Young Knights of the Empire Part 34

And not only should he learn swimming without delay, but also study the means he ought to take for saving a drowning man and for reviving him when he has got him ash.o.r.e. No Scout is too young for this.

I saw a case in the paper recently which is a fine example to other boys, where Frederick Delvin, eleven years of age, rescued another boy from drowning in the Surrey Ca.n.a.l, near the Old Kent Road bridge.

A small boy named George Spear was fishing in the ca.n.a.l when he fell into the water, and was on the point of drowning when Delvin, who had learned to swim last summer, jumped into the water and brought him safely ash.o.r.e, and thus saved his life.

Well, now, any Scout could do that, if he knew how and had the pluck, and I should hope that every Scout has that at least.

JACK TARS' PRESENCE OF MIND.

A serious disaster was narrowly averted at Dover in connection with a treat given to six hundred schoolgirls on the battleship _Albion_.

The children were being taken out to the battleship in boats in a rather heavy sea. A steam pinnace, towing two whaleboats, each containing about eighty girls, was rounding the Prince of Wales Pier, when the Government tug _Adder_ unexpectedly came round from the opposite side of the pier, bearing right down on them.

There was great excitement, as a disaster seemed certain; but the Naval men in charge quickly cut the second boat adrift, and the tug pa.s.sed between the two crowded boatloads. The boat drifted towards the Admiralty Pier until it was picked up and got safely in tow again.

That is the kind of "presence of mind" which every Scout should have.

HOW VAN TROMP'S BROOM WAS RAISED--AND LOWERED.

In "sea scouting," it will, of course, be necessary to know a lot of small as well as big things about our ships which the ordinary fellow does not know. Here is one. A man-of-war on duty always flies a pennant at her masthead--that is, a very long, very thin flag, which makes the mast look like a whip with a lash on the end of it. Here is the story of it.

In the old days, 250 years ago, Britain and Holland were both powerful nations at sea and rivals in commerce, but as we had command of the British Channel we made all foreign ships salute our men-of-war when pa.s.sing them.

One day, May 19th, 1652, a Dutch fleet of forty-five ships; under their great admiral Van Tromp, came sailing up the Channel, and pa.s.sed a British Fleet of twenty-three ships under Admiral Blake. Seeing how strong he was, the Dutch admiral declined to salute us. So our flagship fired a shot across his bows, as a signal to remind him of his duty; but Van Tromp promptly replied with a broadside into the stern of Admiral Blake's ship.

"That's very rude of him to break my windows," remarked Blake, and promptly ordered his small Fleet to attack the Dutch, although it was twice as strong.

The battle began at four o'clock in the afternoon, and went on hammer and tongs till after dark. The firing then lulled, and the British Fleet, having been badly mauled, spent the whole night repairing damages.

By dawn, although tired, they were all ready for a further go at the enemy, but as daylight came on they found there was no enemy to go for; he had cleared away in the night to less dangerous quarters. But only for a time, in order to get more ships, and a few days later he reappeared with something like eighty vessels.

This and a contrary wind proved too much for Blake's small Fleet, and though he made an obstinate fight of it, he was at last compelled to take refuge in the Thames, pursued by the Dutchmen.

Then it was that Van Tromp hoisted a broom at his masthead, as a sign that he had swept the British from off the seas. But he was a little bit "previous," as they say in America. The people in Britain rose to the occasion, and, instead of being down-hearted, they at once started to build a stronger Fleet, and trained men and boys--like sea scouts--to man it.

So soon as the ships were fitted out Blake put to sea with a Fleet of sixty, and went to look for the Dutchmen, and he soon found them.

Van Tromp, with seventy men-of-war, was coming up the Channel, guarding a large fleet of richly-laden merchant ships making for Holland.

The British, of course, went for this convoy, and it was a pretty tough fight, the Dutch merchantmen crowding on all sail to escape to Holland, while their men-of-war kept behind them, fighting stubbornly to hold off the pursuing British. It was a running fight, which was kept up for three days and nights, and at the end the British came home triumphant, having captured or sunk seventeen of the enemy's men-of-war and thirty of his merchant ships.

Van Tromp had to take down his broom.

HOW THE WHIP WAS HOISTED.

It was in June, 1653, that the two fleets finally came together for the deciding bout. Both countries had seen that a big naval fight must come sooner or later, and both had gone on building ships as hard as they could to meet the danger.

When each fleet was about ninety ships strong, they met at sea.

Unfortunately Admiral Blake had been laid up in England with an old wound, while the Dutch fleet was under three of their best admirals, tough and plucky old sea-dogs all of them--Van Tromp, De Witt, and Ruyter. For a whole day the two fleets were engaged, both sides hammering away stubbornly and well, but by nightfall neither had gained much.

Next day they went at it again, and if anything the advantage was beginning to rest with the Dutch, when suddenly, in the afternoon, a fresh ship came banging its way through the rear of the Dutch fleet.

It was Blake!

His return seemed to put new life into the British. They went at it again with all their might. They boarded Van Tromp's ship; he blew her up and escaped to another; but in the end, with his fleet shattered and broken, he had to make his retreat under cover of night as best he could.

The British thus remained masters of the Channel, with eleven good Dutch men-of-war as prizes and eight more of them sent to the bottom.

Then it was said that Blake's pennant was the whip that had driven outsiders from off the seas.

THE LOSS OF THE "C 11."

Whenever a British submarine goes down there is a tale of gallantry to relieve the sorrow of it.

"C 11," on her way to join the Fleet display in the Thames, was run down by a steamer which came suddenly upon her in the night.

A submarine, as you know, is a long, tube-like boat, shaped like a hollow cigar, with one trap-door on the top leading to a small look-out tower. She runs along with this tower above water until she gets near to an enemy's ship; then the trapdoor is closed, and she sinks herself down below water, and runs under the ship and fires a torpedo into her in pa.s.sing.

I was on board a submarine not long ago, and when I was down in her dark, narrow inside, surrounded with a tangle of pipes and engines of every kind, I could quite picture to myself what the inside of the whale's belly must have looked like to Jonah. Also I could picture the hopeless feeling of dismay which must come over a crew of thirteen men boxed up in this small vessel if an accident occurred to her.

A SAILOR HERO.

The crew of "C 11" were all below, asleep, when the crash came; and the boat rolled sideways, and then sank down under water almost immediately. On the turret were Sub.-Lieut. Watkins and Able-Seaman Stripes, who were navigating the vessel.

Lieut. Brodie, the commander, was below at the time; but at the collision he at once realised the danger, and first shook up some of the sleeping men, and then sprang up the hatchway to see what was wrong. Few were able to follow him before the vessel sank heavily down.

The next minute the survivors found themselves in the water swimming for their lives.

Sub.-Lieut. Watkins, being fully clothed and in his big sea-boots, had great difficulty in keeping afloat, and was in immediate danger of drowning, when Lieut. Brodie came to his a.s.sistance and held him up until, fortunately, their plight was seen from neighbouring vessels, and they were picked up just in time--both being completely exhausted.

But Lieut. Brodie never let go of his comrade in order to get a better chance of saving himself. He had the true spirit of a Scout in him in Being Prepared to give up his own life in the attempt to save another.

If ever you find yourself in a position of difficulty or danger, keep your head, think what is your duty, and do it: remember how it was done in the case of "C 11." When sudden death and darkness were all around, the officer kept cool and full of courage.

FISHERMEN HEROES.

A terrific gale sprang up one winter in the Orkney Islands, away to the north of Scotland. Three fishing smacks were out in it, and ran for shelter into a narrow channel between two of the islands.