WILLIAM LE QUEUX: 15 Dystopian Novels & Espionage Thrillers (Illustrated Edition). William Le Queux
Padstow, and a third within sight of the coastguard at Selsey Bill. Two other ships were blown up in the Channel by drifting mines. The running of arms across from France and Spain was a very risky proceeding; yet the British skipper is nothing if not patriotic, and every man who crossed the Channel on those dangerous errands took his life in his hand.
Into Liverpool, Whitehaven, and Milford weapons were also coming over from Ireland, even though several German cruisers, who had been up at Lamlash to cripple the Glasgow trade, had now come south, and were believed still to be in the Irish Sea.
CHAPTER IX
WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT SEA
Our fleet, however, was not inactive. The Germans had mined the Straits of Dover, and one of the turbine Channel steamers had been sunk with great loss of life. They had bombarded Brighton, mined Portsmouth, and made a raid on the South Wales coal ports.
How these raiders were pursued is best described in the official history of the invasion, as follows: —
The Trevose wireless station signalled that the Germans were off Lundy about 2 p.m., steaming west with fourteen ships of all kinds, some moving very slowly. The Lion and Kincardineshire at once altered course to the north, so as to intercept them and draw across their line of retreat. At the same time they learnt that two British protected cruisers had arrived from Devonport off the Longships, and were holding the entrance to the English Channel, and moving slowly north behind them.
About 3.30 the wireless waves came in so strongly from the north-east that the captain of the Lion, who was in charge of the cruiser division, became certain of the proximity of the German force. The signals could not be interpreted, as they were tuned on a different system from the British. The Germans must have also felt the British signals, since about this time they divided, the three fast liners increasing speed and heading west, while the rest of the detachment steered north-west. The older German vessels were delayed some fifteen minutes by the work of destroying the four colliers, which they had carried off forcibly with them from Cardiff, and removing their crews. Delay at such a moment was most dangerous.
Soon after 3.45 p.m. the lookout on board the Lion reported from the masthead, smoke on the horizon right ahead. The Lion’s head was set towards the smoke, which could be only faintly seen, and her speed was increased to twenty-one knots. The Kincardineshire altered course simultaneously — she was ten miles away on the port beam of the Lion, and in constant communication by wireless with the Selkirk, which was still farther out. Ten minutes later the Selkirk signalled that she saw smoke, and that with the ten destroyers accompanying her she was steering towards it. Her message added that the Irish Sea destroyers were in sight, coming in very fast from the north, nine strong, with intervals of two miles between each boat, still keeping their speed of thirty knots.
The cordon was now complete, and the whole force of twenty-two cruisers and torpedo craft turned in towards the spot where the enemy was located. At 4.5 the lookout on the Lion reported a second cloud of smoke on the horizon, rather more to starboard than the one first seen, which had been for some minutes steadily moving west. This second cloud was moving very slowly north-westwards.
The captain of the Lion determined to proceed with his own ship towards this second cloud, and directed the Kincardineshire, which was slightly the faster cruiser, to follow the movements of the first-seen smoke and support the Selkirk in attacking the ships from which it proceeded.
The enemy’s fleet soon came into view several miles away. Three large steamers were racing off towards the Atlantic and the west; seven smaller ships were steaming slowly north-west. In the path of the three big liners were drawn up the Selkirk and the ten destroyers of the Devonport flotilla, formed in line abreast, with intervals of two miles between each vessel, so as to cover as wide an extent of sea as possible. The Kincardineshire was heading fast to support the Selkirk and attack the three large German ships. Farther to the north, but as yet invisible to the Lion, and right in the path of the squadron of old German ships, were nine destroyers of the Irish Sea flotilla, vessels each of 800 tons and thirty-three knots, also drawn up in line abreast, with intervals of two miles to cover a wide stretch of water.
The moment the Germans came into view the two protected cruisers at Land’s End were called up by wireless telegraphy, and ordered to steam at nineteen knots towards the Selkirk. The two Devonport battleships, which had now reached Land’s End, were warned of the presence of the enemy.
Sighting the ten Devonport destroyers and the Selkirk to the west of them, the three fast German liners, which were the Deutschland, Kaiser Wilhelm II., and Kronprinz Wilhelm, all three good for twenty-three knots in any weather, made a rush for the gap between the Devonport destroyers and the Kincardineshire. Perceiving their intention, the Kincardineshire turned to cut them off, and the ten destroyers and the Selkirk headed to engage them. In danger of all being brought to action and destroyed if they kept together, the German liners scattered at 4.15: the Deutschland steered south-east to pass between the Kincardineshire and the Lion; the Kaiser Wilhelm steered boldly for a destroyer which was closing in on her from the starboard bow; and the Kronprinz Wilhelm ran due north.
The Deutschland, racing along at a tremendous speed, passed between the Kincardineshire and the Lion. The Lion at long range put three 9.2-inch shells into her without stopping her; the Kincardineshire gave her a broadside from her 6-inch guns at about 5000 yards, and hit her several times. But the British fire did not bring her to, and she went off to the south-west at a great pace, going so fast that it was clear the armoured cruisers would stand little chance of overhauling her.
The Kaiser Wilhelm charged through the line of destroyers, receiving a heavy fire from the 6-inch weapons of the Selkirk and Kincardineshire, and in her turn pouring a rapid fire upon two of the Devonport destroyers, which attempted to torpedo her, and missed her at about 900 yards. The Selkirk, however, was close astern of her, and with her engines going twenty-three knots, which was just a fraction less than what the German engineers were doing, concentrated upon her a very heavy fire from all her 6-inch guns that would bear.
The fore-turret with its two 6-inch weapons in two minutes put twenty shells into the German stern. One of these projectiles must have hit the steering gear, for suddenly and unexpectedly the Kaiser Wilhelm came round on a wide circle, and as she wheeled, the broadside of the British cruiser came into action with a loud crash, and at 3000 yards rained 100-lb. and 12-lb. shells upon the liner. The beating of the pom-poms in the Selkirk could be heard above the roar of the cannonade; and seeing that the liner was now doomed, the British destroyers drew off a little.
Under the storm of shells the German crew could not get the steering gear in working order. The great ship was still turning round and round in a gigantic circle, when the Lion came into action with her two 9·2’s and her broadside of eight 6-inch weapons. Round after round from these was poured into the German ship. The British gunners shot for the water-line, and got it repeatedly. At 4.40, after a twenty minutes’ fight, the white flag went up on board the Kaiser Wilhelm, and it was seen that she was sinking. Her engines had stopped, she was on fire in twenty places, and her decks were covered with the dying and the dead. The first of the raiders was accounted for.
Meantime, the Kronprinz Wilhelm had with equal swiftness dashed north, receiving only a few shots from the Selkirk, as she passed her, 8000 yards away. The British armoured cruiser Kincardineshire followed in the German ship’s wake ten miles astern and quite out of range. The German liner was seen by the ocean-going destroyers of the Irish Sea flotilla, which headed after her, and four of them going thirty knots easily drew ahead of her. To attack such a vessel with the torpedo was an undertaking which had no promise of success.
The British destroyer officers, however, were equal to the occasion. They employed skilful tactics to effect their object. The four