THE FORMIDABLE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2387, 17 February 1915, Page 6

THE FORMIDABLE

: HOW SHE WENT DOWN

A BRAVECM}

•"EVERYONE PLATED THE • ... GAME" ' "They knew they wore'done for, but ■kept their 'line' to' tlie end, and. went down singing, "Tipperary.' which was taken up by us m the water as we bwam towards, the light cruiser." 11l the years of our sea supremacy no have grown, accustomed to, heroic naval deeds, hut few more glorious tales can over have been related than that of the loss of H.M.S.' Formidabe (says tbo "Daily Mail" of January 4). ffew Year's night found the battleship braving the Channel storm; the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" had - barely died; away before disaster overtook the proud ship and her 750 sruls The Formidable was weathering the storm with over 500 of her meii asleep when, at 2.20 a.m., a terrific explosion occurred. Hammocks and bunks were jerked up several inches by the shock. Had the missile found its billet,' in the words of a survivor, ' 1 'it would have been another' Bulwark—all blown to nngdom come." It missed the inagaiine by ten feet. But it'entered tho dynamo-room, and 1 all electric': lighting 'was put out of "action. • A more serious loss was .t'hat of the wireless communication. , ' ' •v/ '

Captain Loxley was on the bridge all through the ihree hours before the Formidable took her final plunge.. "Captain. Loxley combined a lovable personality with that business manner which has become a tradition among captains in the Navy. The crew worshipped him as a man-who* would hold impromptu lectures on the war and ,in every other way seek to get to their .hearts. But it needed this fearful night .to show Captain Loxley up in his true colours.

How Captain Loxley Cisd. : "He never ceased 'phoning orders from the bridge—orders that in my estimation saved scores of lives, and wlien I last saw him ho was still on the bridge, 1)19 arms folded, his features set. The nrst oraer given out directly after the explosion was .'All hands on the upper deck.' We knew this • meant we had been done down, but everyone played the game". Men were stopping to'salute their officers. They' swarmed up, some in 'pyjamas, and others with nothing, on at all. Some gave tlieir clothes to: wrap round the middies. It was the : middies first all the way, which .accounts; for such a large number being saved." , ' ■ : ; :<■ ,

■; Two 'minutes -after •. the -first 'alarm word came, from tho engine-room that , looding had begun and. no more steam :ould be got up. This was the .worst slow of all, .for the Formidable had more than a sporting chance of reaching a haven of safety had she been able to speed up. . ■ Lack of steam made itself felt 'even in the work, of getting .the Formidable's •boats away. The necessary 'steani for hoisting the. boats, clear was. lacking;. sothe order went forth,' "Man the piu - - chaae." This meant a body of. 200 men or-more making for the quarter-deck and each and every one giving ai hand with a will to the work of pulling ,the boats clear. Even the middies , ipiiied' in this operation. 1 ' ■ v, In the mountainous' seas the work of getting the boats away'was one. of al-* most insurmountable "difficulty.. '•Three boats were got.safely, away, so that it would appear that one has atill to be stcymnted for... The first swung clear was ; !he barge." it capsized, hurling its row of twelve into the sea. Two were .•ashed ;:on-- board- again and, savc-d, iiough in- a- sadly, crushed- state.■ ,!■.-■' . Meanwhile the gunners were ordered fa their-posts, and-here they remained, )o far as*is knom, until the end.- Be? fond the firing of distress signals, however, no. Teport was heard; Order on board was perfect. . Though the ship was by now tilting up at' ;.an angle which made,it difficult\ for'a man to retain his foothold,, .the . seamen went about their business in "working parties,"while those whose services were not needed'for: the moment, fell;in aad kept their line.. ' ...-;•... ...

Improvised Rafts, , These working parties were soon operating in every quarter of the ship. One was led by Lieutenant Hawthorne, Royal Marines.' Procuring his electric torch he called for volunteers _to .go down to the' messdecks and bring up tables,"stools,"'aid'' chairs to be used in the last extremity: Meanwhile the ship's carpenters wero tearing up the deck, making planks and improvising rafts by the dozen. .. . .... ..; ....

Another officer, a survivor relates, risked his Hfo in an effort to make certain that the ship's books should go down, safe 'and all. , Launched with her crew of twenty, cutter No. 1 made a perilous way round , to the port side. "Fifty men only! Now then, you fellows, play the game," ~ shouted the bo'sun up to the quarter-deck. The men made 310 violent rushes to the side. A sheer drop of 25 feet lay between them and the frail craft.

Down tiie side they swarmed, hanging on to ropes, blankets, and any article to hand, while others risked the jump. "No more," shouts the bo'sun. "Good luck, boys!" A similar scene was being enacted with cutter No. 2, when a second explosion occurred. Curiously enough, tlus served to lengthen the Formidable's lease of life. A moment before, tilted to a terrifying angle to starboard, _ it seemed as if she must capsize within, a few minutes. The rush of water into the port side had the effect of balancing up tho great vessel, though she lay now much lower in tho water.

A large percentage of thoso saved : were wearing patent inflatable waistKoasts, which are spoken of as being more efficient than lifebelts.

Tho spirit of the Navy stands repealed'in tho following incident, told by an eye-witness: • "We saw a passenger steamer through tho 'storm a few miles off, but refrained from communicating with her for certain obvious reasons, though in any case it would have been practically impossible for her to have rendered assistance to us."

The Formidable's end was hurried l>y her being struck thrice by terrific seas ■within the space of a minute. Soine 150: succeeded in swimming clear, and half this number were picked up by the light cruiser.

It was at this stage that the incident i ijuoted at the beginning of this descrip- ; tion- occurred; In the howling wind i. the strains of "Tipperary" went up , from the swimmers. The immortal ; words .were, meant to refer to the ! .cruiser',.a long way off for swimmerß in ? a winter sea, but, as events proved, in i reality near enough to get to the cxhausted men'withm tei} minutes or so. : Tho swimmers were hauled on board with ropes, wrapped in warm blankets, ; and given brandy. naotaln and His Dog. : A' survivor states that he saw Cap* ! tain Loxley on the bridge coolly" siriokI' in? a cigarette, and heard him say to 1 Lieutenant Simonds, who was superin- ; tending' the launching of the boats: ' "You have done very well, Simonds." Another sailor said the last words : ho heard Captain Loxley say were: j "Steady, men. It's all right. _ N r o i panic, men. Keep cool and be British. 1 , nere's tons of life in the old ship ■ yet." ' " | The captain's " terrier, Bruce t *11; i standinc by 'his side as Vie Formidable i disappeared*' v-.'-v l *'. -' - ...