The Boy Allies with Uncle Sam's Cruisers Part 17

Lord Hastings appeared on deck at this moment, closely followed by Frank. The commander of the Lawrence took in the situation at a glance.

"Wireless the two cruisers to keep position," he shouted to Frank.

"Order the destroyers to follow us. There may be more of the enemy to port," he explained.

Frank pa.s.sed the word and the fourth officer dashed for the wireless room.

A moment later the two cruisers to port, which had swerved with the apparent intention of following the Lawrence toward the foe, swung back into position, as did the vessels that guarded the transports on the port side. The two destroyers, however, veered sharply and dashed after the Lawrence.

Again, at Lord Hastings' command, the three cruisers protecting the transports to starboard also remained in line. This, Lord Hastings explained later, he had deemed advisable because a submarine might have pushed a torpedo through to a transport had they moved out of line.

One of the cruisers making up the rear guard, however, the American cruiser Huron, dashed toward the submarines.

And now it became apparent that there were not only three submarines to contend, with--there were at least five or six. The flotilla had run into a veritable nest of the undersea terrors.

The submarines now rose to the surface and launched torpedoes. The distance was still great, however, and none of them found its mark.

In the meantime the guns aboard the two cruisers rumbled as they bore down on the foe, and the destroyers, not far behind, added their voices to the conflict.

Lord Hastings, as he took command of the situation, realized that Jack had acted with promptness upon the discovery of the foe and he commended the lad with a nod of his head.

Suddenly there came a cry of triumph from the forward turret aboard the Lawrence. A British sh.e.l.l had struck squarely aboard the nearest submersible. The little vessel seemed to fly into a thousand pieces.

A moment later it disappeared from sight.

A second mighty cheer rang out.

"It's not all over yet," said Jack grimly.

Frank, who overheard the words, nodded his a.s.sent.

At a quick command from Lord Hastings the Lawrence veered sharply to starboard--and a torpedo from the nearest submarine flashed by harmlessly.

"Pretty close, though," Frank muttered.

It had been close, and had it not been for the prompt action of Lord Hastings in maneuvering the vessel out of harm's way, the Lawrence would have received a death blow.

Before the submarine could launch a second torpedo, a sh.e.l.l from the Huron struck her squarely amids.h.i.+ps. A moment later the second submarine disappeared beneath the water.

Again a combined British and American cheer rang out over the sea.

So far as those aboard the Lawrence could see now, there were still four of the submarines in action. This was a formidable number indeed, and Lord Hastings realized that it would take quick and decisive action if they were to be disposed of before severe injury could be inflicted upon the British and American s.h.i.+ps.

He turned to Frank. "Order the Sandusky to our a.s.sistance!" he commanded.

Frank dashed to the wireless room. A few moments later the Sandusky, an American cruiser, which was one of the rear guard, left her place in the line and dashed forward.

"Now we'll get 'em!" cried Frank.

CHAPTER XIII

END OF THE SUBMARINE FLEET

There were now opposed to the four remaining submarines, two American and one British cruiser and two British torpedo destroyers. Two U-boats had been sunk by the allied fleet and so far the submarines had failed to deliver an effective blow.

Lord Hastings now commanded his s.h.i.+ps to spread out a trifle more--this giving them more room to act while at the same time interposing an effective barrier against torpedoes before the transports.

Aboard these transports the men were straining their eyes to get a view of the battle and chafing at their inability to take a hand. And yet there was hardly a man aboard the transports who did not realize that in an encounter with a submarine, a troop s.h.i.+p nine times out of ten would come off second best.

Denied the privilege of taking a hand, therefore, they stood at the rails of the various s.h.i.+ps and cheered on the fighting vessels.

There was an explosion as a torpedo found the hull of the destroyer Halifax. The s.h.i.+p wabbled crazily in her course, then dashed forward again. Apparently she was not badly hurt.

A sh.e.l.l from one of the guns mounted by the first submarine, a moment later, landed squarely aboard the same destroyer and carried away her superstructure. Men fell to the deck dead or badly wounded.

"First blood for the Germans," said Jack to himself.

Apparently angered at this German success, the second British destroyer, the Angelic, darted forward and attacked the submarine with such abandon and effectiveness that she was forced to give the destroyer its entire attention. Twice the Angelic maneuvered out of the path of a torpedo, and then, with a well directed shot, put the submarine out of the battle. This sh.e.l.l caught the U-boat along side the conning tower. Iron and steel flew high in the air, and, descending, scattered death among the crew. Thus crippled, a second shot from the Angelic disposed of her entirely and she sank beneath the waves.

There were now but three submarines left.

"Great Scott! It's a wonder they don't submerge," said Frank. "Wonder if they think they can lick us?"

The answer came from the enemy. All three simultaneously launched torpedoes at the Lawrence. It was absolutely impossible for Lord Hastings to maneuver the s.h.i.+p out of the way of all three missiles. He did the best he could, but one of the projectiles penetrated the side of the s.h.i.+p and pierce the engine room.

There was a loud explosion from below. Lord Hastings turned to Frank.

"Go below and report," he said quietly.

Frank hurried away. Meanwhile, unmindful that the Lawrence might have received a vital wound, Lord Hastings pressed even closer toward the enemy.

In the boiler room Frank found confusion. Three men had been killed by the explosion. Half a dozen others had been wounded by pieces of flying steel or splinters, while several had been badly scalded by escaping water and steam.

Frank approached McMullen, the chief engineer.

"What's your damage?" he asked.

"Just what you see," replied the engineer, with a wave of his band.

"We're still able to proceed?"

"Yes, sir; and we are proceeding."

Frank could see that this was right. He went on deck again.

"Three killed and a dozen wounded, sir," he reported to Lord Hastings.