A VISIT TO THE GRAND FLEET

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2771, 15 May 1916, Page 7

A VISIT TO THE GRAND FLEET

COUNT .TOLSTOY'S IMPRESSIONS

TARGET PRACTICE IN THE

SNO^

(By Coiipt Alexis Tolstoy, in the "Times. 1 ') " • \

It all passed before bur eyes ' like a dream. In the evening we took out placerats'^j. special sleepingTCar. We, engaged, in ~ . "ersation' about trifles. That was not surprising after a! week of uninterrupted tanciu'ets.'.'reoeptioiis, reviews, ,calls, and interviews. .We.smoked till the air became unljearable,,and .then retired tQ our berths,' agreeably lulled by the rattle of the rain on the. carriage roofs.- ; .When morning broke' our . train was steaming, through the snowclad hills ofbcotland. ' Hero , and "there streams of water were -coursing -down tho. wfiite valleys.: Slowly a long viaduct passed, anil was hidden behind the hill; High up an old tower peeped • abovo'the ruined wall of a castle adorning- the crags. A stag ig"y. shifted, i'roni "the immediate vicinity of. the train, and, turning his antlers, gazed after us. At a deserted, wayside' station two Scotsmen in khaki stood regardless of frost and bare knees.. - They are a well-grown, '. incredibly hardy people. Like the ancient Romans they consider it a disgrace to wear trousers. Suddenly ahead of us appeared the sea. From the snowy, hills', we descended into a peen, damp-valley, and .stopped in an old: World,' clean-swept town, spaciously ■paved, composed of • two-storey dwellings built, as the custom goes in Scotland, of brownish-grey, stone.., Oh all sides wesaw bright gardens, comfortable cottages, - ana low -walls of stone 7/ v P ve £ the- stOl waters-of'the little' liar- ! bpur flocks of screaming seagulls whirled trucks carried all sorts of war material, hugs floats and ,wir<Mietting for the capture of submarines.;. A red-faced warrior With a-.turned-up nose and attired in the fashion of the days of Os'stan ' walked , backwards and-forwards .with filed 1 bavtaet .guarding"tho precious trucks, and the wind blow about the ribbons of'his' bonnet and the tartans of his kilt. Prom twS n i' 110I 10 ? 8 "" I ?'', depended a projectile which Joofad.as.tag- as the Scottish sen-' S- Slowly it began to descend into the hold ot a vessel where rows of similar pro ectil.es- were being laid! .- Hach 'ono'of . 0 ?^

The Guardian Warships'. Continuing its course our '. train freiil LZ 2 hT blo "-W-and fhe.'foam; ing waves broke merrily on. the weed-' grown rocks beneath us. On many a Been ,meadow the,sheep were' gracing! An old man was bending to", the plough while overhead a, swam of white gulls hovered over tho black furrows Clouds &** ■£? hiU f ** s a? -thri *''°^r,. obscur* rng tho sea-line and almost concealine .sguat forjns of the guS tJL SP ?!$ t]le time sitting in red-velveted-armchairs, at. the window* nanv u S S ° ar /H* wa? to a <=»*- pany us to the end of our journey" and back. Everythhig'had fieen arranged fo? our .comfort Wo had -only 'to 'converseand look out,of the .window. ' 8 The Senior Naval .Officer "iiet us at' SuTT' a , nd , to qk; us home to his cottage which stands in a garden'full "of shwfetf?,).^ 6 o« HmSs. ST! l pM i cd ' ea, ! k of us with a bunch of these flowers. After tea wo wandered about the'- seashore gazirig at the waters which, like everything in the' Aorth, the houses, the rooks,, and the mils, reflected a brownish-yellow tinge.' ■H,uge clouds loomed .in : the "distance over' rock-bound islands. The.'in-rushing tide moaned on the 'rocks'below!■•'"" ' '•', ? " In-the mornih s -our''-cap.taih; armed' with huge leather gauntlets," muffled ™ in a heavy scarf, offered, me a seat beBl , dß , n ™ i i n -Ws motorcar.. tye vent of the others, along a frost-bound causeway skirting the coast, 'towards a cove where we could'see tlie dark hull of a destroyer, whose captain was pacing tne shore awaiting our arrival. •-"-"■ . * thint that"such sailors .lived only in the pages of a novel? The peat of his cap slightly raised, he stood facthe keen wind in a light, jacket, an extraordinarily handsome . figure with e-yes the culour of sea .'water, his sunburnt shaven face breathing good nature arid energy. .In;two, years he had been absent on leave for only one day. Answering the question, "How -did he bear tho hardshipsof sea service complicated by constant hu'iits "offor". German he smilingly remarked that it was all easy enough if you took things cheerfully. .-.'•-.■ The others having arrived, we were invited to go on board the destroyer. Her men donned oilskins and . sou 5 -westers. The ...engines started, we' cast off our moorings, and the leaving her berth, turned' her' head ■ towards the wind and waves. Nabokoff, Choukovsky, and I hauled ourselves up on thie 7 bridge. Throughout the ensuing run we were drenched by the flying spindrift. Gazing aft I- saw the narrow snaky body of the destroyer settling lower in the waves as we speeded up. Thev crew on deck- were being freely dowsed. :We -were flying through, the water faster than some express trains travel on land. . . Trials on the Deep, Suddenly sue buried nor .nose and an icy wave swept towards the bridge. The captain ducked behind the black canvas screen and Temaineddry; the mail at the wheel did not move.. \Ve were trying to spit the salt water out of oar mouths. Choukovsky suffered'-most. liis fur'headgear resembled j the proverbial: drowned cat. He tried'to ,'ufn the matter off with a smile, but went below, and as he was descending tho gangway a ■ second wave . pinned him to--.the. : smoke-stack. Nabokoff turned green a"d begin to show j the v/hvtes of bis eyts, and meanwhile down bejow in the. w;rd i 00:11 Nemirovitch'Danchenko was upbraiding the sea in unmeasured terms f.nd criticising all destroyers. There :'was a t-jIV as Veil as a pitch in her movements. •"' -

