{"product_id":"2940013935488","title":"The Boy Allies At Jutland","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eH.M.S. \"QUEEN MARY\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA great, long, gray shape moved swiftly through the waters of the\u003cbr\u003eThames. Smoke, pouring from three different points in the middle of\u003cbr\u003ethis great shape, ascended, straight in the air some distance, then,\u003cbr\u003ecaught by the wind, drifted westward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was growing dark. Several hours before, this ocean greyhound--one of\u003cbr\u003eGreat Britain's monster sea-fighters--had up-anchored and left her\u003cbr\u003edock--where she had been undergoing slight repairs--heading eastward\u003cbr\u003edown the river.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMen lined the rails of the monster ship. These were her crew--or some\u003cbr\u003eof her crew, to be exact--for the others were engaged in duties that\u003cbr\u003eprevented them from waving to the crowds that thronged the shore--as\u003cbr\u003edid the men on deck.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSharp orders carried across the water to the ears of those on shore.\u003cbr\u003eThe officers were issuing commands. Men left the rail and disappeared\u003cbr\u003efrom the view of the spectators as they hurried to perform their\u003cbr\u003eduties. Came several sharp blasts of the vessel's siren; a moment later\u003cbr\u003eher speed increased and as she slid easily through the waters of the\u003cbr\u003eriver, a cheer went up from both shores.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe crowd strained its eyes. Far down the river now the giant\u003cbr\u003ebattleship was disappearing from the sight of the men and women who\u003cbr\u003elined the banks. In vain, a few moments later, did many eyes try to\u003cbr\u003epierce the darkness. The battleship was lost to sight.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe vessel that had thus passed down the Thames was H. M. S. _Queen\u003cbr\u003eMary_, one of the most formidable of England's sea fighters. It was\u003cbr\u003ewith such ships as the _Queen Mary_, supported by smaller and less\u003cbr\u003epowerful craft, that Great Britain, for almost two years of the great\u003cbr\u003ewar, had maintained her supremacy of the seas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis great ship was new in service, having been completed only a few\u003cbr\u003eyears before the outbreak of the war. She was constructed at a cost of\u003cbr\u003e$10,000,000. She was 720 feet long, of 27,000 tons burden and had a\u003cbr\u003ecomplement of almost 1,000 men. For fighting purposes she was equipped\u003cbr\u003ewith all that was modern.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn her forward turret she carried a battery of six 16-inch guns. Aft,\u003cbr\u003ethe turret was similarly equipped. Also the _Queen Mary_ mounted other\u003cbr\u003ebig guns and rapid firers. She was equipped with an even half-dozen\u003cbr\u003e12-inch torpedo tubes. She was one of the biggest ships of war that\u003cbr\u003eroved the seas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe _Queen Mary_ was one of the fleet of battleships that had patrolled\u003cbr\u003ethe North Sea since the outbreak of hostilities. Already she had seen\u003cbr\u003eher share of fighting, for she had led more than one attack upon the\u003cbr\u003eenemy when the Germans had mustered up courage enough to leave the\u003cbr\u003esafety of the great fortress of Heligoland, where the main German high\u003cbr\u003esea fleet was quartered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt had been in a skirmish with one of these venturesome enemy vessels\u003cbr\u003ethat the _Queen Mary_ had received injuries that necessitated her going\u003cbr\u003einto dry dock for a few days, while she was given an overhauling and\u003cbr\u003eher wounds healed. True enough, she had sent the foe to the bottom; but\u003cbr\u003ewith a last dying shot, the Germans had put a shell aboard the _Queen\u003cbr\u003eMary._\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer damage repaired, the _Queen Mary_ was now steaming to the open\u003cbr\u003ewaters of the North Sea, where she would again take up patrol duty with\u003cbr\u003ethe other vessels that comprised the British North Sea fleet, under\u003cbr\u003ecommand of Vice-Admiral Beatty, whose flagship, the _Lion_, had taken\u003cbr\u003eup the additional burden of patrolling the _Queen Mary's_ territory\u003cbr\u003ewhile the latter was being overhauled.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAboard the battleship, the British tars, who had become fretful at the\u003cbr\u003edelay, were happy at the thought of getting back into active service.\u003cbr\u003eWhile they had been given an opportunity to stretch their legs ashore,\u003cbr\u003ethey, nevertheless, had been glad when the time to steam back into the\u003cbr\u003eopen sea had come. Now, as the _Queen Mary_ entered the mouth of the\u003cbr\u003eThames and prepared' to leave the shores of Old England for the broad\u003cbr\u003eexpanse of the North Sea, they sang, whistled and laughed gaily.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey were going back where they would get another chance at the enemy,\u003cbr\u003eshould he again venture from his lair.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47183948480752,"sku":"2940013935488","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013935488_p0.jpg?v=1763597502","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013935488","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}