CHAPTER XXIX
WHEN THE TRAWLERS SHOWED FIGHT
"Must be on the move at once," declared the A.P. "Ten precious hours wasted."
"Hardly," corrected the sub. "We've bagged an important prize. But, dash it all! Here I am in mufti, and my kit is at home. Telegraph office is closed for to-night, and there's no train beyond Plymouth even if there were time to make a dash for home."
"And that ramshackle motor has departed," added Eric. "In the words of the great tragedian What's-his-name, 'Alas! sirs, I am undone.' Now, the question is, how are two dog-tired fellows to get to Devonport? It's a serious matter, old man. Who knows? Perhaps the Admiralty have news that 'They' have come out at last. The papers reported signs of German naval activity in the North Sea, you know."
"And therefore I am inclined to doubt whether the Huns have ventured," said Tressidar. "You can bet your bottom dollar when they do come out they won't give the papers time to advertise the fact. But I quite agree with you, old man, this is a serious business. Have you a time-table?"
"Here we are," exclaimed the A.P. triumphantly. "If we pad the hoof to Totnes, we'll just catch the night mail. That will land us in Plymouth at 1 a.m."
He was busy packing his portmanteau, desisting only to hunt up the train. With the sub.'s assistance he contrived to close the bulky leather case.
"Well, good-bye, mother," he exclaimed. "Sorry the governor and Doris aren't here to say good-bye Suppose I can't grouse at having my leave cut down.... May be home again in a few months. So buck up, mother; it's no use being down in the dumps, is it?"
Tressidar had deliberately gone out of the house. The A.P. rejoined him in a few minutes.
"Can't understand why the mater gets in such a stew," he remarked. "She ought to be used to saying good-bye by this time. I do my level best to tell her that there's little danger, certainly less than in the trenches in France, but she won't see it. Now, then; it's six good miles of hilly road. Wonder how old Overfirst, or whatever his tally is, likes being in the cells?"
It was three in the morning when the two chums arrived at the Naval Barracks. Here they received the information that they were both appointed to the brand-new monitor "Anzac," in lieu of two officers who had been sent to hospital. The "Anzac" was leaving the Hamoaze for Portsmouth at 9 a.m.
"Kitted out" by an obliging brother-officer, who also undertook to forward Tressidar's gear as soon as possible, the sub., accompanied by Eric, hurried on board.
Viewed in the waning starlight, for day was on the point of breaking, the "Anzac" appeared to be a vessel of about two hundred feet in length, with a tripod mast surmounted by a large fire-control platform. She had but one funnel, well abaft the mast. For'ard of the conning-tower was a turret mounting a pair of fourteen-inch guns; four six-inch quick-firers thrust their muzzles through casemates in the superstructure; while four twelve-pounder anti-aircraft guns and a pair of searchlight projectors were placed upon the bridge and a raised platform at the after-end of the superstructure.
At first sight the monitor gave the impression that she was top-heavy, until her enormous beam and length beyond each end of the superstructure belied the suggestion. The hull proper was little less than four hundred feet in length, with a maximum beam of one hundred and twenty. Her draught was but five feet six inches, the freeboard being but two feet for'ard and eighteen inches aft. Her maximum speed was a bare seven and a half knots.
The "Anzac" was still in the throes that invariably attend the first commissioning of a new vessel, for she had left the Clyde only three days previously, and had put in to Devonport to ship her fourteen-inch guns. On the run round to Portsmouth she was to undergo gunnery trials, and if no serious defects were revealed, she was to proceed to the North Sea to take part in impending operations.
Dog-tired, Tressidar turned in as soon as the chums had reported themselves to the officer of the watch. It seemed less than five minutes, although it was four bells (6 a.m.), when the sub. was roused and informed that the captain wished to see him.
"A wigging for being late, I suppose," he soliloquised. "A jolly bad beginning."
But he was mistaken. An armed trawler was to be navigated to Portsmouth, and the "Anzac" had to provide an officer and crew for the job. Tressidar, being the most recently joined, was selected by his skipper for this service.
