ON PATROL.-IX. A.D. 400. A LONG low ship from the Orkneys' sailed, Three score sailormen singing as they baled We have a luck-charm Carved in the mast we- The Runes of Yggdrasil! But the Earl called down from the kicking tiller-head, "Six hands lay along to me! Tumble out the hawsers there, Skallagrim the Red! For a battle with a Berserk sea;, Sing a song of work, of a well-stayed mast, Of clinch and rivet and pine, Of a bull's-hide sail we can carry to the last Never mind the Runes on the bending tree Or the charms on the tiller that I hold, EXPERIENCES OF A WAR BABY. BY ONE. CHAPTER VIII.-BATTLE. As the whole world now knows, noon on Wednesday, 31st May 1916, found the Grand Fleet in the eastern half of the North Sea, steering an easterly course. The day was fine and warm, a great change for the better after a stormy winter. The sea was absolutely calm, and the haze rendered the visibility low, though occasionally there were clear intervals when the visibility rose to about twelve miles. To all appearances we were having a very quiet and peaceful voyage. In the gun-room of the Penultimate there was not a murmur of war. The general opinion of those officers who worried about the reasons for our operations was, that we were engaged in one of the periodical "sweeps" of the of the North Sea. We had indulged in a number of these "stunts," all precisely similar, without seeing any ships other than a few Dutch fishing smacks. Occasionally we would steam through wreckage, floating timber, &o., evidence of Von Tirpitz's campaign against the shipping of the world. On one such occasion we steamed for half an hour through a mass of logs of wood, all precisely similar in shape and size, and probably intended for railway sleepers or pit props. They must have marked the grave of some hapless neutral. Not once had we seen the wrecker himself. Thus, after lunch, all who were not proceeding on watch, composed themselves in chairs, and on settees, for slumber. I was one of the afternoon watch-keepers, and at 12.30 P.M. made my way up to a hut above the fore-bridge, where I kept my watch at sea. As the weather was warm and the watch was not long, I took no extra clothes with me, a fact which I much regretted later. My duty was to look out for submarines, and report any suspicious objects in the water to the officer of the watch. In the hut, as well as myself, were eight men, of whom I was in charge. The early part of the watch was uneventful. The sea was so calm that the slightest ripple could be seen. I was beginning to feel the soothing effects of lunch, when I was galvanised into life by a report from the look-out man at my side "Suspicious objic' in the water two points on the port bow, sir." I searched the face of the waters on the bearing he had given, and sighted the "objic'." There was an undoubted swirl in the water, though no cause argument, and appeared very for the swirl was visible. pleased. By applying my ear Even so, it was undoubtedly to the voice-pipe through my duty to report the fact to which I reported, I could catch the officer of the watoh, so snatches of their conversation, that he might deal with the though the look-out was not matter as he thought best. as bright as it should be. At Especially was this the case, first I could hear nothing but as another ship had reported one officer repeating, "Der the presence of submarines a Tag, der Tag," in a most few hours earlier. cheerful tone, which made me wonder for his sanity. Then I heard more conversation, in which the words "Galatea" and "enemy cruisers" peared. Finally, some one read the signal aloud, from which it appeared that the light cruiser Galatea had reported that she was in touch with a squadron of cruisers, probably hostile. "Suspicious object in the water two points on the port bow, sir," I reported down my voice-pipe. "Very good," replied the O.O.W., and through my look. out slit I could see him searching for the supposed enemy with his glasses. I resumed my search, and in a few seconds sighted the cause of the disturbance. The water was very calm and clear, so that, at the height my hut was above sea-level, I could see some feet below the surface. About fifty yards ahead of the ship I saw a large fish swim lazily across our bow and disappear. Luckily, the officer of the watch did not see him, and continued to look for the submarine, with visions of D.S.O.'s and promotion looming large in his mind. His disappointment was a heartrending sight. At 2 P.M. there came a commotion on the bridge. A signal was shown to the officer of the watch, which apparently gave him much satisfaction, and shortly afterwards the captain and navigator arrived. The bridge was not far below me, and I watched the scene through my look-out slit. They were all engaged in an ap This, indeed, was news. In all probability we should find that the birds had flown before we got our chance, but at any rate this sweep would not be entirely blank. I told my look-outs what I had heard, which keyed them up to a greater pitch of watchfulness. We turned to the southward at once, and began to work up our speed. Ahead of us we could see the battle cruisers, about ten miles distant, flying along at high speed. Signals reporting the presence of the enemy came in with greater frequency, and from what I could gather from my voice-pipe, there was a hope that we might be in at the death, and even fire a shot or two. At four o'clock the ship's company went to action stations, as a preparation for any circumstances. The offi At cer of the watch then kindly