The war, terrible while it lasted, brought good in its train. The exhausting struggle for naval supremacy ceased. It was universally conceded that the great English-speaking nations should rule the sea, and almost automatically the Great Powers were able to cut down their almost overwhelming expenses in naval armaments.
The victors had not been ungenerous or vindictive; they had laid no violent restriction upon their former enemy. Germany could, and did, still expand her overseas trade without let or hindrance. The settlement of sea supremacy meant a new era of peace and prosperity.
After the termination of the war, Hamerton, now promoted to the rank of lieutenant, obtained a shore appointment in Portsmouth Dockyard. Every summer the ketch Diomeda puts in an appearance in the Solent, and Hamerton, Detroit, Octavius Smith, and Stirling generally made a point of having a month's cruise together in the stanch little craft.
Often, on some quiet evening, the Diomeda will be found snugly moored in some sheltered and secluded creek of the Solent, while down below in her cosy cabin the four men will be exchanging reminiscences and recalling the events that led to the capture of the sea-girt fortress of Heligoland.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
At the Villafield Press, Glasgow, Scotland
Transcriber's Notes:
This book contains a number of misprints.
The following misprints have been corrected:
[Any misculation] —> [Any miscalculation]
[dull-back] —> [dull-black]
[degree of enthusiam] —> [degree of enthusiasm]
[overunning] —> [overrunning]
[Barracading] —> [Barricading]
[befel] —> [befell]
[to give an explanaation] —> [to give an explanation]
A few cases of punctuation errors were corrected, but are not mentioned here.