the funnel of
the leading trawler and smothered her decks with smoke. When a temporary
shield had been rigged it was observed that one of the other patrol
ships had been crippled by a direct hit and was in a sinking condition.

It now became evident that the superior speed and gun-power of the
submarines enabled them to keep out of range of the trawlers' weapons
and to ply their long-range fire with telling effect.

The officer in command of the patrol at once realised the mistake he had
made when opening the action, in betraying the power of his own guns
before he was sufficiently close to the enemy to ensure hits, and he
cursed this want of foresight which looked like costing the life of the
flotilla. Given one direct hit on each of his two powerful opponents and
they would in all probability have been put out of action, but instead
he had only the mortification of seeing every shell fired fall short,
while his own vessels were being battered to pieces by the long-range
guns of an enemy with whom he could not close.

The withholding of fire while hostile shells are bursting around is one
of the many severe strains imposed on the human mind by modern war, and
in anti-submarine tactics it often means the difference between victory
and defeat, which, followed to its logical conclusion, is generally life
or death.

One hope now remained--that by skilful manoeuvring the trawlers could
be kept afloat until help arrived; but in those wastes of sea no vessel
might pass for many hours, and even then not a warship.

Such is the working of Fate: the leading trawler of the unit was to have
been fitted with wireless while under the approaching refit, and with
its aid patrol cruisers or fast destroyers could soon have been brought
to the scene of operations.

Thirty minutes later the crippled ship, the junior member, gave three
defiant shrieks with her syren and slid under the surface with her
colours flying. For over two hours the others manoeuvred to get one on
each side of the submarines to enable them to get the few shells
remaining in their magazines home on the target, but so great was the
disparity of both range and speed that at five in the evening nearly
half their crews were dead or wounded, and a little while later the
ice-cold water closed over the leading ship. Still the other fought on,
but as dusk closed over the sea she too went down in this obscure
fight.

No search for possible survivors was made by the s