about five in the morning
We were at war . There was no craft near us , and our surface speed is nearly twice that of our submerged , so I blew out the tanks and our whale-back came over the surface . All night we were steering south-west , making an average of eighteen knots . At about five in the morning , as I stood alone upon my tiny bridge , I saw , low down in the west , the scattered lights of the Norfolk coast . `` Ah , Johnny , Johnny Bull , '' I said , as I looked at them , `` you are going to have your lesson , and I am to be your master . It is I who have been chosen to teach you that one can not live under artificial conditions and yet act as if they were natural ones . More foresight , Johnny , and less party politics -- that is my lesson to you . ''