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The vague loouns overhead indicated he was near its bow, and he quietly paddled alongside until he found the MAS He boarded, confirmed it was unmanned, and untied all but one line Then he inspected the ines he expected of the Italians He figured out how to start theot their fuel pu one of the oars, he paddled it sloay fro off the fog At the ines, each of which was as a loud as his old Locomobile

By the time he reached the narrowwas up, if not exactly what The confusion and still-ht hian firing rifles at hi across the water at nearly thirty knots He streaked past so more fire, some of it remarkably accurate Fourwas thinning, little thicker than a haze, and through it he saw colu after hiuns on their bows

The farther he got froher the seas, which slowed hiain At three miles, they opened fire, and all that saved hiet At twounco, which e, and soon the torpedo boats were close enough for hiuns

He peered ahead, straining to see se mast

A four-inch shell cut the air with an earsplitting shriek and splashed ahead of hione now There were patches of blue in the sky He could see the lead torpedo boat clearly and two behind it Another shell screeched very close by He saw it splash beside hi stone

The sky ahead turned blue, and it was suddenly divided vertically by a column of s of quick-firing 5-inch guns Shells streaked over him Splashes straddled the lead torpedo boat, and all three sheared around and fled for the coast

Now Bell saw his savior stea toward him At his and its conized the fauns of the 27,000-ton battleship USS New York

Within minutes, Bell had been hoisted to her e mast He presented hisRear Admiral Lowell Falconer, who seized it with his erly, and issued orders

Bell said, “I’ll give the range boys a hand sorting out landmarks”

A sailor half his age offered to help him climb the mast

“Thanks,” said Bell “I’ve been on one of these before”

The New York ’s 14-inch guns, designed by Arthur Langner, were ner’s acolytes They could be elevated to extraordinary angles, vastly increasing the guns’ range A fire-control system pioneered by Grover Lakewood’s team calculated the distance to the U-boat yard Salvos thundered High-explosive shells soared toward the distant coast

By now, the tide had risen Ger out of the harbor They were fast and heavily gunned, but their armor was no match for the battleship New York ’s, and they kept their distance until a brace of full-scale Gerhts appeared next on the horizon The sailors flanking Bell in the spotting top exchanged anxious glances

The Ger its target

At last, mountains of smoke marked the ruins of the U-boat yard Falconer ordered what he described to Bell as a “prudent withdrawal”