THE NAVAL RAID

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 188, 29 April 1918, Page 6

THE NAVAL RAID

I THRILLING NARRATIVE ISSUED BY {: ■ •'■'■-■' ADMIRALTY BRAVE WORK OF OUR SEAMEN j London, April 2G. :'.■.'■' The Admiralty hns issued a full nari 1 lativc of the" mid on Zeebruggo and Osi tend. It is full of thrilling episodes and experiences of the individual vessels i engaged and the storming' party on tho I mole.' • , Naturally, the most striking of these 1 nro the experiences of the- cruiser Vindictive and her attendant ferryboats, the ■ Iris and Daffodil/ As tho Vindictive lay alongside tho mole, rolling and bumping against the foundations, she was swept diagonally by machine-gun firo from both ends of tho' mole, and by the heavy batteries ashore. Tho landing • parties of marines and bluejackets gathi credon 1 tho main and lower decks. Tho ' commanders of both were killed before the word to assault was given. The men were magnificent-. They had !. to rush across the swaying and splinter- ! ing gangways, and drop over the.parapot I'. of tho breakwater into the field of fire of i tho German machine-guns; then there was ' a further drop of sixteen feet on to tho !.' ■ mole-itself: '-.'But-nothing stopped the i'.■'.■ orderly,' sweeping landing. I ■ '•' ■ Meanwhile tho lower deck had become i a shambles. The crew of a howitzer ; mounted forward were all killed. Tho i second crew were likewise destroyed, and a third crew took over the gun. Tho Daffodil, which was engaged in ■ pressing the Vindictivo against the mole, :■ only lost one killed and eight wounded. '■■:■' Meanwhile tli Iris, which was attempting to make fast to the molo ahead i' of the Vindictive, was in trouble, as her (■ grapnels were not large enough to span \ the parapet. • Two officers climbed ashore | and sat astride the parapet, trying to ■ • fasten the-grapnels, till both were killed. ! .. Tho.commander of the Iris had both legs 6hot off. , ,:. A single shell which pierced the upper i : deck exploded among fifty-six marines, killing forty-nine and wounding seven. i .. Another exploded in the wardroom, i which was used as a hospital, and killed | four officers and twenty-six men. Altai. gether the Iris lost 77 killed and 103 wounded; ' The storming and demolition parties on the mole mot no resistance apart from i tho intense and unremitting fire, the i Germans having, on the approach of the ! : ! fillips, retired to the shore end of the ! mole. The demolition parties carried '<■': out their work in perfect order, and de- ! stroy'ed building after building. i Blockships Approaching the Mouth of •"■■ ■ the Canal. : ' Meanwhile the blockships were stealing |. to the mouth of the canal. The Thetis '.\ came first, and steamed into a tornado :': of-shells from the shore batteries. The i, ■■.. bulk'of-the crew had already been taken '{: off. Unfortunately, her propeller fouled f\ the net defences,- and this rendered her ; ■'' unmanageable. The shore batteries i pounded her, and she was found to be 1 sinking while still hundreds of yards from the mouth of the canal. After signalling invaluable information, the com- '.-' mander blew up the charges, and sank her, and a motor-launch rescued the ' crew. The Thetis lost five killed and i five wounded. ' - :■'■ ' The Intrepid and Iphigenia'were more i ■'.successful. They steered straight into ;. the canal, and beached themselves ac-. :.' cording to arrangement, one on the j,'. eastern bank and the other on the western bank, where they were blown up, ! with [their sterns sn-etchiiig well out '. .across 1 the canal. . They are now lying !:■ across the canal, in such a position that ;' it-is probable the work they set out to do is accomplished,- and the canal is ef- I '. fectively blocked. A motor-launch j brought away the crows. ' !'• ' Officers describe the explosion of the !