some minutes of tense expectation. Only half a mile separated us from the cruiser. Her armament, consisting of several 4.5 guns and a number of machine-guns, was clearly visible. We expected she would come within hailing distance. But she did not. Instead of that she steamed alongside us in a zigzag course for about ten minutes. The signal we were expecting never came. Nearly her whole crew stood on deck, gazing at us with curiosity. We went ahead as if it were no concern of ours. But who can describe our astonishment when the English ship, as if she had seen all she wanted to see, turned sharply east and steamed off as she had come, at top speed! Now, what did this mean? We had no idea at that time that it was the fear of our imaginary 'heavy guns,' our 'torpedoes,' and the 'submarines that were escorting us,' that had kept the cruiser at a distance and had sent her off post-haste for reinforcements! Unfortunately, these were not long in coming up. The sun was now low down in the west and threw such a dazzling glare on the water that it was actually painful to scan the horizon. In doing so we soon made the unpleasant discovery that our cruiser was not the only ship in view. Almost ahead, a little on the starboard bow, another English ship was coming up, and to starboard—yes, what the devil was that? Ahead, astern, in fact all round us, we could see smoke clouds, which, as was soon evident, came from other monsters similar to the first. All auxiliary cruisers, and all of the same type. All the steamers of the channel service seemed to have been concentrated against us.[15]
There was no necessity for deliberation. We were hemmed in all round, and there was no way out. All these ships, armed with guns and machine-guns, against our little Aud, whose sole armament consisted of a couple of wooden cannon. And still these fellows appeared to be horribly afraid of us, for they still kept their distance, zigzagging round us. It showed that they expected at any moment a shell or a torpedo. I really had to laugh at these heroes of the sea.
As nobody had yet barred our way we kept on our course at the same speed. Something is bound to happen, said I to myself, for this can hardly be intended as a guard of honour. And something did happen at last. Shortly after seven o'clock the cruiser which we had first sighted came so close that we could easily read her name—Bluebell. At the same time she ran up a signal, 'Stop at once.' The other ships kept at a respectful distance, their guns cleared for action. We were prepared for all eventualities. On the forecastle-head the ship's dog was barking as if mad. His instinct told him that he had to play his rôle very carefully now. As soon as I stopped the ship other signals followed: 'What ship is that?' 'Where are you from?' 'Where are you bound for?'
I could not now give Cardiff as my immediate destination, as we had gone too far off the course. So, in order to give a credible answer, I replied 'Genoa and Naples.' For, in case of necessity, we still had on board a number of doors and window-frames bearing this address. I had retained them at the time with a view to building a deck-house in order to alter our appearance if necessary. In hoisting the signal one of my crew intentionally broke the signal halliards. This was a brilliant idea, for every moment's delay might be important. Even if no U-boat came to our help, the darkness which was rapidly falling might save us. A tramp steamer like the Aud could not be expected to have spare signal halliards. In order to convince the English of our willingness, however, we hung out, one after the other, from the bridge the flags that composed the message. In this cumbersome fashion we signalled backwards and forwards for about a quarter of an hour. Then came a long pause, during which the searchlights on the Bluebell were used in order to communicate with the other ships. The continual crackling from her aerials proved also that wireless was being used. Other ships had in the meantime come on the scene, and the commander of this flotilla appeared to be on board one of them, for the signals from all the ships were now directed to this particular cruiser. All of a sudden the Bluebell signalled to us 'Proceed!'
We were prepared for anything—except that we should be let go scot-free. We did not wait to be told twice, and in a few moments the Aud was again under way. In order to conclude the affair in the approved manner, I ordered the first mate to dip our flag slowly and respectfully, which visibly impressed the English, for they returned our salute most courteously. It really appeared as if these English folk were convinced that we actually were the Norwegian Aud, as we had stated. All the same, I did not feel too easy in my mind as we steamed away. I could not persuade myself that we had bluffed this lot also, especially as they had not only been warned but actually been sent to intercept us, as was clear from the catechism we had just gone through. When we had gone some distance I therefore ordered the speed to be gradually increased, so that we should get away as quickly as possible from the enemy.
We did not need to worry very long. We had already put a considerable distance between us. The cruisers had stopped and now lay like a swarm of locusts in one spot, apparently holding a council of war. Eight bells had just been struck, when there was a commotion astern of us. The whole swarm suddenly turned south and came racing after us like a pack of hounds. At the mast of the leading vessel flew the familiar signal, 'Stop at once.' For the second time I stopped the engines and waited events—for unfortunately no other course was open to us. If we had not stopped they would have set about us at once. I waited for perhaps five minutes, and as nothing else happened in that time beyond the fact that the enemy had come considerably nearer, I got a bit impatient and signalled, 'Why?' Instead of answering our signal our old friend the Bluebell steamed to within 150 yards of us, stopped, and prepared to lower the cutter. Two officers and about twelve seamen, all armed to the teeth, had taken their places in it. So here was the prize crew at last! A load fell from all our hearts, for there was an excellent prospect that we might escape during the night while Fastnet or Queenstown waited for us in vain. When I shouted down to the deck, 'Look out! Prize crew coming,' the mate grinned all over his face. And others grinned with him, for now, as they said, there was a chance of doing something at last.
