Part 18 (2/2)
”It was nearly three bells, and the sun was setting. A galling fire from the machine guns in the foretop of the _Dvenadsat Apostoloff_ suddenly swept our deck, killing a dozen poor fellows who were at work clearing away some debris, and at the same moment a shot from one of her 52-ton guns crashed into our port quarter, and must have caused terrible havoc among the guns' crews. A moment later we were dismayed by the report that our steering-gear had been broken. For a few seconds we were helplessly swinging round under the awful fire which was now pouring from the great guns of the Russian ironclad, and our captain was making strenuous efforts to recover control of the s.h.i.+p, when I saw the torpedo boat _Anakria_ shoot suddenly across our bows, then quickly slacken as she got to starboard of us.
”A second later I realised her intention, and shouted frantically. A line of bubbles had appeared on the surface advancing swiftly towards us. She had ejected a torpedo straight at us, and I stood petrified, not daring to breathe.
”A moment later there came a terrific explosion right underneath us, followed by a harsh tearing sound as iron plates were torn asunder like tinfoil, and the s.h.i.+p's side was ripped completely up. The _Edgar_ heaved high and plunged heavily, a great column of water rose high above her masts, and the air seemed filled with flying fragments of iron and wood. The vessel rocked and swayed so that we could not keep our feet, and then gradually heeling over, causing her guns to s.h.i.+ft, she went down before a soul on board could launch a boat.
”At the moment of the explosion I felt a sharp twinge in the back, and found that I had been struck by a flying splinter of steel. The strain of those hours had been terrible, and of the events that followed I can only recollect two things. I remember finding myself struggling alone in the water with a shower of bullets from the _Dvenadsat Apostoloff's_ tops sending up little splashes about me. Then I felt my strength failing, my limbs seemed paralysed, and I could no longer strike out to save myself. Abandoning all hope, I was sinking, when suddenly a rope was flung to me. I remember how frantically I clutched it, and that a few moments later I was hauled aboard a torpedo boat; but for days afterwards I lay hovering 'twixt life and death, oblivious to all. I was one of the thirteen only who were saved out of a crew of 327 brave officers and men.”
Such a ghastly disaster could only produce profound dismay among those who manned the remaining British vessels. Straining every nerve to uphold the honour of Britain, the guns' crews of the _Jupiter_, _Sans Pareil_, _Repulse_, and _Undaunted_, with smoke-begrimed hands and faces, worked on with that indomitable energy begotten of despair.
Regardless of the awful rain of shot and sh.e.l.l, they reloaded and fired with calm, dogged self-possession, the officers on all four vessels inspiring their men by various deeds of valour, and preserving such discipline under fire as none but British sailors could. The British naval officer is full of undaunted defiance and contempt for his foes; but, above all, he is a strict disciplinarian, and to this our country in a great measure owes the supremacy our Navy has. .h.i.therto enjoyed upon the seas. During the fight the vessels had been moving in a north-easterly direction, and although the Russians were unaware of the fact, Her Majesty's s.h.i.+ps had therefore continued in their course.
Hence, just as a cool breeze sprang up at sundown, soon after the _Edgar_ had sunk, a line of low dark cliffs was sighted ahead.
The officers of the _Diana_, watching anxiously through their gla.s.ses, distinguished the distant crest of Mount Genargentu gradually appearing against the clear evening sky, and then they knew that they were off Sardinia, outside the Gulf of Oristano.
Altering their course, they headed due north, still keeping up a running fire, but the Russians prevented them making headway.
All our vessels were suffering frightfully, when there was a sudden explosion, and, to the Englishmen's dismay, it was seen that a torpedo had struck the _Undaunted_ nearly amids.h.i.+ps. Still the doomed vessel managed to evade a second attack, and by a desperate manoeuvre the captain succeeded in turning and heading for land.
The remaining s.h.i.+ps, in their terribly crippled condition, would, the Russians antic.i.p.ated, soon fall an easy prey. Nevertheless, with their crews decimated, their guns disabled, and their machinery damaged, the British vessels still continued firing, the men resolved to go down at their quarters. They knew that escape was hopeless, and every moment they saw their comrades being swept away by the great exploding projectiles of the Tsar's heavy guns. But they were not dismayed. To do their utmost for the defence of Britain, to keep afloat as long as possible, and to die like Britons with faces towards the foe, was their duty. Pale and desperate, they were fighting for their country and their Queen, knowing that only a grave in the deep and the honour of those at home would be the reward of their bravery--that at any moment they might be launched into the unknown.
Suddenly there was a loud shouting on board the _Jupiter_, and signals were, a moment later, run up to her half-wrecked top. The captain of the _Dido_, noticing this, looked to ascertain the cause, and saw away on the horizon to the north, whence the dark night clouds were rising, a number of strange craft. s.n.a.t.c.hing up his gla.s.s, he directed it on the strangers, and discovered that they were Italian wars.h.i.+ps, and were exchanging rapid signals with the captain. They were promising a.s.sistance!
Cheers rang loudly through the British vessels, when, a few minutes later, the truth became known, and the guns' crews worked with redoubled energy, while the Russians, noticing the approaching s.h.i.+ps, were apparently undecided how to act. They were given but little time for reflection, however, for within half an hour the first of the great Italian ironclads, the _Lepanto_, opened fire upon the _Petropavlovsk_, and was quickly followed by others, until the action became general all round.
