FOUR GERMAN DESTROYERS SUNK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2284, 19 October 1914, Page 5

FOUR GERMAN DESTROYERS SUNK

BRITISH DESTROYERS IN ACTION NAVAL BATTLE OFF THE DUTCH COAST ' (Reo. October 18, 5 p.m.)' „ , London, October 17., lhe Press Bureau (states a Press Association Extraordinary message) 're* ports that a British, cruiser and four,destroyers sank four German destroyers off the Dutch coast. NEWS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED. The Prime Minister of New Zealand has received the following official message:— _ London, October 17, 7.35 p.m. • The cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the destroyers Lance, Lennox, Legion, and Loyal, engaged four German destroyers off the Dutch coast this afternoon. All the enemy's destroyers were sunk; The Undaunted is a light oruiser of 3750 tons displacement, launched thl« year, and having.a speed, of 29 knots. She carries two 6-inch and eight 4-inctt guns. The Lance, Lennox, Legion, and Loyal are ocean-going destroyers,completed this year. Their maximum trial speed is 29 knots. ' (Reo. October 19, 1.20 a.m.)' „~ . , „ , , London, October 18. Official.—One officer and four men were wounded in the engagement which resulted in the sinking of four German destroyers. The damage to the British vessels was slight. They picked up thirty-one Germans. ATTACKED BY GERMAN SUBMARINES BRITISH CRUISER HAWKE SUNK, ... „ London, October 16. A German submarine sank H.M.S. H»wke in the North Sea. Fifty-two survivors have landed at Aberdeen. The submarine failed to hit HM S Theseus. The following cablegram (dated London, October 16) has been received bv the Prime Minister of New Zealand:— . The Secretary of the Admiralty announces that the warship Theseus (7350 tons, built m 1893) was atacked by a submarine in the northern waters of the Aorth bea yesterday evening, but was missed. ■ The warship Hawke (7350 tons, built in 1893) was attacked at the same time and sunk. • _ Four officers and forty-nine men were landed at Aberdeen by a trawler* Ine remainuig officers and men are missing. • i. i9 f tne . r Et 's ar class of six ships, the oldest first-class cruisers in the British Navy, H.Al.b. Hawke was built in 1891. and was therefore twenty-three years old, and about to bo scrapped. The Theseus was also one of this olass these vessels carry 9.2 in. guns, ten 6in., twelve 6-pounders, and five 3-pounder guns, and have a heavy protective deck of armour from three' to' five inches thick, and steam 19 knots. The Hawke's officers (according to the Navy List published w August), were: Commander B. A. Prattrßarlow, LieutenantCommanaor 11. 11. ltosoraan, Lieutenant F. W. Clarkson. Lieutenant A B. G Coombs, Eng.-Lieut.-Coumiander T. M. David; surgeon; Gustavus W. M Cus*. tance. CRUISER SINKS IN FIVE MINUTES, (Rec. October 18, 10.30 a.m.) on, w i ',• "« ■ , ■ London, Ootober 16. Ihe Hawke sank in five minutes. The survivors escaped in one boat, whicl* was picked up by a Norwegian steamer, and were transferred to a trawler. THRILLING STORIES BY SURVIVORS. (Reo. October 18, 3.30 p:m.) •■ ■ London, October 17. VViien the war broke out the Hawke was a sea-training vessel for boys, Most of the crew were very young, and the complement included eight naval cadets, who only left the Dartmouth, the Naval College ship, in August. The skipper of the trawler Bensinness states that the torpedo struck the Hawke aft, near the engine-room, at eleven in the morning.- There was only time to launch one or two boats before the ship turned turtle. Some of the rescued, who had been adrift for five hours in an open boat, told him that they saw hundreds of men struggling in the 'water in cork jackets, l and hanging on to floats and rafts, but could dp nothing as their boat was packed. Other survivors state that the Hawke siglited a foreign trawler, and ,in accordance with instructions, approached with a viow to examining the ship. As she neared.tho trawler an explosion occurred, and the periscopo of a submarine showed above tho water. The explosion was so terrific that maimed men were blown into tho air. Plates wore twisted, and a lingo gap was torn in the side of the Hawke.. The ship canted to starboard with alarming rapidity. • The crew attempted to man the guns, hut owing to tho list it was impossible to train them on the submarine. ■ The Hawke was splendidly equippeed with life-saving apparatus, but it was impossible to get out tho boats. About two hundred of the crew got away on a ready-made raft. Thoir fate is xinkuown, but a 6team pinnace densely packed was seen to sink. Dr. J. H. D. Watson, a surgeon on the'Hawke, who was a well-known international football prayer, is missing, . (Rec. October. 18,' ll.fo p.m.) London, October 18. Survivors from the Hawke state that tho torpedo which destroyed her must have struck tho magazine. Fittings wore sent flying, and the explosion crumpled up two decks. The'Hawke heeled over on lier beam-ends, and the lowering of rafts and boats was almost impossible, most of them being holed as they wero swung overboard. The captain was on tho bridge when the ship was struck. His orders were promptly obeyed, and there was no sign of confusion. It'was bitterly cold after .the disaster. Tho periscope of the submarine was again seen, indicating she was on the' look-out for any cruisers coming to the Hawko's assistance. Rafts as they were freed from the ship gradually drifted apart. A survivor from tho engine-room says: "The explosion sent us flying. One cylinder was wrecked, the steam escaping in scalding clouds. The bugles sounded the summons to everyone. to romain at his post, but the order to abandon the ship quickly followed."

