Then, all in a moment, the end came. Jim did not know how it happened, whether it was due to his own men, or to those on board the flagship; but a bullet struck the torpedo fair and square. The next instant there was a stunning concussion, and the water between pursuer and pursued seemed to be blown into a great hollow sphere, the sides of which then rushed together again, while a tall column of water heaped itself up fully thirty feet into the air, to collapse into spray which drenched to the skin every man both in the torpedo-boat and in the launch.
A wild cheer broke out on board the Chilian launch and the Blanco Encalada, and their men now turned all their attention to destroy the wasp which had just been deprived of its sting. The moment that her towed torpedo had exploded she was practically powerless for injury, and she turned her nose seaward at once, hoping, by a desperate rush, to get clear away. And so she doubtless would, had it not been for the launch belonging to the Almirante Cochrane.
This craft had, like Jim’s boat, several times made the circuit of the bay; and she was away down at the south end of the harbour when her lieutenant in charge first heard the sounds of firing. He immediately guessed the cause and, putting his engines at full speed, raced along toward the spot where he could see the rifles flashing, and before he had gone very far he had the Blanco Encalada’s beacon-fire to help him.
As the launch came rushing along toward her consort, Jim blew his steam-whistle three times to attract her attention, and he was only just in the nick of time, for the Peruvian would have been in front of the Cochrane’s launch in another half-minute. But like a hawk upon its prey the Cochrane’s boat dashed forward, her commander determining to hazard all in one stroke, instead of using his guns. He aimed straight for a point which the torpedo-boat must pass in a few seconds, and went ahead full speed.
The impact was so violent that the Peruvian torpedo-boat collapsed like an eggshell, the Cochrane’s launch driving right over the wreck without doing herself any very serious injury. The torpedo-boat’s boilers exploded as she sank, and probably killed every remaining man among her crew, for not a single living being was to be found when the Chilians proceeded to search for the survivors.
This exciting little episode over, Jim and his consort resumed their patrol of the harbour until daylight, when their long and trying vigil ceased. The ships finished coaling by five o’clock in the afternoon of the new day, and immediately stood out to sea, much to Douglas’s relief, for he felt that another night like the last would have been too much for him. Once outside the harbour, the two ironclads turned their heads to the south again; and Riveros made the signal that Antofagasta was to be their next port of call.
It was 3:30 a.m. on the 8th of October when Jim was awakened by a stentorian cry from the deck of “Two ships ahead!” Galvanised into alertness he listened intently, and heard the officer of the watch calmly reply, “Where away?”
There was a short pause, and then the seaman answered, “Three points on our port bow. They are hull-down; but there are two columns of smoke approaching at a great speed from the south-east. They are about twelve miles away and, so far as I can make out, are just abreast of Point Angamos.”
Jim did not wait to hear the reply of “Very good. Keep your eye on the smoke, and report any further developments,” but jumped into his clothes and hurried up on deck just in time to hear the bugles call “Hands on deck. Clear ship for action.” It was quite evident that the smoke could not be coming from the second Chilian division; for, in that case, there would have been three columns of smoke instead of two. Therefore the strangers could scarcely be other than the long-sought-for Peruvian ships the Huascar and the Union.
A few seconds after the bugle had sounded the men came tumbling up on deck, full of excitement at the idea of a fight; and with many a jovial laugh and jest they hurried away to their quarters. Jim made the rounds, saw that the men were at their stations, that the guns were ready and run out, and that plenty of ammunition had been supplied to the turrets, and then he reported to the first lieutenant that the ship was “clear for action.” The first lieutenant at once made his report to the captain, who, in turn, reported to Commodore Riveros, who had already entered the conning-tower. Several signals were made to the Almirante Cochrane, which was steaming about a cable’s-length astern; and the two ships surged forward in silence to the encounter which was to seal the fate of Peru, to destroy her sea-power, and to go down to history as the battle of Angamos.