Oscar superintended the task himself and in a quarter of an hour the torpedo was drifting close to the Ivan II.
The guns of the Russian warship had just spoken up against the city forts, when the warning bell attached to the wires began to ring.
"Ha! that boat is now at hand!" cried the Russian commander. "We will soon give him more than he sends!"
An electric current was touched off, but this only struck the torpedo, which was slowly traveling toward the Russian cruiser's keel.
Two minutes passed and the Russians were wondering what had happened on board of the Holland XI.
"Let the line go!" sang out Oscar, as he saw that the time for the explosion was about up.
Then the new Holland ran for safety.
Boom! Bang!
Loud and clear came the report over and under the ocean, as the torpedo, charged with both high explosives and electricity, went off.
It would have been impossible to smash up a craft of the size of the Ivan II. with one torpedo, but a great hole was torn in her keel and through this the water rushed in a veritable cataract.