During this time the chief engineer was busy forward repairing a steam winch, and in order to see if it was working again he let it run for a moment. It may have been because of this noise, or because the English mistook some empty tin or other floating object for a periscope—at any rate immediately the winch started we heard shouts all round us mingled with the ringing of engine-room telegraphs, and next moment the whole flotilla scattered as if struck by lightning.[16]
Once more we were all alone on the sea. This was a cat-and-mouse game with a vengeance. In order to put an end to the business I now signalled, 'May I proceed?' The answer was 'Wait.' While the cruisers slowly approached again, I signalled, 'Please inform me why.' This time there was a long pause before the reply came. And a very unpleasant reply it was: 'Follow me to Queenstown; course, south, 63° east.'
Curse it—they had got suspicious! Our fate was now decided.
With a prize crew on board, which would have been dealt with according to plan, we might have gained the high seas during the night; but with an escort of armed fast steamers this was out of the question. Even in thick fog and the darkness of night it is very doubtful if we could have broken away from our escort.
Now, as in the case of all the other signals, I answered first with, 'Don't understand,' for my only aim now was to gain time and try to get them to put a prize crew on board. In that case an escort would have been unnecessary. The cruiser really made every effort to make his signal intelligible.
But the more trouble he took the less understanding we showed. We seemed to have lost every shred of intelligence on board the Aud. In justice to them, I must confess that the crew of the Bluebell did their best to help us; they tugged like mad at the signal halliards, and altered course over and over again, in order to let their flags blow out in the wind. But all in vain! Nothing could make us understand what they wanted!
The English did not appear to notice that we were fooling them, for (greatly daring) they came so close to us that the most shortsighted could have read the message. But I only shook my head, held the signal-book aloft, and pointed to it with my finger, to indicate that this signal was not given in our book. Then the Bluebell plucked up courage and approached very, very carefully to within fifty yards of us.
While this ridiculous exchange of signals was going on it had gradually become dark, so that it really was difficult now to read the signals. The Bluebell noticed this, for we now saw a man with a huge megaphone preparing to shout something to us from the bridge. In order to forestall him, I shouted, 'Shall I let down a ladder for your prize crew?' Instead of answering my question, the Bluebell sheered off about forty yards from us, and her officers showed us by all sorts of pantomime that they had no intention of sending a boat. My very friendly invitation had failed.
If we had only known what a mysterious ship we were supposed to be, the armament and U-boat escort that we were credited with, many things would have been more intelligible to us. As I read to-day the English papers of those days, I come upon the most incredible reports in regard to our little Aud. 'The Mystery Ship,' 'The Flying Dutchman,' and other scare headlines followed by the most fantastic accounts prove what excitement the Aud caused in England, and, above all, among the vessels of the coast-patrol.
The other cruisers had meanwhile formed a ring round us. On some the guns were manned and ready to fire at us. At the slightest hostile move on our part we should have been riddled like a sieve. Aboard the Bluebell a diminutive lieutenant was now enthroned on the signalling bridge, armed with a gigantic megaphone through which he continued to shout, 'Fol-low-me-to-Quee-ee-eenstown.—South—sixty-three—east!' This was repeated time after time, but always with the same negative result.
This farce might have gone on all night, and I was beginning to get tired of it. And the English captain also appeared to be losing patience, for I saw him sign to the speaker to come down. Then we heard a few curt orders. The cruiser passed us on the port side. The next moment there was a flash, and a shell from the Bluebell's forward gun burst in front of our bows. As we were directly in his line of fire we were all stupefied for a moment by the violence of the concussion.
In plain English this meant, 'The farce is finished. Curtain!' As we were not very anxious for any more shells (the next would most certainly go, not across our bow, but into it), I shouted loud enough for the English to hear, 'Full speed ahead, south, 63 east.' At the same time I sent a message to the chief-engineer that I would hang him from the yardarm if this 'full speed' rose above five knots.
We reckoned it out that at this speed we should reach Queenstown at ten o'clock next morning. There was nothing left for us but to follow the cruiser. Further resistance would have been useless. We therefore wallowed along at a 'speed' of five knots behind the Bluebell, which now took the lead, while the other ships spread out all round us. A magnificent escort for us twenty-two men! The wind shifted to NNW. and then died down, while the few clouds which were still in the sky disappeared. With them disappeared our last hope of escape.
The Bluebell, as was to be expected, was not very pleased with our speed. But all her protests (made by means of a signalling-lamp) did not help a bit. The more his signals flashed the slower we became. The conversation was very funny. For instead of using the electric Morse-lamp we used a small paraffin lamp, making the dots and dashes by holding a hand in front. This was, of course, an extremely cumbersome method, and the ever-increasing rage of the English amused us immensely.
More than a dozen times they signalled 'Faster,' to which I replied at first, 'Don't understand.' Afterwards I answered curtly, 'Impossible.'
'Why?' demanded the Bluebell.
'Engines broken down.'
Then a long pause—they were most probably debating how they might compel us to increase our speed. After some time we were informed, 'If you don't get up full speed at once I will make you.' This did not sound very friendly, but I did not worry much, for I said to myself that, after all the anxiety which the enemy had shown to get us to the nearest port, they were not likely to fire at us. The most they would do would be to send a prize crew on board, which was exactly what I wanted. Then, even if the ships remained by us, their watchfulness would be certain to relax. So instead of answering the threat I replied, 'Come and see for yourself.' This was a piece of impudence, but it was just possible it might prove our salvation.
To my chagrin, however, the English showed no desire to accept my invitation. They resigned themselves to their fate, and we had very few more signals from them. Our pace now became a crawl. With the patience of sheep, they steamed along, zigzagging now to the left, now to the right, evidently afraid we might discharge a torpedo at them any moment. The various orders for altering course had all to be repeated about ten times before we pretended to understand, and the Bluebell took it all without further protest.