Under half steam three of the British
submarines, the _E-6, E-7_, and _E-8_ steamed toward the island
fortress, showing their hulls above water and followed by the two
detailed destroyers.
The mist thickened. Still more slowly and cautiously went the British
submersibles, and while they went above water, five of their sister
craft traveled under the surface. Here was the bait for the German
ships under Helgoland's guns. Would they bite?
The Germans soon gave the answer. First there crept out a German
destroyer which took a good look at the situation and then gave
wireless signals to some twenty more of her type, which soon came
out to join her. The twenty-one little and speedy German boats
bravely came out and chased the two British destroyers and three
submarines, while a German seaplane slowly circled upward to see
if the surrounding regions harbored enemies. Presumably the airman
found what he sought for he soon flew back to report to Helgoland. The
peaceful aspect of the waters to the east of the island immediately
changed, as a squadron of light cruisers weighed anchor and put
out after the retiring Britishers.
Before a description of the fighting can be given it is necessary
to understand the plan of the fight as a whole. Assuming that the
page on which these words are printed represents a map of the North
Sea and that the points of the compass are as they would be on an
ordinary chart, we have the island of Helgoland, half an inch long
and a quarter of an inch wide, situated in the lower right-hand
corner of this page, with about half an inch separating its eastern
side from the right edge of the page and the same distance separating
it from the bottom.
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