Cooped up in their cage of steel, shut off from the outside
world of fresh air and sunshine, the crew of the _Dewey_ were held
prisoners like rats in a trap, dependent for life upon the air they
were breathing and the precious stores of oxygen in the emergency
tanks!
The next few hours were full of anxiety for the officers and crew of
the stranded _Dewey_. Several times during the morning the ship's
engines were set in motion and valiant efforts made to drag the ship
off the shoal. But each succeeding effort availed nothing, except
to eat up the precious electrical energy in the storage batteries.
In the petrol tanks was plenty of fuel for the engines, but it was
useless here on the bottom of the sea where only the electric motors
could be used in submerged locomotion.
Realizing the futility of these sporadic efforts at escape, Lieutenant
McClure decided to wait until one o'clock for another supreme effort.
It would be high tide at noon and he decided to make the great effort
shortly thereafter on the thin hope that he might get away with the
tide running out to sea.
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