On. our left- we opened up/some wildlooking rocks girt by foam. ' Tho clouds descended almost to tho sea, arid wet' Know began to fall. • Ahead we sighted some minelayers. The capialn gave an above us the searchlight began to speak while from the leading ship R stream of dots and dashes twinkled in response. ' We 'passed between the minelayers'. Further we sighted some small steamers which proved to be the guardians protecting the roadstead. Through an opening in this defence, we entered the quiet waters of a bay sheltering a multitude of auxiliary sTrips .supplying the squadron. Hero were hugo transports, hospital ships, painted white—a whole marine .city. Further stood lines of destroyers with their .cscortiug and leading ships. Porting our helm, we, turned a head land, whence through tho driving snow I' discerned a wind-swept expanse of water over which loomed a great cloud of smoke. Gradually wo approached within sight of the huge, grey profiles of superDreadnoughts. There were many—moro than I could count—and dense masses of smoke were issuing from each of them. . Signalling without searchlight, we approached one of them, lying motionle.»s like an iron island'on the foaming rea. Hor guns of inordinate length stretched their noses, far out of her 'turrets. Three flags denoting some signal ■were broken out at her masthead, and we, increasing onr speed, hurried after, two light cruisers. Their masts were landing, their sides were swept by the seas. Suddenly blinding flashes 'burst from their sides, followed by thunderous reports, and above the noise of the wind nnd the waves, I could hear tho hurtle Df shells through the air. Far away at the foot of tho targets arose huge columns of foam. Again the shots rang out. and tho water spouted. Only once did tun projectiles fly too. high. The cruisers stopped, firing. Cutting across our bows swept four' destrovers. We turned smartly and overhauled thorny keeping them abreast of us, and .all five vessels making full speed. The waves were now over the bridge, fna Hie falling snow blinded my eyes. But ■?pr very speed steadied the vessel. The four destroyers curtained in black smoke were going to attack, and. each one at top speed turned and shot hor torpedo.

I'qur.silvery paths showed their courso as" they sped towards" the mark".' Slowly returning, our destroyer came alongside the Iron Duke, proudly ityjng the Hag of the Commander-In-Uhiof. Oh. her immeiise snow-whitp quarter-deck Blood admirals and captains in the ljaudbohie- naval"'ujilioriu of "dark-blue rind gold.. ■ Tile junior officers looked the embodiment of alertness. < We ivero met by a. small man with a clean-shaven, attentive 'face and closely pursed lips. Cordiallj anu quietly no -tooE stock of us out of lii's sharp,'black eyes as'we, headed by Neni'irovich" Dancheuko, walkefl afong the quarter-deck. And it seemed to uj incredible tnat' this man : of slight statute who had just said a few-"pleasant wo'rdsj wlio seemed so simple and'modest, could'be' the most mighty man in the world, the'Couimander-iu-Chief of the Grand Fleet. Ho himself showed lis over the ship, asking each of ,us aliput 'Russia!'"and" then' topje us ii>to a roomy, well-fitted saloon where a bright lire blamed in the hearth and fresh flowers graced the tables, arid asked each of us to sign his'book. Himself, he willingly put his signature into' ii 'notebook purchased by ' Cuoi'iltovsliy—a modest signature, "Jphii Jellk-oe."