TOLD BY A VETERAN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2302, 9 November 1914, Page 8

TOLD BY A VETERAN

BOMBARDMENT OF SVEABORG HOW DECEPTION WAS PUNISHED .;■,/ (no. ii.) ■'~'■ ■;.' Mast«r-Gimuor H. Walton, now .of Waikanae, whoso interesting remiriis-. cencos of naval doings in the Baltic (during the Crimean war) commenced in Monday's Dominion, continues the talo from tfhere it • \vup broken off —at E'ronitadlp; where itlie British . Baltic Fleet had lain for many weeks,'with the Russian squadron bottled up under its land batteries at the ruouth of the Neva. ■'■ ' _"Whe]i we were all rather < Leartily tired of our enforced inaction,' the welcome news came to sail for Helsinßfors, and ; its fortified port, Sveaborg (some four ;niles from the city); Where we lay'there was ou our port 6idea large island densely covered with pine trees,-,-which, i was 'connected by a ncok of land'and a bridge to the mainland, arid which the glasses Tevealed to bo swarming with troops and guns. As we were lying near enough to the island for our men. to be picked off with the rifle, this state of things could not bo permitted for long. So an order was issued to several of the couvettes to steam round the island and blow awa.y the railway bridge. Now that we had caught the, Russian troops on the island like rats in a itrap, we began to shell the.island. The mortar-boats were placed in the first line, and the gunboats' in . groups of three, manoeuvred in circles, firing with each gun as' it came into position, and as they' were constantly on.the,move they could not ait night lie lit very .easily. It was a magnificent sight to.witness the 13inch shells fired from the mortar-boats describing a beautiful aro and bursting among the gloomy pines. We bombarded the I place for- two days' and nights, and so severe was the work that some of the mortars cracked, s.and several toppled over. In those tinies each line of battleships had a mortar-boat and tender gunboat attached to it, and the mortars were worked by relays of men from the battleships.- At last the forts were silenced and we ceased firing. ( A Surcharged Lunatic Asylum. , "One incident connected ,with the bombardment should •be recorded. On one large dome-shaped building was erected a big sign bearing the words 'Lunatic Asylum,' round which were assembled a large number of people. I suppose that according to humane principles an enemy should . have refrained from firing at it, but at noon on the second day one of the gunners took a pot shot at it, and the shell, flying true, at once exhibited the fact that the building was .'sailing . under false colours.' There was an 1 awful explosion, followed by another, audit seemed as though the very earth had been rent by an, earthquake.' So the price paid for the deception practised was a very dear one I'Peace Proclaimed,, ''Very soon after this peace was proclaimed, aiid we all set sail for Plymouth separately, not in squadron. On cur way home we made for Kiel, which at that time • belonged' to Denmark. We were racing another steamer, when, at about 3 o'clock in the morning; in the middle of a fog, we ran on to the Bornbolm (a big island off the south coast of Sweden). Whilst there, a practical joker stuok a stamp on the figure-head and a card labelled: 'Overland, via Dantzic,' which, was the usual way of directing letters home from the Baltic. If the skipper had- got hold , of that man there would have been trouble, as he was in a fearful temper. When daylight came we found that our jibboom was poking out over' some rocks, but by some miraculous intervention, the,vessel had run into a small alcove with rocks on both sides, but a sandy .bottom under our forefoot, j The lighthouse we discovered to be' directs ly overhead. > The keeper said that there was not another spot on that side of the island where-we could have run ashore in safety—it was the only land-ing-place on that side of the island— the rest of the coast being dangerously rcck-bound. Three, anchors were put out astern, and all the capstans were manned, whilst the rest of the hand€ ran in a body from side to side of the ship to,get her.'alive.' Then as she began to sway, •;; they, heaved at the capstans, and the spare men were ordered to run in. a.body fore and aft. Just as we began to move'the big hawser; got foul of the screw and pulled the engines up dead. Favoured, however,, by calm weather we managed to work her oft sufficiently to hoist the sails, and with their aid we were able to get out into deep water—just in time to see the steamer we had been racing heave in sight. When off the i I coast of England, we ran into what we' thought_ was' a well-lighted■ town, and the sailing-master dropped anohor. That saved usl. The town was.nought but a large fleet of fishing wnackß, and had we. gone on we would, have run on SMd-banks. We were out of our course j 250 :milesl' When we up-anchored the nest day:wo pulled up a.lotof nets full j of herrings, and there was a great to. do. among the fishermen, for whom we all felt sorry. When we got to Ply-! mouth Sound we were ordered to clean ship for the reception of the King of Sardinia, who was to inspect the vessel as one of the best ships in the Navy. ■ After that function we were given Bix- weeks' leave. On returning to tho Exmouth I heard that the Calcutta ' was fitting out for China, so I joined her/ Most of our officers went in her ■ also—Admiral Seymour, Captain King-Hall, Goring O'Callaghan, W'.-Kennedyi and Jimmy Rawson. Both of the two lattor officers became admirals later,on. Indeed we had a very aristocratic crew, and more so after Admiral (Sir Henry) Keppol lost the Raleigh in China. We also had Lords Douglas, Kilcousio, Lennox, and others.

