Five of the latter succeeded in entering the Firth of Forth, but none got within striking distance of the four British super-Dreadnoughts lying with steam up off Rosyth. The vigilant swift third-class cruisers attached to that base quickly settled the destroyers as they pitched and plunged against the steep seas off the Bass Rock.
In every other case the detachments of the German destroyers were met and overmatched by the superior numbers and greater seaworthiness of the British craft. Had the German seaplanes rallied and supported their destroyers during the hot conflict that ensued the result might have been different. But they did not. Once more, as in times past, the elements came to the aid of Great Britain. The surprise attacks had signally failed. It was now left to the British Navy to seek out the German battleships, and once and for all to settle the question of supremacy on the high seas.
CHAPTER XXIV
The Battle of the Galloper Sands
At 9 a.m. on the same morning as the surprise attack by the German "mosquito craft", two squadrons of the First Home Fleet left the Nore. The flag of the Commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Noel Armitage, was flown on the Royal Sovereign, one of the latest type of super-Dreadnoughts, a vessel mounting eight fifteen-inch guns on the centre line and a secondary armament of sixteen six-inch guns.
It was Sir Noel's plan to bring the German High Seas fleet to action, and should, as he devoutly hoped, the British be victorious, a general attack upon Borkum and Heligoland would follow. It was on account of his knowledge of the latter fortress that Sub-Lieutenant John Hamerton was appointed to the Royal Sovereign as a supernumerary.
The heavy sea had somewhat subsided, although there was a long roll that is rarely met with in the North Sea. The wind, too, had dropped considerably as the sun rose, but the atmosphere was thick and hazy, so that it was impossible to detect a vessel more than a mile off.
Although not so bad as a sea-fog, the climatic conditions made all fleet evolutions a kind of exaggerated blindman's buff. The light cruisers and destroyers, spread out fanwise for several miles ahead of the battleships, could hardly live up to their reputation as the "eyes of the fleet", since it was only by stumbling across one of their antagonists that they could detect their presence.
Under these circumstances Sir Noel wisely decided to remain within easy distance of the mouth of the Thames. By proceeding far from his base it would be possible that the German battleships and battle-cruisers might slip past unseen and do enormous damage to the East Coast before he could offer them battle. Every hour meant the shorter distance between him and the Mediterranean Fleet, that, hastily summoned by wireless, was pelting along at twenty-two knots from Gibraltar.
On the other hand, the Germans were also ignorant of the precise position of their antagonists. They would vastly prefer to fight—now that the initial operations had failed—within easy distance of the mouths of the Elbe and Weser. If the worst came to the worst they could then pass their battleships through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal into the comparative safety of the Baltic, and rely upon their torpedo craft, submarines, and mines to keep the enemy at bay. But for the present the Germans had no fears on that score. The fighting spirit ran high, and the officers and men of the High Seas Fleet confidently regarded that "The Day" was at hand when British arrogance should receive a fatal blow.