"The 'Gannet' is lying off Wilcove," continued the skipper of the "Anzac." "She's ready for sea with the exception of victualling stores. You will have to demand these from Royal William Yard. She'll do twenty knots easily, without having to drive her, and even if we have a good start you ought to overhaul us before Portland Bill is abeam."
Already the crew told off for the service had fallen in for inspection. They numbered ten hands, including a chief petty officer. The "Gannet's" engine-room staff were already on board, having been shipped when the vessel left Belfast, where she had been re-engined.
The "trawler" was in fact a trawler no longer. A comparatively new boat, with lines that promised a fair turn of speed, she had been taken over by the Admiralty for use as a patrol vessel. Her machinery was removed and turbine engines substituted, giving her a maximum speed of twenty-eight knots. Her armament consisted of two twelve-pounder quick-firers, so woe betide the luckless German submarine that might mistake the "Gannet" for a slow and helpless fishing-craft.
Disquieting reports of the presence of a hostile submarine off St. Catherine's Point, a craft that had hitherto successfully evaded all attempts at capture or destruction, had necessitated the presence of the "Gannet" off the Isle of Wight, and arrangements had been made to "turn over" the R.N.R. crew of another armed trawler directly Tressidar brought his command into Spithead.
By dint of strenuous exertion the "Gannet" was able to leave Plymouth Sound at noon—the "Anzac" having had three hours start—and once outside the Breakwater, the sub. ordered fifteen knots, which were increased to twenty as soon as Bigbury Head was broad on the port beam.
"It would be a rare slice of luck," thought the sub., "if we could bag the strafed 'U' boat in the run up Channel, but that is asking for too much, I'm afraid."
The sea was smooth, with a long, oily roll. The sky was inclined to be misty, although it was possible to discern The Start, now less than ten miles off on the port bow. There were no signs of the "Anzac." The sea appeared to be deserted, except for two large Brixham trawlers, that, with all sail set, were floundering in almost a dead calm at a distance of about three miles on the starboard bow.
"Those luggers seem pretty close together, sir," remarked the helmsman of the "Gannet."
The sub. brought his glasses to bear upon the trawlers. Even allowing for the lack of ability to judge distance when seen through a pair of binoculars, Tressidar was bound to confess that there was something strange about the position of the two vessels. They appeared to be almost side by side. The wind, such as it was, was dead astern. One of the trawlers had her mainsail right out on the port tack, the other on the starboard, so that the outer cloths of each sail were rubbing against each other as the boats rolled sluggishly in the long swell.
"They are showing no signals of distress," said Tressidar. "At least, none are visible. I fancy there's smoke arising from one of them. Deucedly fishy, by Jove! I've a mind to see what the game is. Port your helm, quartermaster. Keep her at that."
With his glasses still bearing upon the Brixham boats, Tressidar puzzled over the situation until the "Gannet" was within a mile of the trawlers.
Suddenly he replaced his binoculars, grasped the handle of the telegraph indicator and called for full speed ahead, at the same time ordering all hands to action stations, for lying between the two fishing luggers was a German submarine.
Almost before the guns' crews could stand to their quick-firers the "Gannet" was within hailing distance. To Tressidar's surprise, he discovered that the unterseeboot was lashed to the fishing-vessels and that four of her crew were standing with their hands held above their heads, while the skipper and deck hands of each trawler were calmly surveying the Germans from the decks of their respective craft.
"You'm too late, maaster," sung out one of the Devon skippers. "Us'n done the trick proper-like. Still, if you'm a mind tu finish the business 'twill save we a mort o' trouble."
"I thought that the Germans were sinking you," replied Tressidar. "Stand by with a line. We are running alongside."
The "Gannet," losing way, made fast to one of the trawlers, and Tressidar, accompanied by half a dozen armed men, gained the fishing-lugger's deck.
