Page:America Fallen!.djvu/174

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162
America Fallen

to starboard; a maneuver which was instantly followed by the Germans.

"Ha, ha," laughed an ensign, who, with his eye at the range-finder, was calling the distances into a telephone mouthpiece, "they don't want to come too close to our 14-inch guns; and as for the battle-cruisers, they are going to stay out of the scrap altogether; for at over 20,000 yards their 11's can never reach us."

"You are wrong there," said Lieutenant Carlisle, the spotter; "the German batteries can elevate to 30 degrees, which is just twice as much as we can. Their 11's have the advantage in range, carrying up to 26,000 yards, as a matter of fact. See that? They are trying a ranging shot at 21,000 yards."

And, sure enough, there was a flash from the forward turret of the Derfflinger, and thirty-five seconds later, with a deep moaning roar, a shell passed over