Off to China. . i . "The Calcutta was a teak-built sail- ; ing ship of-84 guns (two-decker) with \ a crew of- 950 men—a splendid comfortablo sliip and a good sea boat. Af- ' ter wo left t'hp Oapo bound to tho China Sea's, and wero' about 120 miles ' off tho land wc encountered a tremendous galo. which made stockwhips of every sail, leaving us rolling' like a log at the mercy of the mountainous seas. The pip sounded "Hands Save Ship," but all we colld do was to.hold on. The shot got adrift about the deck 6, and every moment there was a danger of: the guns breaking adrift, and smashing through the side of the ship. Our main yard carried away and hung in the slings, so we were in a pretty bad way. The gale lasted . three days, and a week lator we were all taut again. Then, from ' one extreme to tho other, ' we struck the doldrums, not a breath of wind and', an oily smooth 6ea. Day after day passed with uover a puff, i until at last our wate; began to fail, arid we wore placed on short allowance. Our meat was cooked in salt water,''and our soup was made from it. Tho fresh supply was pumped up from below to a tank on the deck at 7 o'clock in tho evening, and when the pipe sounded ("Hands to drink," there was always a wild rush to secure a. good place. It was a curious sight to seb.9so men ranked from, end to end .of the deck, each with his pannikin, licking his dry lips in anticipation of the half-pint of ambrosial nectar he was to sup—if he had luck. Sometimes the deck tank would dry, Bfl before the lasfcj

! fifty wero served, and they had to go without. After three weeks in the doldrums up camo a broezo and dovvn camo tho rain in torrents. Tarpaulins, sails, and tubs were spread everywhere, and the attention of the whole crew was given to the conservation of water. Wo got so much that we bathed in some of the miniature lakes and washed all our clothes—it was a blessed dayi A Bargain with Lord Lennox. • "Then, cam ethe glorious trades, and we bowled merrily along with the spicy odours of the East growing in oui nostrils. One day young Lord Lennox asked mo to do a bit of a job for him, and.l bargained to do it for a bottle of wine and some pumpkin pudding (which the middies were going to have for mess that day). Lennox got the wine and glasses from the steward, cocked himself on tho gunroom table to unscrew the cork, when a big sea struck us on the quarterj and as the table was a telescope one, it-opened out, and that with the lurch of the ship sent his Lordship and the wine sliding into the scuppers..l.laughed nearly to bursting,,but bur wine was lost, and so was Lennox's temper. Still he wasn't a bad sort!" ', [The next article will relate experiences in India and China at the time England was experiencing trouble in those countries.]