Part 46 (1/2)
Billy gave a quick glance over his shoulder. To his relief he found Kirkwood cool and imperturbable at his post, awaiting the opportune moment to release another pair of powerful bombs.
One burst aft, utterly knocking out the crew of the anti-aircraft gun that had so nearly strafed their attackers; the other, missing the wars.h.i.+p's deck, landed fairly and squarely upon the tug lashed to the starboard side.
The little vessel, totally ripped up amids.h.i.+ps, sank amid the roar of escaping steam, but still secured by fore and aft ”springs”--wire hawsers stout enough to withstand the strain--she acted as a tremendous drag upon the huge bulk of the battles.h.i.+p.
In vain the latter attempted to check her tendency to swing to starboard by liberal use of the helm. The other tugs, still straining at their task, only made matters worse, until finally the towing craft, unable to check the side strain on her hawser, slewed completely round, and in this position was rammed by the steel prow of the battles.h.i.+p.
By this time Billy had manoeuvred for a third attack. So great was the confusion on the German's decks--most of the men who had survived the explosion bolting from their dubious cover that the seaplane was no longer subjected to a peppering from the Archibalds.
For years naval architects had been increasing the strength of a battles.h.i.+p's side-armour, while the thickness of the ”protected”
deck, considered only liable to glancing hits, was kept at about three inches of steel. The present war quickly found the defects of insufficient deck armour. Enormous sh.e.l.ls, fired at a range of eighteen thousand yards, fell almost vertically upon the decks of battles.h.i.+ps during the Jutland fight, while the menace from bombs dropped from hostile aircraft was only beginning to be realised.
Slowing down Barcroft again approached his quarry. This time Kirkwood released three of the high-explosive missiles. Two, fairly close together, by the after 11-inch gun turret, completed the business.
With a rush and a roar, indescribably appalling in its t.i.tanic power, the battles.h.i.+p's after magazine exploded. The seaplane, whirled like a feather in a hurricane, was enveloped in a cloud of black smoke tinged with flames and mingled with flying fragments from the disintegrated s.h.i.+p. In utter darkness Billy found himself on the underside of the overturned machine. Only the resisting strength of his broad securing strap saved him from being hurled downward like a stone.
Almost rendered senseless by the asphyxiating fumes, thrown about as far as the ”give” of the strap permitted, his head shaken like a pea in a box, Barcroft was only dimly conscious that the job had been done almost too well. In spite of the danger of his hazardous position he was filled with a sense of elation. The seaplane had scored heavily, and for the present nothing else mattered. Deafened by the thunderous explosion, unable to see a hand's length in front of his face, he was at a loss to ascertain whether the motor was still running or whether the seaplane was engaging in a final tail-spin.
Mechanically he grasped the joy-stick. The seaplane was then looping the loop for the third consecutive time. Something--what it was he was unable to ascertain--hit the fuselage with a resounding crash.
The lightly-built fabric trembled under the impact. It seemed as if the body of the machine had been ripped asunder.
At nearly a hundred miles an hour the seaplane cleared the edge of the drifting smoke. She was then ”on an even keel,” but about to nose-dive towards the surface of the sea, barely a couple of hundred feet below.
The sudden transition to the light of day recalled Billy to a sense of his responsibilities. The engine was working, although he heard only a very subdued buzz. Something had to be done to avoid the impending violent impact with the waves.
Billy did it--how, he could never remember, but, as in a dream, he regained control of the badly-shaken craft and began to climb resolutely from the scene of his exploit.
A hasty glance at the planes revealed the unpleasant fact that huge rents were visible in the fabric. It seemed marvellous how the greatly-reduced wing-surface could impart sufficient lifting power to the machine; yet, with a disconcerting wobble she held her own against the attraction of gravity.
He turned his head, half expecting to find that Kirkwood was no longer his companion, but to his unbounded satisfaction he saw the A.P. still in his seat. Not only that, but Bobby was grinning with intense glee at the successful issue of the encounter between the giant and the pigmy. His face was as black as a sweep's and streaked with blood, his flying helmet had vanished, leaving his scorched hair rippling in the furious breeze.
Picking up the voice-tube the irrepressible observer shouted something to his companion. Only a strange rumble reached Barcroft's ear. He had been rendered absolutely deaf by the concussion.
Pulling his diary from his pocket Kirkwood scribbled a few words and handed his paper to the pilot.
”How's that?” read Billy. ”Fritz got it in the neck that time.
That's a great strafe.” Billy held the voice-tube to his mouth in order to reply, but no sound came from his lips. Like a blow from a sledge-hammer the awful truth came home to him. He was deaf and speechless.
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII
s.n.a.t.c.hED FROM HER PURSUERS
KIRKWOOD was quick to grasp the nature of the calamity that had overtaken his chum. Although considerably shaken by the concussion the observer was still in possession of his senses, except that his hearing was slightly impaired.
Again a slip of paper pa.s.sed between the two chums. On it Kirkwood had written:--”Enemy torpedo craft leaving Heligoland. Are you fit to carry on? Want any help?”
Barcroft, reading the slip, nodded. The mere suggestion of relinquis.h.i.+ng his command ”bucked him up” considerably. A glance showed that Kirkwood's announcement was correct. From the anchorage on the northeast side of the island a regular swarm of hornets was emerging some of the boats steaming towards the scene of the disaster to the battles.h.i.+p, others heading in the direction taken by the seaplane responsible for the great catastrophe.
The new danger could be treated lightly provided the seaplane was able to carry on and fall in with her parent s.h.i.+p. The torpedo-boats were not within range of their guns, while the speed of the seaplane was more than double that of the swiftest of her pursuers, even in her damaged condition. Should the chase be maintained for any length of time there was a chance of the British destroyers cutting off some, if not all, of the hostile craft.