Читать книгу Into the Abyss. Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World онлайн

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The railway lines ended at the very stern where there were four mine-laying doors cut in the hull. The mines, on their trolleys, were simply pushed out of the large doors - dropping down into the water.

The trolley was very heavy and immediately sunk quickly. The buoyant mine, was secured to the trolley by a long chain and cable, which had been cut to exactly the right length for the waters it was to be deployed in. The buoyant mine would be anchored to its trolley about 30 feet beneath the surface, deep enough not to be wasted on small vessels but at a depth where it would only be struck by larger, more precious ships with a bigger draught.

The loading operation had gone smoothly at first but then someone spotted that a fire had broken out aboard her. At first frantic attempts were made to extinguish the flames, but without success. Despite the efforts of the fire fighters the flames spread remorselessly and it soon became apparent to those aboard that the fire could not be controlled. A red glow grew in intensity, lighting up the darkness of the night sky.