gator's assistant or "tanky," informed me that some enemy I was stationed. My duty vessels had been sighted, add- was to keep a record of all ing that we were to keep courses and changes of speed a sharp look-out for sub- during the action, in order marines and not to scan the that our position could be horizon for the enemy. I am found when all was over. I afraid that our success in had also to put down such overcoming that weakness was events as we observed, so that indifferent. We simply could if we survived we could send not keep our eyes off the in a report of the action. horizon, except to look at the Shortly afterwards the capsignal-flags hoisted from time tain and navigator came down to time by the flagship as from the bridge, as the enemy our speed was increased knot big ships were in sight. by knot. At 4.45 the signal one and a half minutes past was hoisted ordering us to five we opened fire with our prepare for immediate action. 15-inch guns at the enemy About ten minutes later I battle cruisers at a range of observed a number of red a little over eleven miles. flashes burst from one of our Within terribly short light cruisers on the horizon, space of time we received and a cloud of brown cordite our first taste of real war. smoke rose from her. This A look-out on the starboard burst was followed by more side of the conning-tower refrom other ships near her. It ported, "A large explosion in was with difficulty that I the battle-cruiser fleet." realised that they were firing at a genuine enemy ship with an intent to kill, and not at an inoffensive target for practice. I remember that I said to myself at the time, "Now you have seen your first shot fired in anger. Nevertheless it was unrealistic. It is this sense of unrealism which is the most surprising sensation in a modern action. Many of the practices are very realistic, and, after all, the noise made by a gun when firing for practice or in action is exactly the same. The order then came for submarine look-outs to fall out and go to their action stations. I went to the conning-tower, where, as navi "Note that down," said the Navigating Commander to me. I did so, feeling decidedly less heroic than some minutes before. The question which obtruded itself before my mind was, "Is that remark to be made about the Penultimate before the day is over?" Looking out of the slit in the side of the conning-tower, I saw a heavy black cloud hovering over the rear of the battle cruisers. There was also a gap, which had previously been filled by H.M.S. Indefatigable. With her had perished four midshipmen who, six months before, had been cadets in the same term as I. We were having a very comfortable time. We were firing steadily at a long range, and were receiving no return fire. The enemy battle cruisers, who when first sighted were steering an opposite course to us, had now turned, and were running away at full speed. Whilst running, their fire seemed to be directed entirely at the battle oruisers. They were firing with great skill and with a certain amount of luck. It is the practice of the Germans to bunoh all the shots of a salvo or broadside into a small space. Thus, if they score a hit, probably three or four projectiles will land on board the target. The disadvantage of this scheme is that, if they miss, they will probably miss clean, whereas with 8 somewhat larger "spread" of a salvo of shell falling near possibly one or two would hit. During this opening stage their battle cruisers scored several hits, for H.M.S. Queen Mary sank shortly afterwards, with the loss of all but a dozen lives. Shortly after this, some of the enemy turned their attention to us, and, after ranging salvos, began dropping shells all round, and scoring occasional hits, though of no very serious nature. The Penultimate was hit on the armour without causing serious damage, and in the ship ahead we could see gaping holes in two of her boats. It was at this time that the main High Sea Battle Fleet appeared on the scene and opened a heavy fire on the battle cruisers. They accordingly turned back and passed about a mile away from us, going full speed in the opposite direction. They looked a magnificent sight. We turned to follow them, and in turning came under a very heavy fire. It was estimated that we were then fighting at odds of four or five to one, as the battle oruisers were rapidly drawing out of range. The sea became a continuous succession of waterspouts, both ahead, astern, and on the sides of us. The hits. were marvellously few. Throughout this ordeal we continued steadily firing. Spotting the fall of our shot was a difficult matter, due to the glare of the sun, which was exactly in our eyes. The air, also, was misty, which tended to make against clarity. However, our fire was not without serious effect. Without the actual satisfaction of seeing a ship sink, we gave them a very serious hammering, without suffering much inconvenience ourselves. From the Penultimate's conning-tower we saw three salvoes fall dead on our fore-and-aft line produced, ten yards ahead of the ship. It gave us a feeling impossible to describe, but supposed to exist in the pit of the stomach, for with each salvo we could almost feel the little "left correction which the German gun-control officer should be giving, and which would adjust the direction of the next salvo to drop in the conning-tower. Luckily for us that correction was given too late, for when the next salvo came it roared overhead and dropped into the water a hundred yards beyond us. We were now racing away |