A BIT OF HISTORY


Up to this time the German Sea fleet, as a unit, had suffered
comparatively little damage in the great war. Sheltered as it was
behind the great fortress of Heligoland, the British sea forces had
been unable to reach it; nor would the Germans venture forth to give
battle to the English, in spite of the bait that more than once had
been placed just outside the mine fields that guarded the approach to
the great German fortress itself.

To have attacked this fortress would have been foolhardy and the
British knew it. The British fleet, powerful though it was, would have
been no match for the great guns of the German fortress, even had the
battleships been able to force a passage of the mine fields; and this
latter feat would have been a wonderful one in itself, could it be
accomplished.

Upon several occasions German battleships, cruisers and submarines had
ventured from behind the mine field and had delivered raids upon the
British coast, almost 400 miles away. How they escaped the eyes of the
waiting British was a riddle that so far had not been explained. But
while they reached alien shores in safety, they had not returned with
the same success. Twice the British had come into contact with these
German raiders and in each case the enemy had come off second best.
Several German cruisers had been sent to the bottom.

After occasions like these, the Germans would lie long behind their
snug walls before venturing forth into the open again. They held the
British navy in too great awe to treat it lightly.