He was groping for a pocket electric lamp that was usually kept on a bracket on the wall of the conning tower. It was no longer there. So great had been the submarine's dip that the torch had fallen on the floor of the armoured box.
"Here it is, Herr Kapitan," said the unter-leutnant. "Ach! What a comfort is this light!"
"Silence below there!" ordered von Loringhoven, shouting to the still frantic crew. "You are making as much noise as frauen clamouring for meat rations. The worst of the danger is past if you will only keep your heads cool."
A glance at the depth gauge showed him that the U-boat was down to seventy-five metres—almost the maximum depth at which the hull was capable of withstanding the enormous pressure of water. A wrench at the diving-plane levers counteracted the tendency to dive deeper, and the submarine rose until she was within forty metres of the surface.
The motors were still running, but far from smoothly. The engine room was a blaze of blue light as the current short-circuited at half a dozen different points. It was indeed an inexplicable problem why the heavily charged air did not explode and complete the catastrophe.
"Both glands in the propeller shafting are leaking badly, Herr Kapitan," reported a mechanic.
"It cannot be helped," rejoined von Loringhoven. "At the depth we have just been, and with the shaking we have experienced, it is a marvel that things are no worse. All joints are sound?"
"No, Herr Kapitan; there is a steady trickle over the motors. It is that which accounts for the sparking across. Miller is taking steps to prevent the water spouting upon the dynamos."
The ober-leutnant flashed his torch upon the binnacle. The compass was useless. The concussion had cracked the thick plate glass and jerked the bowl completely off the gimbals. Nor was the gyro-compass in any better state. For purposes of direction the submarine had to rely solely upon luck. Without means of counteracting the side thrust of the propeller she would have a tendency to describe a succession of wide circles.
The thresh of the destroyer's screws overhead had now ceased. Things were looking a little more hopeful, since the submarine hunters had evidently lost touch with their quarry.