By this time Tressidar had discovered that he was actually in command. Reports from the carpenter's crew revealed the satisfactory news that the "Anzac" was still sound below the water-line, while the engine-room staff expressed their belief that the defects in their department could be temporarily made good within half an hour.
Men were busily engaged in ridding the deck of the wreckage of the tripod mast, which they did by the simple yet drastic expedient of completely severing the legs by means of gun-cotton charges.
Although the training-gear of the turret was undamaged, a glancing shell had snapped six feet off the chase of one of the 14-inch guns, rendering it useless for further service. The other gun was intact, but so furious had been the firing that only three rounds remained.
With the destruction of the aerials and the dislocation of the delicate apparatus, communication by wireless was no longer possible; nor was there any spar from which a signal might be flown. Sound signals, too, were useless, since the deafening cannonade between the other monitors and the shore outvoiced all other noises.
A patrol-boat presently dashed up and drew close alongside the damaged monitor, and asked if any assistance were required.
"You might take our wounded," replied Tressidar. "We've a number of casualties And we should like instructions from the flagship. No; we are still under control and capable of making five knots. There is no necessity for a ship to be detached to tow us."
As quickly as possible the wounded officers and men were transhipped, the patrol-vessel meanwhile wirelessing the senior officer and requesting instructions for the "Anzac," stating that she was no longer able to resume her station in action.
The reply was: "Proceed to Harwich under own steam." There was no mention of a destroyer being sent as escort.
When, at length, the engine-room repairs were effected, the sorely battered monitor, looking little better than a mass of scrap-iron above the low deck, forged slowly ahead on her homeward voyage. The survivors, having washed and changed, were piped to dinner, the principal item of the menu being "Zeppelins in the clouds," namely, sausages served with gravy.
"Rather ominous," thought Tressidar amusedly, as he overheard the men discussing the food "Ominous for the Huns, though."