The guns of HMS Dreadnought are silenced
This was something no one expected.
Xerxes would be the first to admit (and even Churchill would grunt his approval, I’d dare say) that by 1914 Dreadnought was no longer a bright, shiny new battleship. But by golly she still did pack a wallop. With ten 12-inch guns she was a very serious adversary to all but the most powerful warships afloat.
But, a dragon flies fast. When they’re angry – and the ones defending the Ark certainly were – they fly faster still. So quick you can barely keep your eye on them let alone a big, heavy gun. Kitchener told me after the battle the squadron of dragons had burst out of the Ark and circled above, whipping the sky into a tornado. Then down they came, their fire torching the ship. They weren’t going to melt it in a hurry, but it was getting hot and it was as bright as looking into the sun, so Kitchener said. A few minutes of this was enough to close-down the gun crews and everyone retreated as far as they could into the centre of the vessel, desperately hoping they weren’t about to be boiled alive.
When we were winched aboard after it was all over and all that remained of the Ark was some scattered flotsam, half of Dreadnought was black from the scorching.
The dragons had vanished. To where, I was only later to find out.
RS
