CHAPTER XXII
FARRAR'S FIRST BAG
SUBLIEUTENANT NIGEL FARRAR had a very busy week following the return of H.M. armed merchant cruiser "Zenodorus" to Malta. With a celerity undreamt of in pre-war days his project had been submitted to the Commander-in-Chief, who returned it with the magic word "Concur."
"That's splendid, Mr. Farrar," remarked Lieutenant-Commander Aubyn. "The next thing to be done is to find a suitable craft. There are several condemned prizes lying off the Pieta Marine. Take the steam cutter and have a look at them."
The sub lost no time in carrying out his commanding officer's suggestion. Accompanied by the bo'sun and the carpenter of the "Zenodorus"—for their expert advice was highly desirable—he steered the cutter down the Grand Harbour, rounded St. Elmo on the port hand, and ran up the long, land-locked arm known as the Quarantine Harbour, thus almost circumnavigating the rocky peninsula on which the town of Valetta is built.
Almost at the head of the creek were between twenty and thirty sailing craft of all sizes up to a hundred tons, of all variety of rigs, and of half a dozen different nationalities. Some had been owned by enemy firms and had been detained when war broke out or else captured within a very few days of the declaration of hostilities; others had been seized on suspicion of having conveyed contraband or assisting U-boats in their career of piracy and murder.
It was not long before Farrar picked upon a likely vessel for his forthcoming "independent cruise." She was of about eighty tons burthen according to Board of Trade measurements, and well built and structurally sound both above and below water. She was felucca-rigged, her long lateen yards, destitute of canvas, lying along her sheering deck.
"What is her history?" inquired the sub of the warrant officer in charge of the prizes.
Reference to a docket showed that the "Afir-el-Bahr" had been captured by the boats of H.M.S. "Hammerer" during the trouble with the Senussi. The felucca, bought at a Tunisian port and flying the French flag, had been caught red-handed.
That same afternoon Farrar had the felucca towed round to the Grand Harbour, where she was hauled up on a cradle for cleaning and anti-fouling. Working all night shipwrights bored her stern-post and fitted a stern tube and propeller. This essential work having been carried out with strict secrecy, the "Afir-el-Bahr" was again launched and towed off alongside the "Zenodorus," for owing to all the dry docks being occupied, below-water repairs to the merchant cruiser had to be deferred.
In a polyglot port, although in a British Crown Colony, the danger of espionage was far more difficult to cope with than at a home station. The true Maltese is a loyal subject of King George, but on the island are hundreds, perhaps thousands of doubtful characters—men of pure or partial Arab, Greek, Moorish, Syrian, or Algerian descent—many of whom were either potential or latent spies. Consequently, all work in connection with the refitting of the felucca that might be likely to cause comment was performed during the hours of darkness.
A seventy-horse-power motor was installed in the after-hold; the deck beams were strengthened and their planks doubled in order to take the weight of two four-inch quick-firers. The for'ard gun, taken from a captured U-boat, was of the "disappearing" type, being housed, when not in use, in a water-tight compartment flush with the deck. The second quick-firer was placed amidships, being screened from observation from the sea-level by the high bulwarks, while as an additional precaution a Maltese-built boat was placed on chocks on deck, so that the weapon lay snugly against the quarter.
The existing wooden bulwarks were removed and replaced by others of light but hardened steel capable of withstanding rifle and machinegun bullets, while at intervals the metal plating was hinged so as to fall flat upon the deck and give the guns a wide arc of fire.
During the progress of this work several large wicker hampers were received on board. These, when opened, were found to be full of clothes not usually worn by men of His Majesty's Service, but nevertheless the garments were served out to a dozen of the crew, who entered into the game of make-believe with a zest that Jack Tar always displays when engaged in anything of the nature of amateur theatricals.
Ammunition, stores, and provisions were then stowed on board; new canvas, purposely soiled to appear in common with the rest of the craft, was bent to the cumbersome yards; a wireless telegraphy installation was fitted, the aerials being kept below until actually required, and finally forty of the ship's company of the "Zenodorus" took up their quarters on the "Afir-el-Bahr" under the command of Sub-Lieutenant Farrar.
Much to his disappointment Greenwood was refused permission to accompany his chum: the A.P.'s abilities were in strong demand on board the armed merchant cruiser, while as a member of the non-combatant branch there was little need for his services on particular work. As second-in-command, Mr. Gripper, the gunner of the "Zenodorus," was chosen, while to safeguard the health of the felucca's crowded crew a surgeon-probationer, Dick Leech by name, was "lent" from one of the harbour service ships.
All preparations completed, the felucca was towed out of the Grand Harbour shortly after midnight, and, exchanging signals with Forts Ricasoli and St. Elmo that vigilantly guarded the port, passed through the formidable barrier athwart the entrance.
