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Then the wireless apparatus had suddenly got out of order and all further intercommunication among the American ships was cut off, while a few minutes later came the first torpedo explosions, followed by fountains of foam, the dazzling light of the searchlights and sparks from the falling shells.
Extraordinary to relate, the torpedo boat, without firing a gun, put her helm hard over, and started to steam away at her full speed, which I suppose was about seventeen knots. I actually began to chase her a submarine chasing a torpedo boat! It was ludicrous.
"No use wasting a torpedo on those fellows," said our commander. "We will use the gun on them." "How far away can you use a torpedo?" I asked. "Two hundred yards is the best distance," he said. "Never more than five hundred. A torpedo is pure guesswork at more than five hundred yards."
These were all heavily armed and armoured vessels, all of them capable of manoeuvering at a speed of over twenty knots. A dozen smaller protected and unprotected cruisers hung on each flank, and a score of destroyers and torpedo boats lurked in between the big ships.
In this instance the Hogue and the Cressy hurried to the spot whence the Aboukir had vanished and began lowering their boats. Hardly had they begun the work of mercy when a torpedo from the now unseen foe struck the Hogue and in twenty minutes she too had vanished.
But he did not lose his head, and at the same time maneuvered his ship out of the path of the torpedo. Came a hail from the lookout aft. "Submarine off the stern, sir!" At the same moment the battery in the Brigadier's turret aft burst into action. "Forward with you, Mr. Chadwick," cried Jack, "and see if you can't get better results there. The men seem to have lost their nerve."
And, Ito, if you love me, do not, for heaven's sake, forget to withdraw the honourable safety pin from the honourable fan before you honourably fire the honourable torpedo, or you will make no honourable hits this honourable night. Do you honourably take me?" There!
From the little we know of the structure of the human understanding, we must be convinced that an overpowering conviction of this kind, instead of tending to the improvement and moral amelioration of man, would act like the touch of a torpedo on all intellectual exertion and would almost put an end to the existence of virtue.
At the same time naval supports were hurried by all maritime nations to the scene, and within a short period 160 warships and 30 torpedo boats were assembled off the Chinese coast. The march to Pekin and the relief of the imprisoned Europeans are incidents still fresh in public memory.
The spare torpedo, destined for the vacant tube, was hanging overhead, when without any warning the hook on the lifting band fractured, and the 1,000 kilogrammes' mass of metal crashed down. Wonderful to relate, no one was killed, but two men were badly bruised, and Wiener has been very seriously injured.
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