COMPARATIVE LISTS OF LOSSES BRITAIN. The following losses of warships liavo been sustained by Britain and Germany:— i ■ • ■. August .67-Scout-cruifier Ampliion, 3440 tons, ten 4in. guns; sunk by mine near the Thames; 120 lives lost. September 3—Torpedo-gunboat Speedy. 810 tons, two 4.7 in. guns; blown up by a mine off the east coast of England. September s—Protected scout Pathfinder, 2040 tons, nine 4in. guns; sunk by Gorman submarino off English coast. Heavy loss of life. September !)—Merchant-cruiser Oceanic (White Star liner), 17,274 tons' wrecked on the north const of Scotland. . ' September 10—Australian submarino A El; lost wit* all hands. September 20—Third-class cruiser Pegasus, 2135 tons, eight 4in. guns- disabled at Zanzibar by German cruiser Koenigsborg. ' September 22—Armoured cruisers'Cressy, Aboukir, and Hoguo, each 12 000 v tons, two 9.2 in., twnlvo 6in., twol vo smaller guns; sunk m the North 'Sea by German submarines. October 17—Cruiser Hawke, 7350 tons, two 9.2 in., ten 6in., seventeen smaller gujia; sU«JtiAjKa^S*<bj^ i G«aan^submarines, -

GERMANY. j-•■'■.' 'August ;Konigdn Luise, 1800 tonsj sunk off the Thames by destroyer Lance. ■ ■ • 'August'B (about)— Submarine Uls, 800 tons (?),, sunk by cruiser Birmingham. !■■"•■- August,2o (about)— Merchant-cruiser Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, 14,349 tons; l' : .--' '■'. ' sunk by cruiser Highflyer, south of Canary Islands. . '• ;. ' \ 'August 27—Cruiser Magdeburg^4soo tons, twelve 4.lin. guns; wrecked on ■'.' Odenshohn Island, Gulf of Finland, under fire of Russian ships. ■■ 'August 28—Battle of Heligoland Bight, Cruisers Ariadne, 2618 tons, ten 4.lin. guns'; Kohl,. 4280 tons, twelve 4.lin. guns, and Mainz, 4232 tons, twelve 4.lin. guns,,'and two torpedo craft sunk; others damaged. '■;■''"',' September s—Submarine which sank H.M.S. Pathfinder reported sunk. September Cap 14,000. tons; sunk by British - cruiser Carmania', off South American coast. ;■'■■ ■ September Hela, 2040 tons; ten small guns : ; sunk by British subi: '•• marine.. . '..i-.''..-.. ; ' ;.; September, 22rTr-Two submarines which' Bank Cressy, Aboukir, and Hogue sunk s;>,' ;:: v v in .North Sea. ;.;.. ■ "'.'■.'.•' ! '■-: October I—Destroyer sunk at Tsing-tao by forts. V, October 4—Destroyer 5126, 420 tons, sunk in the river Ems by British sub.marines. ; ''.:..... ■ October 1630 tons, eight 4lin. guns, and two gunboats •reported sunk at Kiao-chau. Unconfirmed.- ;''■'.-' October 10—Two submarines reported sunk in the Baltic Sea by Russian '~..- • cruisers. Unconfirmed. '',-.- October reported sunk by British destroyer. Unconfirmed. '.'-,!■ 'October 16—Four destroyers reported sunk off Dutch coast. yiv,:',-/. ■'>;:■■'■'■::■■ . ENEMY'S; SUBMARINES IN THE BALTIC. •'-:'. (Rec. October 18, 4.40 p.m.) , Petrograd, October 17. •'.' '■'.- V Official.—Owing to the presence of German submarines at the entrance to 'tfio Gulf of Finland, and adjacent to the Russian shores, the Russian GovernS; : . ment.has,mined the.month ofthe.Gulf of Finland and that of the Gulf or ' ■'; jtiga,..whence all traffic will be stopped.