And Atlantis had existed tomorrow, Justin Mader [snow like ashes TXT] 📗

large 305 mm guns, however, a quite respectable chunk. And it belonged to the expedition fleet, which should be sent down to the Dardanelles.

So, when I hired on the Irresistible, the competent paymaster-Maat asked me what was my profession. When I said, I am studying archeology and that I looked for the big things of life, he said, I should report me in one of the main battle turrets, because there I would find always something great.

Which was really true, because the interior of the turret was timbered actually huge and made as of Titans. So. I was officially set as Seaman, unofficially I was called by all the 'powder boy' of Turret A. Life aboard the Irresistible was tough but full of thick camaraderie.

In particular, I made friends with Corporal Paul Stanton who wearing the nickname 'Lance Jack-station'. He was in charge in the turret for the uncomplaining functioning of the two hydraulic rammers. He also wanted to know more of the world and life and had volunteered. However, he was for some time on this battleship. He was also there in 1914 when the HMS Formidable was sunk off the Isle of Portland by a German submarine and the British navy had to take their first losses. So, he had been able to gather a lot of experience.

I can still well recall the various extensive celebrations in the crew's mess after work, as Paul and I emptied many Groks. And I learned to know a new, but totally insane drink. It consisted of little English tea, some honey but a lot of vodka and whiskey too. Paul called it 'the Bear catcher' and actually we catched some of that 'bears'. Say, we often ended up under the table and, subsequently, several times in the Ship Brig. A dangerous but beautiful time in my life!

But now here we go, beginning in February 1915, we put out to sea towards the Dardanelles. We arrived so to February 15 there and already on 18 February we got the command to bombard the Turkish forts and coastal batteries in the Dardanelles. Here now in earnest we began really enrolled in our tasks and subjected to the military drill.

The guns were lowered to zero, the shutter was opened, even possibly was followed up by the 'wet stock', the ammunition elevator with bullet came through the lower tower Schott, was reloaded with the converter on trolleys pushed trolley in a circle for closure, with compressed air to piecing enabled the bullet pushed into the tube, the ammunition elevator came with the powder sacks the first, second, and finally up to the third charge, the bags were lifted onto the second trolley (that was my job) and then again with the rammer pushed into the barrel, lock closed, lifted the gun to the indicated, commanded elongation, then everything cleared to the side, the trolleys and especially yourself, then wait until the noise of the fire bell, then because of security reasons the lanyard also was pulled from the turret commander, a Lieutenant Commander, although in any case the triggering of the ignition command was carried out electrically. The two guns roared loudly, that almost you would become deaf and the pullback system flinched as if the gun barrels would strike through the rear turret wall, then the return means pulled back the guns to the starting position. Then the guns were lowered again to zero position, the shutter was opened ....

..... After all, we were given so that more routine and finally we managed a firing rate of about 3 shot in two minutes.

On March 18, 1915, we were trying to force the passage through the Dardanelles with a British-French naval unit. Slowly our flotilla went into the narrowness of the Dardanelles and began to bombard the Turkish positions. However, a sudden we heard a violent explosion so by about half an hour after four o'clock in the afternoon and a severe shock went through the whole ship.

First, a torpedo hit by a submarine was suspected. But as we learned soon, we were collided with a sea mine. Since the engine room now but slowly was letting in water on all sides, the vessels stopped and we could no longer remove out of the danger zone. And the other ships were in panic and before another submarine simply would hits them, they ran away. Although we fired further on, despite of Turkish back-burn, we received constantly opposing hits, whereas we never scored a single goal. Finally, the ship developed more and more a heavy list to starboard which the elongation of our guns finally could no longer compensate.

Finally, at 7 clock afternoon the order came: 'all man overboard'. Paul and I stormed out of the turret scots and jumped into the water. As a native American, I had no problem to dive into the water and swim away from the ship. But then I have to noticed frightened that Paul could not swim. So, the stories were really true that most English sailors could not swim!

Desperate and in panic I screamed: "Paul, Paul, so you have to move yourself and then it's easy to keep you afloat so!"

I tried to grab him, but he, my good friend and comrade, sank deep in the floods before my wide eyes. I tried to reach him by diving, but slowly the suction of the sinking Irresistible began impacting and I had great difficulties not to be swallowed up myself. When I emerged, there was nothing to see from the other comrades and only the muzzle flash of the Turkish cannons and the spray of the surf I could see. So, I swam toward it.

You can believe to me my boy it is very difficult to estimate distances, especially in twilight and in the beginning of the night. I had estimated the distance to the coast to be less than half an hour. But soon my muscles were burning and I was asleep close to it. But I kept telling myself before: "Go on, go on, I have to survive!" When I finally reached the beach after three hours, I was totally exhausted and I was too tired to make me thoughts over my fate.

