Page:America Fallen!.djvu/167

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Seeking the German Fleet
155

of heated gases—and I remembered that the boilers below were oil burners. Immediately abaft the mainmast, another pair of those beauties—the 14-inch—showed from No. 3 turret, with their muzzles poised a few feet above turret No. 4, from which protruded three 14's. Truly a noble ship, her powers of offence, represented by ten 14's and twenty-two 5's, being matched by the massive armor, 13½ to 18 inches in thickness, the like of which was to be found in no other navy of the world.

Five hundred yards astern, with a white feather of foam curling from her shapely stem, was the Nevada, twin sister to the flagship. Astern of her, at the same interval, were the New York and Texas, carrying each a battery of ten 14's and twenty-one 5's.

A wonderful piece, that 14—the pet and pride of the officers and men. Down at