The roll of the passengers ran in my mind and the catalogue of the loot, as I watched the bombing biplanes descend. They flew in straight for the ship and from below the first plane in line, a bomb was released.
Down and looping slightly forward, the bomb dropped and struck the water beside the ship. It dotted the sea with a spot of white; the white mightily erupted and upheaved. I watched the water no longer. I stared at the ship.
Its lights were out. That, I saw, before a saw it stagger. It swayed, swung and lurched to the right. The terrific shock of the ex—plosion first had registered on the electrical installation; then seams opened, the engines stopped, steering was smashed. Momentum only bore the Wotan on. With the lights, the radio likely had been wrecked; it could send no call for help, no appeal to the shore.
From my height overhead, I could see on