Clear of the land the tug cast off her tow and the felucca, renamed the "Georgeos Nikolaos," hoisted sail and bore away on an easterly course.
Nigel Farrar had no cause to regret his choice of the craft. The felucca was stiff, weatherly, sailed well, and for her type pointed high. Her sharp bows and clean run aft gave her a fair turn of speed, notwithstanding her large complement and heavy cargo. The sub's experience on board his father's yacht in those far-off pre-war days was proving useful, for he had not lost the art of getting every ounce out of a vessel under sail.
The warrant officer, the felucca's second-in-command, was also a good sailing man. Although belonging to the pukka navy, Mr. Gripper had had considerable experience in sailing cutters off the East Coast of Africa, where expeditions in search of slave-running dhows afforded plenty of excitement and danger, with a chance of a few tough "scraps" thrown in. The gunner was also a stern disciplinarian. Even on board the felucca he would have things run in proper Navy fashion, while with a view of keeping the "hands" out of mischief he had the little craft's deck holystoned and the ropes either neatly coiled or flemished.
It was he who had picked two "gunlayers 1st Class" from the "Zenodorus's" ship's company, men who were able to perform feats little short of miraculous with the merchant cruiser's six-inch quick-firers. Woe betide a periscope that incautiously poked its tips above the surface anywhere within two thousand yards if either Sampson or Claydon happened to be laying the guns. Whether they would be able to maintain their reputation with the four-inch weapons of the "Georgeos Nikolaos" remained to be seen.
With the exception of half a dozen British seamen beautifully disguised as Greeks all hands on deck were strictly enjoined to keep their heads below the top of the bulwarks, while whenever a vessel was sighted every one not in "fancy rig" was ordered below. Outwardly the felucca looked like a peaceful trader, but she had a stern and retributive duty to perform—to avenge a certain hospital-ship that had been wantonly torpedoed in broad daylight.
The day passed without anything of an untoward nature occurring. At sunset the wind dropped, and the felucca lay almost motionless. She was in no hurry to make any port in particular, and there was no need to make use of the motor. After dark the wireless aerials were sent aloft, while the operator stuck to his little cabin on the offchance of picking up an "S.O.S." message from a hard-pressed merchantman. Yet no such indication was received. The felucca might have been sailing the Mediterranean in peace time as far as the presence of German Unterseebooten was concerned.
Dawn of the second day found the "Georgeos Nikolaos" 120 miles east of Malta. The flat calm still prevailed, although the vivid red sunrise presaged dirty weather. The felucca was rolling sullenly, her lateen yards groaning dismally as they ground and thumped against the raking masts.
With a scarlet scarf bound round his head in place of his white-covered uniform cap, Farrar swept the expanse of oily sea by means of his binoculars. Presently he caught sight of an indistinct shape that looked much like a truncated cone, its distance from the felucca being not far short of three miles.
"See what you make of that, Mr. Gripper," he remarked, addressing the warrant officer, who was about to take over the watch. "Dead in line with that shroud; can you pick it up?"
The gunner took the proffered binoculars, hung his cap on a belaying-pin, and levelled the glasses in the direction indicated.
"A Fritz, sir," he declared. "Busting up to see what he can pinch. Never saw a Hun hurrying to his own funeral so smart before—unless this infernal roll gives the show away."
"Lie close, men," ordered the sub, addressing those of the felucca's complement who were not playing the rôle of Greeks. "All clear there, Sampson?"
"All clear, sir," replied the gunlayer confidently, as he gave a preliminary tug to the lever operating the raising mechanism of the disappearing gun.
"Hoist the colours, Dixon," continued the sub.
A barefooted bluejacket wearing a pair of fierce-looking turned-up moustachios, glittering "gold" earrings, a loosely-fitting red shirt, and a pair of trousers of grotesque cut, pattered aft with the Greek colours in one hand and a neatly rolled up ensign in the other. Bending the blue and white flag to the signal halliards of the main lateen yard-arm he hoisted the colours of the Mercantile Marine of the Kingdom of Greece. The rolled ensign he toggled to the ensign-staff halliards, keeping the compact bundle of bunting well below the taffrail.
The U-boat came up rapidly and unhesitatingly. Evidently the anticipated prize was not thought worth a warning shot, although the pirates were manning the for'ard "disappearing" gun. The whole of her length—close on 250 feet—was exposed, nearly a score of her crew being distributed along the deck. On the conning-tower platform stood a couple of gold-laced officers and the helmsman, for when running on the surface and not about to attack this type of craft is steered by means of a wheel in front of the conning tower.
