CHAPTER XIII
Kapitan-Leutnant von Hoppner's Prowess
"There are worse tasks than this," mentally observed Kapitan-LeutnantLudwig von Hoppner of H.I.M. torpedo-boat V201, as he went below tohis cabin. "Himmel! There is but little chance of destruction inthese waters, unless we have our orders to attack the Russians, butit is infinitely to be preferred to service in our unterseebooten.Thanks to our elaborate defences against those accursed Englandersone can enjoy a good night's rest afloat. It was indeed thoughtful ofmy friend, von Rutter, to get me transferred from the Cuxhavendivision to the Baltic."
Unfortunately for von Hoppner's good intentions his idea of having anundisturbed slumber was rudely shattered by the appearance of amessenger.
"What is it, numskull?" thundered the Kapitan-Leutnant.
"A signal from the flag ship, Herr Kapitan," replied the man. "Thearmed liner _Komoran_ has arrived from the South Atlantic withnumerous prisoners. We are to pass her through without delay."
Grumblingly von Hoppner resumed his recently-discarded greatcoat andmuffler, thrust his cap over his eyes, and made his way on deck andthence to the bridge.
"Well?" he enquired laconically, addressing a tall,cadaverous-featured unter-leutnant.
"The _Komoran_ is sighted, sir," replied the junior officer. "S19 hasjust signalled that she is escorting her direct to Stettin. Thistime, I trust, there will be no mistake."
Unter-Leutnant Schwam was referring to the case of a Germancommerce-destroyer that, having successfully evaded the Britishpatrols in the North Sea, was fired upon and sunk by Hun cruisers inthe Baltic under the misapprehension that she was an enemy vesselattempting to run the gauntlet. Since then elaborate precautions hadbeen taken to prevent a similar occurrence, one of which was thatcommanding officers of patrolling craft were to be on the bridgewhenever a German war vessel was passing through the cordon.
Having carried out his duties as far as the returning raider wasconcerned, von Hoppner was about to seek his bunk once more when avivid light flared from the surface of the water at a distance ofless than two miles from the patrolling torpedo-boat.
"Donnerwetter!" ejaculated the now furious Kapitan-Leutnant. "Am I toget no sleep to-night? How does that light bear, Herr Schwam?"
The Unter-Leutnant took a compass bearing and reported the result ofhis investigations to his superior.
"Then that is at Position 24," declared von Hoppner. "Our section ofthe defence, confound it!"
He rang for half speed ahead, giving instructions to theQuarter-Master to steer towards the burning calcium light thatindicated a violent disturbance of the steel net 40 or 50 feetbeneath the waves.
The "tell-tale" was an ingenious device consisting of a calcium-lightbuoy made of glass, so as to be practically invisible duringdaylight. On the under side of the buoy was a "friction-tube" ofsufficient strength to resist the power of the winds and currents,but at the impact of a submerged vessel with the net the buoy-ropeconnecting the latter with the buoy would put a strain on thefriction-tube enough to ignite the dazzling light.
As V201 proceeded towards the object of her investigations the watchon deck prepared the deadly "distance-charge" grapnel. Over the sternwas tossed a length of flexible wire rope, terminating in a cylinderof high-explosive and a barbed contrivance to engage in the netadhering to the trapped vessel. At first only 100 metres were paidout; the rest of the circuit, roughly twice that length, was woundround a drum.
"All ready aft?" shouted the Kapitan-Leutnant.
Receiving an affirmative reply, von Hoppner ordered speed to bereduced to that corresponding to five knots, and, since the moreslowly the grapnel was moving through the water the deeper it sank,the explosive charge was now in a position to engage the obstruction.
Suddenly there was a jerk on the wire rope. The petty officeroperating the hand-brake of the winding-drum allowed another hundredmetres to reel off before checking the revolving cylinder. Not untilthe third hundred metres was on the point of being reached did he jamthe brake hard on.
"Now!" he exclaimed tersely.
At the word a seaman pressed the key of the firing-battery. With adeafening roar a column of water leapt high in the air, accompaniedby a dense cloud of smoke. Then came the hiss of falling foam and theheavy plash of solid objects striking the surface as they droppedfrom great and varying heights. Then all was silent.
"Farewell, Englander!" exclaimed von Hoppner gleefully.
"Not much doubt about that, Herr Kapitan-Leutnant," added Schwamobsequiously.
"Let us hope we did the trick properly," rejoined von Hoppner; then,leaning over the guard-rail, he gave orders for the search-light tobe unscreened.
Although the calcium light had vanished in the terrific upheaval,there was no mistaking the locality of the explosion. Already withina radius of a hundred yards the surface of the water was covered withoil that gave a weird kaleidoscopic effect under the slanting beamsof the search-lights.
"Himmel, she carried an enormous quantity of oil!" remarkedUnter-Leutnant Schwam, as V201 steamed slowly round thesteadily-increasing circle of iridescent liquid. "It will beinteresting, when we send down the divers, to find out what type ofcraft she was."
Satisfied with the result of the preliminary investigations, V201switched off her search-lights. Before returning to his cabin vonHoppner drafted a dispatch for transmission by wireless to theofficer commanding the patrol flotilla. Then, his mind occupied withcontented visions of honours that were to be bestowed upon him forhis signal services, the Kapitan-Leutnant went below.
Soon after daybreak, lighters with diving-parties and spare netsproceeded to the spot. The divers reported the wreckage of a largevessel, evidently one of a new class of submersible cruisers of atleast 4000 tons displacement. Had the Hun authorities employedexperts for the examination, instead of taking the word of aseaman-diver, they would have modified their extravagant claim. As itwas, Berlin claimed the destruction of an enormous Britishsubmarine-cruiser, while von Hoppner had the Ordre pour le M?ritebestowed upon him by his wildly delighted Emperor, who also liberallyshowered Iron Crosses upon the torpedo-boat's crew.
A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War Page 13