e coast. In full view now was the American fleet from which the
landing party had been set ashore---the battleship Tallahassee, the
cruisers Detroit and Raleigh, the destroyer _Farragut_ and the
submarine _Dewey_. The Tallahassee was lying broadside of the coast
with all her monster fourteen-inch guns ready for action.
Soon the U-boat had wormed its way safely out into the open sea and
was skimming along under the heavy fire of the fleet that was being
directed against the German coast fortifications. As the U-boat, with
the Stars and Stripes flaunting astern, moved outward, the fleet got
under way.
Notwithstanding the heavy German fire from the coast defenses the
American ships got safely away virtually unscarred in the battle.
Fifteen miles out at sea the captured German U-boat came up with
the _Dewey_. Jack had a joyous reunion with "Little Mack," Cleary
and Binns, Bill Witt, Mike Mowrey and all his other friends aboard
the reclaimed American submarine. And then he heard the complete
story of his rescue.
No sooner had the _Dewey_ appeared upon the, surface, following the
successful consummation of Ted Wainwright's plan, than she had
sighted the destroyer _Farragut_. The latter had heard Jack's call
for help from the German wireless station ashore and had come dashing
to the rescue. At first the commander of the _Farragut_ had considered
the whole thing a ruse on the part of the Germans to lure an American
ship to its doom within range of the powerful coast guns; but the
continued silence of the wireless station after that first frantic
call for help had convinced the destroyer's commander that the message
was genuine.
Along the way, while still attempting to speak the wireless operator
ashore, the _Farragut_ had picked up the battleship Tallahassee and
enlisted its aid. The latter had summoned the Detroit and the Raleigh.
It was while the _Farragut_ was searching for some trace of the sunken
_Dewey_ that the escaped submarine had suddenly shot to the surface
within a half mile of the destroyer.
When the Tallahassee, the Detroit and the Raleigh had come up, there
had been a conference and then the landing party had been resolved
upon. Two hundred and fifty bluejackets and marines had successfully
accomplished the landing and after a brief search had spotted the
wireless station and the U-boat village. The German submarine base,
it was noted, was located along the banks of a canal leading into
the
|