7 A Strange Naval Battle

Anhwe was a strange name for a battleship. This ship was the only American naval vessel that fought until it ran on dry land. The Anhwe was built in the 1860s but never saw action until many years later, when a massive underwater earthquake occurred right off the coast while it was traveling. Gigantic waves heaved the ship onto dry land, where it was grounded along with several other boats. The Anhwe was helpless and was tempting bait for looters who came on the scene to plunder the shipwrecked boats.

When the looters tried to climb aboard the ship, the crew beat them off with much difficulty. When the crew knew they were in trouble, the captain ordered the gun crew to load the cannons. However, the sailors were unable to reach the cannons, which were stored below in the twisted wreckage of the Anhwe.

The captain’s clever solution was cheese. He ordered the sailors to bring up a basket of hard round balls of cheese, which he thought would serve as a substitute for the cannonballs. Fed with this “ammunition,” the captain ordered the cannons to be fired. Balls of cheese hurtled over some of the bandits, and when another mob charged at the ship, Captain Alexander ordered the cannons to be fired again. When the first round was fired, the mob retreated wildly. After this victory, the Anhwe was safe, but it never made it back to sea. It was gallantly listed in the Navy’s records as “lost in action.”

7 一场奇怪的海战

“安怀”是战列舰的一个奇怪名字。这艘船是唯一一艘打到搁浅在陆地上的美国海军舰艇。安怀号建于19世纪60年代，但多年来从未参战，直到有一次它航行时，海岸附近发生了一场巨大的海底地震。巨浪把船推到了陆地上，它和其他几艘船一起搁浅了。安怀号孤立无援，成了前来掠夺失事船只的劫掠者的诱人目标。

当劫掠者试图爬上船时，船员们费了很大力气才把他们打退。当船员们意识到自己陷入困境时，船长命令炮兵组装填大炮。然而，水手们够不到安怀号扭曲残骸下方存放的大炮。

船长的聪明办法是用奶酪。他命令水手们拿来一篮坚硬的圆形奶酪球，认为这可以代替炮弹。装好了这种“弹药”，船长下令开炮。奶酪球飞过一些匪徒，当另一群暴徒冲向船时，亚历山大船长再次下令开炮。第一轮“炮弹”射出后，暴徒们疯狂撤退了。这场胜利后，安怀号安全了，但再也没能回到海上。它被英勇地列入海军记录，标注为“在行动中失踪”。