When I saw leggings boots in the dim light in front of my face and noticed the flash of a down rushing bayonet, I thought only to my drowned friend Paul, screaming in panic without thinking further. "Paul, Paul, so please help me ...!" Then I suddenly heard the words: "Dur, Dur, onu Paramedik alir!" Then I fainted.

When I woke up, I saw myself in a white bed, wrapped in fresh clothes. A man in Turkish uniform entered the room, and spoke to me in English, but with a slight Greek accent. "Why you approached me with 'Paul'?" and as I stared at him in disbelief, after a long break: "Well never mind, drop it," he handed me his hand, "in any case, my name is Paul Schliemann!"

Time Flash!

1910 AD Saïs

"Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar,

Aschhadu alla ilaha illa llah

Aschhadu anna muhammadan rasulu illah

Hayyi ala ssalah

.....

Hayyi ala lfalah

Allahu akbar

La ilaha illa llah ma muchamed rasulu Allahu"

(God is the greatest, God is the greatest,

I testify that there is no God but God,

I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God

Come to pray

.....

Prayer is done

God is the greatest

There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God)

Sluggish the sun rose towards the sky, while the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.

Report of Paul Schliemann:

The small village of San al-Hagar, just south of Tanis was not particularly centrally located and we had borrowed a Horch and several four-wheel Bussing trucks of the German Consulate in Alexandria to ever can get up to here over this bumpy dirt road. After an extensive Arabian breakfast with lots of fruits and juices we were departed from our inn in San al-Hagar. As a hotel, really could not call this dump, although the food was not bad. We were a total of 20 men who we had traveled from Alexandria over Alexandreya far to Tanis. Besides my friend and nephew Paul Schliemann and I were another 18 archeology enthusiastic German follower from the Prussian Academy of Sciences had joined my reputation and my expedition too. The German imperial family had supported my expedition with financial resources. They probably had not even noticed that my father was already dead and still believed that my father would lead this expedition. Anyway, the name Schliemann still remains as a vital element.

The aim of this expedition was clear. The sentence in the last will of my father was "Break the owl headed vase. Keep an eye on the contents. It relates to Atlantis. Explore the east of the temple ruins of Saïs ...... Important. It proves the system."

And northeast of the small town of San al-Hagar now were just the excavations of Saïs. There a lot of statues were situated, especially statues of Ramses II, but we did not have to care about, because it was assigned from the 19th dynasty and thus the New Kingdom. East of the already developed excavation with numerous temples and "round fountain" or "reservoir holes" there were numerous Mastabas, of ancient Egyptian grave sites of local dignitaries.

We now had a lot of work ahead of us, because in the records of my father, there was no differentiation which of these Mastabas we should investigate. Fortunately, the German Empire has spare no effort and has given to us a new Russian-German invention, namely a seismograph. This device was invented by the Russian seismologists Galitzin in the spring to advance earthquake research. German scientists have finally discovered that if you even caused these shocks, for example by underground explosions, the reflections of shocks could also be measured by this instrument. Another finding was ultimately that different layers of rock sent back also different reflection waves and you could elicit therefore what is a rock in the underground. Thus, you could find well where cavities were under the floor. But exactly that was what we needed here.

We set up our equipment on, brought a few loads of dynamite to explode and, ... once had a precise map where the voids were among the grave sites. It turned out almost naturally that under any Mastaba, next to the 'chapel', or 'shadow grave' called, the actual grave plant was placed in a small chamber. At all the work was not necessarily a simple one, because we had to collect experience first with the equipment. You should not fall into the fallacy that archeology carries the whiff of adventure with it. Ninety percent of the activity of an archaeologist is hard work like to remove a centimeter layers of rock, to classify finds, to debris or stick it together, or to create statistical evaluations. But soon, so after three weeks’ hard work, a large cavity from the northern section of the grave sites was found there. After another test explosions, we could see a small but well-preserved Mastaba as access to this cavity.

"I think we have now found an important clue to our research, Paulie! Come, let us toast and celebrate the event!", I said to my nephew and looked up at his young muscular body. I knew he had a tight perfect body and he also knew to apply it as required. But in difference to me, he had not inherited my mother's Greek nonchalance. He was rather taciturn and determined and could not really enjoy his success. What I liked about him was his consistency and his tireless fanaticism, which he invested into the implementation of a problem. However, he also had brought with him the melancholy of his Russian ancestors, which are so much contradicted to the genes of my father. Consistently yes, but sadly, no that was not my father. Well, there were eight years of age, an additional birth and another mother between us.

Paul, who had brought me first to the invention of Galitzin, his compatriot, waved aside. "I think we should not rest on our laurels and continue working quickly. You have to remember that we are only at the beginning of our work. And you do know that our Turkish excavation license expires in six months. And then next year, who knows how world history