From a stumpy mast in the wake of the twin periscopes the Black Cross ensign of Germany drooped sullenly in the still air, as if ashamed to display the badge of infamy.
At a distance of about two cables' lengths, the U-boat made a complete circuit of the felucca, as if to show her powers of manoeuvring. It was like a cat playing with a mouse.
"'Georgeos Nikolaos' ahoy!" shouted the kapitan-leutnant in a vile smattering of the language of the modern Hellenes. "Where are you bound? What is your cargo?"
One of the disguised bluejackets replied. An R.N.R. man he had, prior to the outbreak of hostilities, been a steward on a passenger boat plying between Port Said, the Piraeus, and Constantinople, and was decidedly a very handy member of the felucca's crew.
"We are from Messina, bound for Damietta, with a general cargo, illustrious kapitan," he replied.
"Ach! general cargo—contraband every kilogramme. Abandon your craft. I give you five minutes."
"But," protested the pseudo Greek, "we have only one small boat, and we are many leagues from the nearest land. Bad weather threatens. Have you no mercy?"
"Since you Grecian dogs are fond of licking the feet of your accursed taskmasters who are the enemies of the German Fatherland," snapped the Hun, "you can drown or starve for aught I care. In any case, you will have plenty of time for reflection. Hasten; one minute of the five has already gone."
With every semblance of panic-stricken haste the members of the "theatrical stunt" threw themselves upon the boat amidships, swinging it outboard by means of tackle from the yards.
Jabbering in imitation of the cosmopolitan seafarers of various Mediterranean ports the disguised bluejackets leapt into the boat and began to row away from the felucca as hard as they could.
Farrar glanced aft. A seaman had crawled to the taffrail, and was handling the ensign halliards in gleeful anticipation, while another man was "standing by" the halliard of the Greek flag—or, rather, he was sitting on the deck with the uncleated ropes in his horny hands.
The U-boat was approaching slowly. To save time in the expected looting operations she evidently meant to run alongside. She was now but a cable's length away.
The sub sprang to his feet. Simultaneously the blue and white striped flag was struck, while a tug on the ensign halliards "broke out" the British White Ensign. Down fell several sections of the hinged steel bulwarks, revealing to the astounded Huns the deck of the felucca crowded with armed bluejackets and the muzzles of the two four-inch quick-firers pointing straight at the U-boat's conning tower.
"Surrender instantly!" shouted the sub in stentorian tones.
The result hardly came up to the sub's expectations. Several of the Huns on the forepart of the U-boat raised their hands high above their heads, abject terror showing itself on their blanched faces and by their trembling limbs. Two of them promptly leapt overboard, and struck out as hard as they could away from the doomed pirate craft.
The kapitan-leutnant was cast in a sterner mould. Shouting an order to the waverers he bolted into the conning tower. The hinged water-tight lid closed automatically, cutting off the retreat of the unter-leutnant and those of the crew who were still on deck.
Almost at the next moment a trail of air bubbles and a diverging wake of foam announced that the U-boat had let loose a torpedo at practically point-blank range. It was a chance shot, and fortunately the felucca had drifted just beyond the line of direction from the U-boat's fixed bow tube. Missing her stern by less than a couple of yards the powerful locomotive missile finished its run at nearly three miles from its target.
At the first indication of the firing of the torpedo, Sub-Lieutenant Farrar rapped out an order. Both four-inch guns spoke simultaneously. The shells did their work effectively and with appalling suddenness, for penetrating the base of the U-boat's conning tower they burst with disastrous results in the interior of the steel hull.
By the force of the irresistible explosion of the lyddite shells the submarine simply buckled. For a brief instant the bow and stern were lifted clear of the water, to disappear in a smother of smoke and flame. As the U-boat sank a quantity of petrol and oil was forced through the jagged hole amidships, and being lighter than water the highly inflammable fluid spread far and wide. The next instant the sea for a radius of fifty yards across the spot where the Hun craft had disappeared was a blaze of fire, the hissing flames threatening to set alight the idle sails of the felucca.
"Start up!" shouted the sub, addressing the engine-room artificer in charge of the "Georgeos Nikolaos" motor.
The order was promptly obeyed, and the felucca, gathering way, passed out of the danger zone, but not before the paint on her sides was blistered by the flames.
Declutching the propeller shafting the felucca lost way at three cables' distance from the still burning oil. Her officers and men on the look out for possible survivors, saw none; nor did the boat with its disguised crew, although she was rowed right up to the edge of the blazing patch of oil-covered water. Those of the U-boat's crew who had not gone down with the shattered hull had perished miserably in the flames.
"Hoist the recall," ordered the sub, and the boat, returning to the felucca, was hoisted on board.
For a few minutes the aerials were sent aloft, and a laconic message dispatched to the Commander-in-Chief.