{"product_id":"2940013366640","title":"THE FIGHT FOR CONSTANTINOPLE A STORY OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA","description":"• Table of contents with working links to chapters is included\u003cbr\u003e• The book has been corrected for spelling and grammatical errors\u003cbr\u003e• New and improved version\u003cbr\u003e• Illustrated book with resized images for the NOOK\u003cbr\u003eUnder Sealed Orders\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Dick, my boy, here are your marching orders,\" announced Colonel Crosthwaite, holding up a telegram for his son's inspection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Marching orders, eh?\" queried Sub-lieutenant Richard Crosthwaite with a breezy laugh. \"Hope it's something good.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Can't get out of the old routine, Dick. I suppose I ought to call it your appointment. It's to the Hammerer. Why, my boy, you don't look very happy about it: what's up?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nothing much, pater,\" replied the Sub, as he strove to conceal the shade of disappointment that flitted over his features. \"I must take whatever is given me without demur——\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Of course,\" promptly interposed his parent. \"That's duty all the world over.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But at the same time I had hoped to get something, well—something not altogether approaching the scrap-iron stage.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, the Hammerer is a fairly old craft, I'll admit,\" said Colonel Crosthwaite. \"I've just looked her up in Brassey's——\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Launched in 1895, completed during the following year; of 14,900 tons; has a principal armament of four 12-inch guns, and a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch,\" added Dick, who had the details of most vessels of H.M. Navy and many foreign Powers at his fingers' ends. \"She's a weatherly old craft, but it isn't likely she'll take part in an action with the German High Seas Fleet, when it does come out of the Kiel Canal. Things are fairly quiet in the North Sea, except for a few isolated destroyer actions, and, of course, the Blücher business. Aboard the Hammerer—one of the last line of defence—the chance of smelling powder will be a rotten one.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In the opinion of those in authority, Dick, these ships are wanted, and officers and men must be found to man them. Everyone cannot be in the firing-line.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm not grumbling exactly,\" explained Dick. \"Only——\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Grumbling just a little,\" added his father. \"Well, my boy, you may get your chance yet. War was ever a strange thing for placing unknowns in the limelight, and this war in particular. Now buck up and get your kit together. It will mean an all-night railway journey, since you've to join your ship at Portsmouth at 9 a.m. to-morrow.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDick Crosthwaite was on ten days' leave, after \"paying off\" the old Seasprite. The outbreak of war had been responsible for his fairly rapid promotion, and having put in seven months as a midshipman on board the light cruiser Seasprite—which had been engaged in patrol work in the North Sea—he found himself promoted to Acting Sub-lieutenant.","brand":"Unforgotten Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082608165104,"sku":"2940013366640","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013366640_p0.jpg?v=1763580290","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013366640","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}