Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

6 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

H.M.S. " VINDICTIVE."

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

H.M.S. VINDICTIVE." A Gallant Ship Rides to a Glorious End. In the War Supplement" a week or two ago we gave the story of the great part played by H.M.S. Vindictive in the St. George's Day attack by British Naval Forces on Zee- brugge. Battered almost into shapelessness by German shell fire, the gallant ship was still able to return to her base. Treasure her as an inspiration," people said. But the Admiralty found a more splendid service for her to perform. They filled her with cejnent. and ull the morning of May 10th she steamed across it he North Sea for the last time—to be sunk in the fairway of Ostend harbour, where she lies in such a position that she partly blocks the channel used by the German pirate craft, and makes their passing a I hazardous business. The story of how Vindictive finished her work is finely told in an Admiralty narrative. A Fiery Picture. Fifteen minutes before Vindictive was due at the harbour mouth, the signal for the monitors' great guns and those of the Royal Marine Artillery in Flanders to open fire was given. Two motor-boats, under Lieut. Darrei Heid. R.N.R., and Lieut. Albert L, Poland, R. N,. dashed in -towards the ends of the high wooden piers and torpedoed them. There was a machine-gun on the end of the western I pier, and that vanished in the roar. Uver the town a flame suddenly appeared high in the air and sank slowly earthwards—the signal that the aeroplanes had seen and under- stood and almost coincident with their first bombs came ithe first shells whooping up from the monitors at sea. The surprise part of the attack was isprung. Up till the moment when the torpedoes of the motor-boats exploded there had not been a shot from the land. The motor-launches were doing their work magnificently. These pocket-warships, manned by the R..N.V.R.. are specialists at smoke production they built to either hand of Vindictive's course the likeness of a dense sea-mist driving landward with the wind. It blinded the observers of the great German batteries when, suddenly, upon the warning of the explosions, the guns roared into action. There was a while of tremen- dous uproar. Star-shells spouted up and floated down, lighting the smoke banks with spreading green fireS; and those strings of luminous green balls which airmen call flaming onions soared up to lose them selves in the clouds. "Vindictive" Cropes About. Through aU this stridency and blaze of con flict: the old Vindictive," still unhurrying. was walking the lighted waters towards the entrance. It was then that those in the des- troyer- became aware that what had seemed to be merely smoke was wet and cold, that the rigging was beginning to drip, that there were no longer any stars—a real sea fog had come on. The destroyers had to turn on their lights and use their sirens to keep ill touch with each other the air attack was suspended; and Vindictive" found herself in gross darkness. ";r, Motor-boats to eitner side oi ner were supplied with Dover flares—enormous lights capable of illuminating square miles of sea at once. "Vindictive" put her helm over and started to cruise to find the entrance. Twice in her wanderings she must have passed across it. and at her third turn, upon reach- ing the position at which she had first lost, her way, there came a rift in the mist and she saw the entrance clear, the piers to either side, and the opening dead ahead. The inevitable motor-boat dashed up, raced on into the opening under a heavy and momen- tarily growing fire, and planted a flare on the water between the piers. Vindictive" steamed over it and on. She was in. Found by the Enemy Cuns. The guns found her at once. She was hit every few seconds after she entered, her scarred hull broken afresh in a score of places, and her decks and upper works swept. The after control was demolished by a shell which killed all its occupants. Upper and lower bridges and chart-room were swept by bullets, and Commander Godsal ordered his officers to go with him to the conning tower. They observed through the observation slit in the steel wall of the conning-tower that the eastern pier was breathed some 200 yards from its seaward end as though at some time a ship had been in collision with it. Imme- diately after passing the breach Commander Godsal went out on deck, the better to watch the ship's itioveiiieijt,, he chose his position and called in ,through the slit of the conning- tower his order to starboard the helm. Vindictive responded she laid her bat- tered nose to the eastern pier and prepared to swing her 320 ft. of length across the channel. It was at that moment that a shell from the shore batteries struck the conning-tower. Lieut. Sir John Alleyne and Lieut. V. A. C. Crutchley, R.N., were still within Com- mander Godsal was close to the tower outside. Lieut. Alleyne was stunned by the shock; Lieut. Crutchley shouted through the slit to the commander, and receiving no answer (the commander had been killed) rang the port engine full speed astern to help in swinging the By this time she was lying a,t an angle of about 40 degrees to the pier and seemed to be hard and fast, so that it was impossible to bring her farther round. After working the engines for some minutes to no effect, Lieut. Crutchley gave the order to clear the engine-room and abandon ship according to the programme previously laid down. Engineer-Lieut.-Com. Wm. A. Bury, who was the last to leave the engine-room, blew the main charges by the switch installed aft; Lieut. Crutchley blew the auxiliary charges in the forward 6-in. magazine from the conning-tower. Those on board felt the old ship shrug as the explosive tore the bottom plates and the bulkheads from her she sank about 6 ft. and lav upon the bottom of the channel. Her work was done.

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