Aid had arrived just in time, and the British vessels, with engines broken, stood away at some distance, leaving matters for the nonce to the powerful Italian Squadron. It was indeed a very formidable one, and its appearance caused the Russian Admiral such misgivings that he gave orders to retreat, a manoeuvre attempted unsuccessfully. The Italian Fleet, as it loomed up in the falling gloom, included no fewer than twenty-six wars.h.i.+ps and forty-three torpedo boats. The vessels consisted of the barbette-s.h.i.+p _Lepanto_ of 15,000 tons; the _Sardegna_, _Sicilia_, and _Re Umberto_ of 13,000 tons; the _Andrea Doria_, _Francesca Morosini_, and _Ruggiero di Lauria_ of 11,000 tons; the turret-s.h.i.+ps _Dandolo_ and _Duilio_ of the same size; the _Ammeraglio di St. Bon_ of 9800 tons; the armoured cruisers _Ancona_, _Castelfidardo_, and _Maria Pia_, and the _San Martino_, each of about 4500 tons; the gun-vessels _Andrea Provana_, _Cariddi_, _Castore_, _Curtatone_; the torpedo gunboats _Aretusa_, _Atlante_, _Euridice_, _Iride_, _Montebello_, and _Monzambano_; the despatch vessels _Galileo_ and _Vedetta_; and the first-cla.s.s torpedo vessels _Aquila_, _Avvoltoio_, _Falco_, _Nibbio_, and _Sparviero_, and thirty-eight others.
With such a force descending upon the Russian s.h.i.+ps, which had already been very severely punished by the vigorous fire of the British, there was little wonder that the Tsar's vessels should endeavour to escape.
The Italian Fleet had already bombarded and destroyed Ajaccio two days ago, and, steaming south from the Corsican capital, had anch.o.r.ed for twenty-four hours off Cape della Caccia, near Alghero, in the north of Sardinia. Then again taking a southerly course in the expectation of joining hands with the British Mediterranean Squadron, which was on its way from Ma.r.s.eilles to Cagliari, they had fallen in with the three crippled s.h.i.+ps.
Without hesitation the powerful Italian ironclads, several of which were among the finest in the world, opened a terrific fire upon the Russian s.h.i.+ps, and as darkness fell the sight was one of appalling grandeur.
From all sides flame rushed from turrets and barbettes in vivid flashes, while the Maxims in the tops poured out their deadly showers of bullets.
The ponderous 105-ton guns of the _Andrea Doria_, _Francesca Morosini_, and _Ruggiero di Lauria_ crashed and roared time after time, their great shots causing frightful havoc among the Russian s.h.i.+ps, the four 100-tonners of the _Lepanto_ and the 67-tonners of the _Re Umberto_, _Sardegna_, and _Sicilia_ simply knocking to pieces the _Petropavlovsk_.
The Russian s.h.i.+ps were receiving terrible blows on every hand. With their search-lights beaming forth in all directions, the s.h.i.+ps were fighting fiercely, pounding away at each other with deafening din. It was not long, however, before this vigorous attack of the Italians began to tell, for within an hour of the first shot from the _Lepanto_ the fine Russian battles.h.i.+p _Gheorghy Pobyednosets_ and the great new cruiser _Minsk_ of 17,000 tons had been rammed and sunk, the former by the _Duilio_, and the latter by the _Re Umberto_, while the _Tchesme_ and the gunboat _Otvazny_ had been torpedoed, and scarcely a soul saved out of 1500 men who were on board.
Explosions were occurring in quick succession, and red glares flashed momentarily over the sea. Hither and thither as the Italian torpedo boats darted they ejected their missiles, and the rapid and terrible fire from the leviathans of Italy, pouring into every one of the remaining s.h.i.+ps of the Tsar, killed hundreds who were striving to defend themselves.
Suddenly the _Sicilia_, which had been fighting the Russian flags.h.i.+p, the _Tria Sviat.i.telia_, at close quarters, and had blown away her conning-tower and greater portion of her superstructure, performed a neat evolution, and crashed her ram right into her opponent's broadside, breaking her almost in half.
A few moments later there was a terrific explosion on board, and then the doomed vessel sank into the dark rolling sea, carrying with her the Russian Admiral and all hands.
Quickly this success was followed by others--the blowing up of the monster new cruiser _Tiumen_, the sinking of the _Adler_ and four other Russian torpedo boats, occurring in rapid succession. Seeing with what rapidity and irresistible force they were being swept from the sea, the remainder of the Tsar's shattered fleet struck their flags and called for quarter, not, however, before the torpedo boat _Kodor_ had been sunk. The Russians thus captured were the battles.h.i.+ps _Petropavlovsk_ of 10,960 tons, the _Dvenadsat Apostoloff_ of 8076 tons, the two new barbette-s.h.i.+ps, _Kama_ and _Vologda_, both of whose engines had broken down, and fifteen torpedo boats.
[Ill.u.s.tration: _Ruggiero di Lauria._ _Re Umberto._ _Duilio._ _Tchesme._ _Dvenadsat Apostoloff._ _H.M.S. Edgar._ HELP FROM ITALY: ”WITH THEIR SEARCH-LIGHTS BEAMING FORTH IN ALL DIRECTIONS, THE s.h.i.+PS WERE FIGHTING FIERCELY, POUNDING AWAY AT EACH OTHER WITH DEAFENING DIN.”]
At dawn most of the latter were manned by Italians, while the captured s.h.i.+ps, with the Italian colours flying and bearing evidence of the terrible conflict, were on their way due north to Genoa, accompanied by the battered British vessels.
The strongest division of Russia's Fleet had been totally destroyed, and the Tsar's power in the Mediterranean was broken.
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