ON THE QUEEN ELIZABETH

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3978, 10 July 1915, Page 7

ON THE QUEEN ELIZABETH

HIT TWENTY-THREE TIMES.

EFFECT OP SHELL EXPLOSIONS.

A great deal has been written ot the share which the Queen Elizabeth has taken in the attack on the Dardanelles, but very little lias been beard from the ship's company. A 'o’ d r From one of the principal officers of the great battleship was received m Auckland this week bv a relative.

The power of her guns to hurl giantshells across the Gallipoli Peninsula has. apparently not enabled the Queen Elizabeth to avoid' the. attacks of all meaner weapons, for the letter states that she had been hit- twenty-throe times. The damage caused by the Turkish shells was, however, of only minor importance, and repairs were effected by the ship’s artificers.

The letter was written - with a reservation that it could not he used to communicate any news. Great care has been taken to maintain secrecy regarding the movements of the ship, and when she left England, relatives of her officers were told that she was proceeding to gunnery trials. Letters intended for members of her company have to bo addressed to the G.P.0., London.

’ An interesting description of the effect of heavy gun-fire is given by the officer. He states that the effect of a shell actually-striking the ship is not nearly so great as the explosion ot shells in'tho water. When -a, shell bursts near the - ship the explosion causes “Big Lizzie,” as she is. now affectionately known by tho colonial soldiers, to shake in all her great bulk, nrd the vibration is most distressing. The shriek of an approaching shell causes a, general ducking of heads, although the projectile's may pass far beyond the ship.