Then it was that a Socialist Parisian newspaper appeared with a eulogistic three columns and a half on Cervillo's record and aims, and calling upon the Anarchists to give him their moral and active support. The offices of the paper were raided by the gendarmes, and before night the military and the canaille were engaged in hand-to-hand fighting in the streets of Paris. Similar disturbances took place in Madrid, Barcelona, and Naples, and the French, Spanish, and Italian Governments had good cause to wish that the notorious Juan Cervillo was at the bottom of the sea.
At Barcelona the news spread that the Independencia had appeared off that port. The authorities knew that such was impossible, partly on account of the distance from British waters, and also that the Straits of Gibraltar were too well guarded by a strong flotilla cruising betwixt Tarifa and Ceuta. But amongst the ignorant population it was accepted that Cervillo had appeared to proclaim the anarchist rule in Spain, and that night the town was at the mercy of the mob.
It was not until it was found that the ship was the British cruiser Indefatigable—the sea-going instructional vessel for naval cadets, and which bore a striking resemblance to the Independencia—that the disorder ceased. Even then it required four regiments of Spanish infantry to quell the insurrection.
As soon as the new scout Cerberus, could be passed out of dockyard hands, she was commissioned in order to participate in the search for the pirate-cruiser, and to Drake's unbounded satisfaction he was appointed to her for duties in the hydro-aeroplanes, of which the scout carried four.
Vast strides had been made in the construction and efficiency of the hydro-aeroplanes since their demonstration before the King in Portland Roads in 1912. Instead of being, like the first of this class, clumsy aeroplanes fitted with floats, those of the later pattern were swift motor-boats, provided with folding air-planes and propellers, so that they could either keep the sea in fairly heavy weather, or they could soar into the air and perform a thousand-mile flight. Each hydro-aeroplane consisted of an aluminium hull, 35 ft. in length, 6 ft. in breadth, and of a draught when at rest of 9 ins. These were completely decked in, with the exception of a small, open well, which could, if necessity arose, be covered with a water-tight hatch. At one-third the distance from its bows was a small observation turret, the top of which served as one of the bearings, or the shafting of the aerial propeller. The planes, when not in use, folded into recesses in the sides of the hull, the actuation of a pair of tension wires serving to extend and keep them in position for flight. Whereas the original hydro-aeroplanes could not descend to rest upon the surface of a choppy sea, those carried by the Cerberus could not only be relied upon to descend or ascend from the water, but could by reason of their strength and rigid construction safely withstand the impact of a fall from a considerable height. For armament they carried a one-pounder automatic gun, and gear for dropping small bombs charged with high explosives.
On board the Cerberus these four hydro-aeroplanes were carried on the space hitherto occupied by the funnel-casings, for the scout had internal combustion engines, and, save for a small exhaust pipe, was without funnels. Each tender could be hoisted in less than half-a-minute by means of a single-purchase wire rope passing through a block at the end of a derrick, and wound round a motor-capstan. Constructed at one-twentieth of the cost of a submarine, the hydro-aeroplane had already virtually superseded those craft. Save at night, the crews of the hydro-aeroplanes could from a height easily locate the presence of a submarine, and by means of her bombs could destroy it with ease. Before long it was recognised that the era of the submarine, as a destructive means of offence, was past.
Lieutenant Douglas Drake lost no time in reporting himself on board the Cerberus, and within twenty hours of being passed out of dockyard hands the scout left Portsmouth Harbour to join in the search for the pirate-cruiser.
But before the ship had passed through the Needles Channel she was, to the disgust of all on board, ordered to return. That morning the owners of the ss. Duke of Negropont had received a wireless message from the captain of that vessel. It was brief and to the point:—
"Independencia in collision with unknown
vessel, 4.45 a.m. Lat. 40-22-10 N., Long.
22-9-16 W. Both sank; no survivors."