Category: Historical Novels

Submarine U93

_In the following story fact is blended with fiction. The account of the Battle of the North Sea, in which the "Bluecher" was sunk, is as historically accurate as is possible with the details at present available. On the other hand, it would be well for the reader to know that...

Chapters

31. CHAPTER XXIX--Conclusion

There is romance in all things. No one will dispute, for instance, there is romance in war; but, it is not everyone that realizes that there is just as much that is romantic in...

10. CHAPTER IX--The "Dresden

Captain Crouch was a man who seldom--if ever--made up his mind in a hurry. It was his custom to consider every aspect of a question before he came to any definite decision; but,...

6. CHAPTER V--Dropping the Pilot

If we put away ghosts and such like--in which nobody nowadays believes--there is, perhaps, no more unpleasant experience in the world than to be shadowed. The fact that one's fo...

20. CHAPTER XIX--A Clue

It may seem surprising that our good friend Captain Crouch (who was very far from a fool) should have been gulled so successfully, and on no less than two occasions, by Rudolf S...

17. CHAPTER XVI--At the "Goat and Compasses

A few minutes later, Crouch himself mustered all hands upon the main-deck, when it was discovered that the dinghy had not returned, and that the sole absentees were Stork, the s...

24. CHAPTER XXII--By the Dogger Bank

From the railway station they drove straight to the central police station, where they found the inspector in his office. Scotland Yard had telephoned during the night that Stor...

7. CHAPTER VI--Captain Crouch

At about ten o'clock in the morning of the day the "Harlech" sailed, whilst Jimmy Burke lay in hiding in the hold among the packing-cases and boxes of cargo, Captain Crouch was...

30. CHAPTER XXVIII--The Wounded "Lion

As the battle rolled away in the distance, and the smoke of the great fighting ships grew faint beyond the southern skyline, Captain Crouch and Jimmy Burke remained standing tog...

27. CHAPTER XXV--Vae Victis

To anyone who has the slightest knowledge of the fighting ships of the world, the identification of the German Dreadnought cruisers is a comparatively easy matter. The ships whi...

9. CHAPTER VIII--A False Witness

It was the face of Rudolf Stork. It was the same face that Jimmy had seen on that other occasion when he had been discovered hiding in the cupboard in Rosencrantz's office--with...

13. CHAPTER XII--The U93

During the latter part of her voyage, the "Harlech" was not able to travel faster than eight knots an hour, whereas normally she was capable of doing as much as thirteen under f...

29. CHAPTER XXVII--The Battle of the Dogger Bank

The German Emperor had styled himself "The Admiral of the Atlantic"--a title that rested largely upon the power and seeming invincibility of such battle-cruisers as the "Seydlit...

5. CHAPTER IV--Shadowed

Peggy Wade was an American--which is the same thing as saying that she was possessed of considerable presence of mind. In the climax that now took place, she might easily have l...

26. CHAPTER XXIV--The Tables Turned

In all probability, there was not one of these men who had not been shipwrecked before. They were fishermen by trade, who earned their living at the peril of their lives amid th...

25. CHAPTER XXIII--The Loss of the "Kitty McQuaire

The submarine had made its appearance quite suddenly, rising in silence to the surface of the water, where the waves broke against the superstructure, which was presently the ce...

28. CHAPTER XXVI--The Titans

The U93 went to the bottom like a stone. On the surface of the water a modern submarine is as vulnerable as she is deadly underneath it. These boats, when compared to ocean-goin...

19. CHAPTER XVIII--"Mr. Russell

"Absolutely certain," said Crouch. "I don't imagine for a moment that the old woman's in league with a gang of German spies; else she would never have shown us up here. For all...

3. CHAPTER II--In Defiance of Authority

At the time of his father's death, Jimmy Burke was seventeen years of age. He was a strong lad and tall for his age, fair of complexion, with a direct look in the eyes and a res...

11. CHAPTER X--The Mysterious Message

No doubt we should always be prepared for the unexpected, but the fact remains that we very seldom are. In this case, the voice of Captain Crouch carried from one end of the shi...

23. CHAPTER XXI--On Board a White Star Liner

Whilst Jimmy and Crouch were travelling at the rate of about forty miles an hour upon the track of the Great Northern Railway, Superintendent-detective Etheridge was traversing...

18. CHAPTER XVII--Number 758

The more they thought about the whole strange, mysterious business, the more was it apparent that they were face to face with plain matter-of-fact. It was now obvious that the w...

16. CHAPTER XV--The Penitence of Captain Crouch

It can scarcely be denied that danger, and even death itself, are more terrible from a distance than when they actually stare us in the face. The truth is that, in moments of in...

8. CHAPTER VII--In the Hold

We know already that Crouch went on board that night, shortly before ten o'clock, and took over the command of the "Harlech" from Mr. Dawes, the Chief Officer--a blunt, plain-sp...

4. CHAPTER III--The World Plot

The office door was closed and Jimmy heard the key turn in the lock. Rosencrantz offered his guests chairs, and then apparently seated himself at his writing-desk. Of the conver...

15. CHAPTER XIV--The Doomed Ship

There was no need for the order to be repeated a second time. The men, who knew quite well what was coming, were only waiting for the word. Indeed, in one part of the ship, the...

14. CHAPTER XIII--To the Boats!

Even in broad daylight there is something about a submarine that is uncanny. The capacity to float half-submerged, the peculiar shape and the dull slatey colour of this latest t...

12. CHAPTER XI--The Middle Watch

Throughout the next few days Jimmy found himself in a veritable whirlpool of perplexity and doubt. He knew quite well what he ought to do, but could see no way of doing it. Hith...

22. part I know best is this same Well-bank, where the U93 is supposed to

be. And now, sir, here's the point; I've an old score to pay with Rudolf Stork; he's fooled me twice already, and if ever he does it again, this foot of mine's not cork. I know...

2. CHAPTER I--The Admiral's Sixpence

At the time of the Crimean war, and the bombardment of Sebastopol, an officer of the name of Burke commanded H.M.S. "Swiftsure," a ship which at one time approached to within po...

21. CHAPTER XX--Commander Fells

For reasons which are usually described as having regard to the public interest, and also because of the Censorship in war-time, it is not possible to relate in any detail the i...

1. CHAPTER XXIX--Conclusion

_In the following story fact is blended with fiction. The account of the Battle of the North Sea, in which the "Bluecher" was sunk, is as historically accurate as is possible wi...