Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

HOW A BATTLESHIP IS FOUGHT. 451 Whilst the anti-torpedo armament and the searchlights are being made ready, further squads of men are remedying as far as possible the damage caused in Repairing- action. Both of the huge Damages. ® funnels have been pierced many times by small projectiles. The holes are covered with thick canvas, so that the draught through the furnaces may not be interfered with. More serious has proved the explosion of a large shell against the leg of one of the tripod masts. The long steel tube has been badly shattered; so power- ful wire cables are stretched from the search- light platform—at the junction of the three legs—to steel bolt-eyes in the ship’s side. These steady the mast, and take much of the strain off the injured part. The cables lessen the arc of fire of certain of the guns, but it is not expected that the larger weapons will need to come into action until repairs have been effected in a dockyard. After the essential and feasible repairs have all been carried out, the boatswain is told to “ Pipe all hands to supper ; ” and for the first time since sighting the enemy’s vessel the officers and crew take a “ spell-0 ! ” “ Destroyers on either beam ! ” calls a strident voice. Even in peace manoeuvres there is nothing so thrilling as a night attack. A shiver runs down the spine The „ x —the apprehension of the ex- Destroyer Attack. pected but seldom-seen. It is quite a relief to mark the dull-white bow waves tearing madly down upon you, for at least the tension is relaxed. These destroyers were sighted 5,000 yards away. As they are steaming at 30 knots, and, maybe, a little over, it takes them barely five minutes to arrive well within torpedoing distance. But five minutes of time have made history before now. Sixty seconds only have elapsed, when ten clear- carved shafts of brilliant, dazzling light dash out towards the oncoming destroyers. Two of them hover a second, then settle steadily on a thin gray form, and show up in clear relief the piling waters about the knife-edged bow and the coils of black smoke belching from the two squat funnels. As the lights stop on her she swerves to cut across their glistening edge and shows a quarter of her length. Simultaneously the guns commence their rattle, and soon all fifteen are pumping their 25-lb. shells into the enemy at the rate of ten each a minute. Our eyes are on the one destroyer—the first discovered. As we follow her progress we notice a black hole appear in her clear traced bows ; another comes a little to the left, and smoke is seen issuing from it. The last shell to explode has set fire to something. Then the mast seems to stagger, and, after a shake or two, remains still again at a dangerous angle. Sparks, formerly pouring only from the tops of the funnels, are now rushing out from every part of them, from the deck upwards ; and there are flames there too. The bow wave lessens ; she is losing speed. At 1,000 yards she swings broadside on, and a hurrying crowd of men are seen clearing away a torpedo tube. It is now pointing this way. Then above us the 4-inch guns burst out with redoubled energy in angry protest, and a lucky shell hits the torpedo tube. An immense sheaf of flame bursts out—a red, hurtling mass of fire —and when it clears off the torn funnels of the shattered destroyer are seen just dis- appearing beneath the waves. “ One ! ’ counts the gunner at our side, and gently swinging his lean weapon round he pulls off ten fast shots at the next boat in the attacking flotilla. This is the destroyer attack. But the odds favour the small craft. Rudely shaken by her fight, many of her small guns and searchlights shattered and unworkable, the battleship is in no condition to fend off the continuous and plucky attacks taking place from every side at once. A destroyer,