■ old submarine as the greatest they had ; over seen. It toro the jetty in half and ■ left a gap of over a hundred feet. ; ; The claim of, ono of tho launches to I. have sunk a torpedo boat alongside the i'. jetty is supported by many observers, inf eluding officers of the Vindictive, who ] had'seen her mast and funnel across the j"'' mole and noticed'them disappear. The North Star, one of the three destroyers which guarded the Vindictive ; against enemy destroyers while alongside : the nicle, lose her way in tho smoko Ncreen, and suddenly emerged into the !.'■ light of a starshell, and was sunk. ' The statement in. the German com- '■' muniquc that only., a few of the crew ' could be saved by the Germans is un- '• .'■ usually "accurate, fo'r'-thb -Phoebe and an- :,< other, of-these destroyers came up under i i heavy fire and rescued them nearly all. . Throughout tho operations monitors I ' and | siege-guns in Flanders (nearly, 30 .miles away) heavily bombarded the ! onemy's batteries. Wind Spoils the Ostend Attempt. A change of wind at Ostend served us! even worse than at Zeebrugge. Motorboats had already lit the approaches and '■ , the .ends of the piers with calcium flares, and made a smoke-cloud, 1 which effective- ;• ly hid the fact from tho enemy. When the wind changed, revealing everything, the. enemy extinguished the flares with ' gunfire. ■ This prevented the blockships finding the entrance,: and as they were; ; soon in a sinking condition they were compelled to sink themselves about four ' hundred yards cast of the piers. Motor- : launches removed tho crews.—Aus.-N.Z. , Cable Assn.-Reuter. : STATEMENT BY COMMANDER OF ■: VINDICTIVE 1 KEENNESS OP THE BRITISH i SAILORS. (Rec. April 2S, 5.5 p.m.) . London, April 26. Captain Carpenter, commander of the '■ Vindictive, states that the attack re-, (juired a largo number of men, wlio wore lwrrowed from many depots, and were only told that they were required for a hazardous journey. None refused. A • number on one snip, learning that they , were' to be left behind, declined in u mutinous spirit to qiut their ship. They ; had their way, and wore taken into action on ono of the blockships. Officers and men were intensely trained in fightI. ing and bombing, and all had been tuned ; to the highest pitch. On separating ; they passed Admiral Keyes, who signali' led, "St. George for England." Tho Vin- ' dictive'flashed back: "May we give tho \ dragon's tail a damned good twist." Captain Carpenter added: "Wo succeeded." i While Captain Carpenter was walking ! tho deck a bluejacket's arm was blown off. Waving tho other, ho shouted: "Jolly good luck, sir! Have wo \vonP"— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. I ADMIRALTY ORDER TO THE FLEET ; AN EXPLOIT HIGH IN THE ANNALS 01' THE NAVY AND MARINES. (Rec. April 28, 5.5 p.m.) London, April 27. • The Admiralty has issued the following order to the Fleet:—"Their Lordships express to all concerned in the gallant i'Jid successful enterprise oh tho Belgian coast high admiration of their perfect co- ■'' operation and single-minded determination to achieve their object. Discipline, daring, and a singular contempt for death were exhibited by those assigned to • the posts of greatest danger, which places this exploit high in the annals of (he Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, and will be a proud memory for the relatives of those who have fallen."—Aus.i N.Z. Cable Assn.-Reutcr. THE KAISER INSPECTS THE DAMAGE Amsterdam, April 20. The Kaiser visited Zeebrugge on Tues- ; day, and inspected the damage. Dur- ' ing his visit a British aviator dropped bombs. The German papers admit that , the English succeeded in nearly .blocking the whole passage, hut claim that submarines are still able to leave.—Aus.-N.Z. Gable Assn. ; ATTACK PREPARED FOUR TIMES ■Amsterdam, April 20. According to a Berlin telegram, tho ICaiser gathered an account of the fight ' from a captured British captain of marines, who said that the attack had been Srepared on four occasions, but was abanoned owing to the vigilance of the German outpost boats.—Reuter.