The sub. was greeted by a tall, broad-shouldered Devonshire man of about fifty years of age. His heavily bearded face was almost hidden under a sou'wester, in spite of the fact that the sun was shining brightly. On the deck just abaft the windlass was a young German unter-leutnant, bound hand and foot and obviously half dazed with the result of a blow on the left temple. Two German seamen, their clothes saturated with water, were lashed to the mizzen mast.
[Illustration: "ON THE DECK WAS A GERMAN UNTER-LEUTNANT, BOUND HAND AND FOOT">[
The trawler had sustained damage. Her bitts had been carried away, with the result that her bowsprit had run in, and a raffle of head sails and gear littered the fo'c'sle. The other trawler appeared to be undamaged, with the exception of a large rent in her mainsail. The submarine, or as much as was visible above water, looked a wreck. The cover of her conning-tower hatchway was buckled, her twin periscopes had been snapped off close to the deck. Her ensign staff, with the Black Cross flying, was trailing over the side, and one of her disappearing guns had been dismounted.
"She tried her tricks on we, an' we wouldn't have any," declared the skipper proudly. "Them didn't reckon wi' Devon lads, did 'em, Bill?"
His mate, thus appealed to, merely grinned and scratched his head. Nor was the master of the second lugger more communicative.
"Us seed Charlie a-doin' the job properlike, so we gi' a hand. Not as though Charlie wasn't good enough for the job," he explained, "but us thought 'twas a good chance to get our own back, so we chipped in."
Early that morning the luggers "Crown and Sceptre" and "Unity" had left Brixham in company. The weather then was considerably more hazy that it was later in the day. Having made good hauls, the trawlers were beating up towards The Start when a German submarine suddenly poked its ugly snout above water. Making certain that the two craft were really fishing-boats and not armed trawlers, the Hun commander decided to replenish his grub-locker with fish from the English craft and then send the Brixham trawlers to the bottom.
The "Crown and Sceptre," being nearest to the "U" boat, was hailed and ordered to heave-to. Cap'n Charles Hunnable quickly hauled his headsails to windward and took way off the trawler. The "Unity" meanwhile held on, trusting for a breeze to enable her to escape.
"Shall us put up a fight, boys?" asked the Devon skipper. "If us does, there must be no half measures, mark you."
Her crew, consisting of two men and a boy, agreed. The fighting spirit of the shire that boasts of such gallant seamen as Drake and Raleigh still lives, and the Brixham men are worthy upholders of the traditions of the Devon forbears.
"'Tes good," continued Skipper Hunnable. "Long Jarge, do 'ee stand by t' hellum. Jim, you keep along o' me. Peter, slip for'ard an' when I give the word do'ee let jib and fores'l draw."
The submarine had now slowed down and was lying less than twenty yards on the trawler's starboard quarter. It was originally the intention of the German commander to order the Englishmen to launch their boat and bring the fish to their captors, but realising that the boat was a heavy one and that it would take some time to be hoisted out, he ordered the submarine's collapsible boat to be manned.
Into the frail craft stepped an unter-leutnant and three seamen.
"You vos throw us a rope," shouted the young Hun as the boat came alongside. "Your hatches you uncover must and fish ve vos take. Den ve vos you sink in five minutes."
A rope was thrown, the canvas boat was made fast alongside, and the unter-leutnant scrambled up and over the bulwarks, which were about three feet above the deck and seven feet from the waterline.
Directly his legs were astride the rail, Skipper Hunnable's powerful fist shot out like a sledge-hammer.
"You'd take my fish, would you!" he roared. "Take that, you young sausage."
The German officer, stunned by the blow, was grasped by the skipper before he fell overboard. Simultaneously Peter drove a triple-barbed eel spear through the canvas boat and cut the rope that held her.
"Up helm!" ordered the skipper. "Boy, trim your heads'l sheets."
"'Tes no half measures, say I," he continued, and he lifted the unconscious German officer and bore him aft. "Ef 'em shoots, then the'll shoot this gold-braid pup too."
