Captain Raleigh for further orders,
and as the battle raged, he continued to fire one of the big 16-inch
guns--he and other unwounded British tars.
Frank had not seen his chum for an hour; and chancing to poke his head
into the forward turret, he was surprised to see Jack working like a
Trojan with the members of the gun crew.
"Good work, Jack! Keep it up!" he called.
Jack looked in Frank's direction long enough to wave his hand; then
turned back to his work.
Came a loud British cheer. "What's happened?" demanded Jack of the man
next him, shouting at the top of his voice to make himself heard above
the din of battle.
The man shook his head.
"Don't know," he shouted back, "unless the main fleet has been
sighted."
"We might have sunk one of the enemy," said another.
As a matter of fact, both men were right.
Two German torpedo boats had gone to the bottom almost simultaneously
under well directed British shots; and, far back across the sea, a
flotilla of battleships had been sighted.
Apparently the Germans had not yet sighted the British reinforcements,
for they continued to press their foes hard.
Four British torpedo boats had been sent to the bottom of the sea. They
were the _Tipperary_, the _Turbulent_, the _Nestore_ and the _Shark_.
The others gave slowly before the enemy; and a moment later two of
those sank--the _Sparrow Hawk_ and the _Ardent_.
There now remained facing the entire German fleet the _Lion_, the
_Queen Mary_, the _Indefatigable_, the _Marlborough_ and two torpedo
boats, the _Fortune_ and the _Alcaster_.
But the German losses had been great. The _Westphalen_ had been sunk.
So had the _Pommern_ and the _Freiderich_. The _Frauenlob_ had gone to
the bottom and the _Wiesbaden_, the new flagship, was badly crippled.
As another German torpedo boat sank, the Germans slackened their pace.
The British had a breathing spell.
But the battle was not over yet. The second German squadron had now
approached almost close enough to take a hand in the battle. Apparently
this Was what the German admiral was waiting for before resuming
operations.
It was plainly evident now that the Germans had sighted the approaching
British fleet, but at that distance they were unable to make out its
strength. The German admiral decided to continue the battle if he could
do so with any hope of success.
So, with the second squadron in range, he gave the command to advance
again.
The _Queen Mary_ a
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