H.M.S. AUDACIOUS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2445, 26 April 1915, Page 6

H.M.S. AUDACIOUS

REPORTED IN COMMISSION 1

DAMAGE REPAIRED

Concerning the many mysterious ports which have been circulated regarding H.M.S. Audacious, the "New. i'ork Herald" of February 14 says; "The Audacious, one of Great Britain's finest and most powerful battleships of the super-Dreadnought class, will rejoin the Grand Fleet next week. She will lea\e the shipyards of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, without a flaw, in ber hull or armament.

"In the light of the news received here, tho Audacious, although badly crippled either by a German torpedo °r mine, was not sunk. With her wounded hull bound in collision mats, and the gaping hole below the water-line adequately plugged, she remained afloat, an d was safely guided into dock. When the Audacious appeared to be foundering, following the explosion t ii r j keel, a swift inventory, or the damage wrought was made by the engineers on board and also by experts from other naval craft, which soon were alongside. At first it was believed that the great fighting ship was doomed. Almost before the echoes of the tremendous explosion had died away the collision mats were overboard and lashed over the hole left by the explosion. Meanwhile sandbags were piled' into the ragged aperture from within, and with an elaborate system of bulkheads the tremendous inflow of water was practically cut off. "By this time, of course, the great vessel had shipped an enormous quantity of water through her torn bottom, and was very low in the sea. It was w this condition that the photographs were made that depicted her in what was believed to be a sinking condition.

"At first it was decided to' tow the wounded battleship into the Laird Shipbuilding Yards at Birkenheaed, a suburb of Liverpool on the other side of the Mersey. Prom Lough Swilly, oa the Irish coast, where the disaster occurred, to Birkenhead, however, is a run of 190 miles._ The crippled condi« tion of the Audacious, upon further examination, was believed to be too seri« ous to permit of sucli a run. ' It was accordingly decided to tow the vessel into Belfast,. 140 miles nearer, being about 50 miles from the mouth, of Lough Swilly.

"It is believed that of her orew of 1000 men, few were killed qr injured by, the explosion on board the Audacious. Those who were not taken from the vessel by the boats of the_ cruiser Liverpool and the smaller British war craft Which stood in close to the Dreadnought after she showed signs of distress were taken off in the Olympic's boats and those of the battleship herself."