Quick on her helm the "Crown and Sceptre" gathered way and showed her stern to the astonished submarine. The German commander was in a quandary. He dare not shell the trawler for fear of hitting his subordinate, until he drew ahead sufficiently to enable her quick-firer to plank a shell for'ard and between wind and water. He was convinced that the "Crown and Sceptre" was attempting to seek safety in flight, but he was grievously mistaken. Skipper Hunnable's blood was up.
Gybing "all standing," since there was little risk of loss of top-hamper as the wind was light, the Brixham trawler turned and tore straight for her antagonist. Before the submarine could manoeuvre to avoid the blow, the lugger's massive bowsprit struck her on the conning-tower. The hefty spar stood the strain, but not so the bitts. With a rending crash the bowsprit was forced inboard, but the mischief to the "U" boat was already done. The metal hatch was partly torn from its hinges, while in falling off the bowsprit made a clean sweep of the periscopes, wrecked the for'ard gun, and hurled the gun's crew into the sea.
A four-pound hammer hurled by the brawny skipper of the "Crown and Sceptre" hurtled through the air. With unerring aim it struck the Hun commander on the side of the head, killing him instantly.
Held by the raffle of cordage for'ard the lugger swung round broadside on to the submarine.
"Come on, lads!" roared Skipper Hunnable. "The old boat won't hurt where she be."
Seizing axes and crowbars, the crew followed the daring skipper to the deck of the submarine. "Long Jarge," brandishing a formidable hatchet, took his stand by the conning-tower hatchway, ready to deal a smashing blow to the first man that appeared, while the skipper and the rest of his little crew chased the two German seamen who were on deck and drew the watertight slide of the after-hatchway.
The Devon men now had things all their own way. The "U" boat could not dive with her conning-tower hatchway in a damaged condition, or she would fill and sink like a stone. Nor could the trapped Huns use their rifles and revolvers. One foolhardy man attempted to take a chance shot through the after-hatchway, but directly his hand appeared above the coaming, Peter smashed it to a pulp.
The state of affairs now developed into a deadlock. The submarine could not escape, nor could the British fishermen regain their craft without risk of losing the advantage they at present held.
At this juncture the crew of the "Unity," perceiving that Skipper Hunnable was putting up a fight, but ignorant of how matters stood, determined to go to their comrades' aid, and sink or swim in the attempt.
Luffing smartly under the submarine's submerged stern, Skipper Biddlecombe brought the "Unity" up on the "U" boat's starboard side and made fast.
"What be you a-shovin' your five eggs in for, I'd be likin' tu know?" was Skipper Hunnable's greeting to the newcomers.
"No offence, Charlie," replied the fellow-skipper. "Us don't get the chance tu fight the Huns every day."
"True, true," rejoined the master of the "Crown and Sceptre." "You'm handy just now. Bid young Jack bring a shovelful o' coals and a bit o' junk. We'll have to be smokin' them chaps out, I'm thinkin'."
Ignorant of the risk they ran, the fishermen were about to throw smouldering tow down the hatchways into the petrol-laden atmosphere of the interior of the submarine when the Germans, realising the fate that threatened them, began to raise shouts of "kamarade."
"Thought better of it, eh?" said Skipper Hunnable. "Douse them coals, Jack. Now, you rascals, up you come. Four o' you. Drat you! I said four o' you. One, two, dree, four—not a round dozen. That's better. Now, hands up, an' keep 'em up. Rest o' you chaps below there are you a-listenin'?"
"Ja, ja!" was the reply.
"Don't you yah me, you lubbers," shouted the skipper. "Just you stand by, and don't get up to any tricks. If you du, down the lot o' you goes to Davy in double-quick time."
Having secured uninterrupted possession of the prize, the two skippers returned to their respective boats. Then it was that the crew of the collapsible boat that had been stove in, finding that the fishermen did not kill the prisoners in cold blood, swam to the "Crown and Sceptre" and were taken on board and secured.
"Charlie!" bawled the skipper of the "Unity," "wind's fair for home. Shall us try and take this craft in?"
"No need," replied his friend. "Look astern—there's a Government vessel a-comin' up at the rate o' knots."