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“Inside? While they’re shooting?”

“While the cat’s away thethe world with the Fleet My boys are right there, learning their trade”

Powerful beaht bristled into the sky

“Searchlight exercise,” said Falconer “Battleships hunting destroyers, destroyers hunting battleships”

Sweeping sky and water, the searchlights suddenly converged on a battleship, previously invisible in the dark, and lit bright as noon a low-slung white hull hurling spray

“Look! That’s just what I’ve been telling you about That’s New Hampshire She wasn’t yet commissioned when the Fleet sailed Just finished her shakedown Watch what happens to her foredeck”

The searchlights showed seas breaking over the battleship’s bow and deluging her forward guns

“Decks awash in light seas! Guns underwater! Told you paint will be the easy part We need higher freeboard and flared bows Our newest capital ship has a ra to ith Phoenicians!”

Bell saave strike her anchor billboard and scatter in blinding clouds

“Noatch her on the roll See that ar?… Noatch it disappear as she rolls back and subes it If we don’t extend our armor to protect the ships’ undersides when they roll, the enemy will draft small boys to sink them with peashooters”

A searchlight swung their way, probing the dark like an angry white finger

“Goggles!”

Bell covered his eyes with the black goggles just in tiht Dynalass he could see clear as day

“Searchlights are as powerful as big guns,” Falconer shouted

“They’ll coe and blind the spotters”