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The plan that had been adopted by Britain for keeping the Atlantic route
open was briefly as follows:--All along the 3000 miles of the steamer
track a battleship was stationed at the end of every day's run, that is
to say, at intervals of about 500 miles, and patrolled within a radius
of 100 miles. Each of these was attended by two heavily-armed cruisers
and four torpedo-boats, while between these points swifter cruisers were
constantly running to and fro convoying the liners.
Thus, when the Aurania left New York, she was picked up on the limit of
the American water by two cruisers, which would keep pace with her as
well as they could until she reached the first battleship. As she passed
the ironclad these two would leave her, and the next two would take up
the running, and so on until she reached the range of operations of the
Irish Squadron.
No other Power in the world could have maintained such a system of ocean
police, but Britain was putting forth the whole of her mighty naval
strength, and so she spared neither ships nor money to keep open the
American and Canadian routes, for on them nearly half her food-supply
depended, as well as her chief line of communication with the far East.
On the other hand, her enemies were making desperate efforts to break
the chain of steel that was thus stretched across the hemisphere, for
they well knew that, this once broken, the first real triumph of the war
would have been won.
Five hundred miles out from New York the Aurania was joined by the
Oceana, the largest vessel on the Canadian Pacific line from Halifax to
Liverpool. So far no enemy had been seen. The two great liners reached
the first battleship together, and were joined by the second pair of
cruisers. Before sunset the Cunarder had drawn ahead of her companions,
and by nightfall was racing away alone over the water with every light
carefully concealed, and keeping an eager look-out for friend or foe.
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