Page:America Fallen!.djvu/55

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
The German Fleet Sets Sail
43

despite the recent reverses of Germany, the hearts of his people turned with faith unshaken.

After the Hohenzollern had made the circuit of the fleet, she steamed a couple of miles to the westward, and anchored. Then the ships of the Red fleet, composed of the eight dreadnoughts of the Thuringen and Nassau classes, the battle-cruisers, twelve light cruisers, and thirty seagoing destroyers, weighed anchor and saluted the Kaiser, as they steamed into the North Sea on their way to the English Channel.

When the flagship had passed the Hohenzollern, the admiral in command of the fleet opened his sealed orders, which read as follows: "As soon as it is clear of the English Channel, the Red fleet, avoiding the customary steamship routes, will proceed at slow speed to the Caribbean, reaching a position 50 miles to the south of the island of Hayti by April 5th. Here