THE EAST CO AST-NAVAL RAID

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2757, 28 April 1916, Page 5

THE EAST CO AST-NAVAL RAID

OFFICIAL DETAILS GERMAN SQUADRON MAY BE INTERCEPTED By Telegraph—Preßß Association—Copyright London, April 26. Official.—The bombardment of Lowestoft and Yarmouth began at 4 in the morning, and lasted for half an hour. In spite of the enemy using heavy guns, • th« damage was relatively slight. The convalescent home, a swimming bath, e. pier, and forty dwellings were extensively damaged, and two hundred dwellings slightly damaged, while two men, a woman, and a child were kil'ed, and three people;'were seriously, and one slightly, wounded. Can They Reach Port? The enemy bombarded Great Yarmouth 'simultaneously. A large building was ignited and seriously damaged, and another was slightly injured by shel 1 . fire. I , ■ ■ 'Experts are of opinion that the squadron of battle-cruisers consisted of the Derfflinger, Lntzow,, Moltke, Seydlitz, and Hindenburg, accompanied by, light cruisers of tho Eniden class, and that the raiders came from Cuxkaven and Borkum. ... The public aro speculating on the possibility of Admiral Jellicoe cutting oif the raiders before the finish of their twelve hours' return journey. The general opinion is that the Germans have a great advantage in the largo fleet of Zeppelins, acting as scouts, accompanying the naval force. A destroyer which previously played a prominent part-in the North Sea was in the thick of the Lowestoft fight. A shot penetrated her. engine-room and four men were scalded. . So far, the British casualties approximate twenty-five. I. ' • . i—, RAIDER'S SIGHTED OFF VLIELAND. -. ' ■ , Rotterdam, April 26. The German raiding squadron was seen off Vlieland on Tuesday morning, steaming east, and preceded by Zeppelins. Twenty ships were counted, and { heavy firing was heard to seaward. ATTACK BY UNSEEN RAIDERS AT LONG RANGE (Reo. April 27, 9.25 p.m.) London, April 26. Reports from Lowestoft state that, tho enemy's ships were not seen, and must have fired at long range. They appeared'to dash along the coast from north to south, firing as rapidly as possible in the short time at their disposal. At Yarmouth the people flocked into the streets, regardless of the danger, and even scrambled /for souvenirs of shells during the bombardment. THE GERMAN REPORT OF THE RAID FATE OF THE TRAWLER KING STEPHEN! . (Rec. April 27, 9.25 p.m.) Amsterdam, April 26. A German cflicial communique 'states: "After bombarding with good success Yarmouth and Lowestoft, our warships shelled the enemy's airmen, small cruisers, and destroyers, causing a big fire_ on.one cruiser, sinking on© destroyer and two patrol boats. The latter included tho King Stephen, which refused to rescue the crew of Zeppelin' Ll9. Wo took prisoner the King Stephen's crew. Our ships returned undamaged. "We sank a British auxiliary vessel off Zeebrugge, and took prisoner tho crew." [The trawler King Stephen sighted and approached a crippled Zeppelin (Ll9), which was then lying in a sinking condition ou tho surfaco of the water. Its crew were standing alons the upper surface of the envelope, and asked to be rescued. The captain of tho King Stephen refused, basing his- refusal on tho objection that had he done so the rescued Germans would have greatly outnumbered the. trawler's crow, who were unarmed, and the rescue therofore would have amounted to a sut render of his vessel to the enemy. Tho German Press made a great outcry about the incident at the time.]