A NAVAL EPISODE

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1929, Page 3

A NAVAL EPISODE

THE GOEBEN AND BRESLAU. LURED INTO MINEFIELDS, e 0 STORY OF DARDANELLES. 1 (By “Airman” in Daily Mail). it was in 1917 'when the Germans 3 decided to put their all into an m--5 tensive submarine warfare, that they prepared to make a demonstration in the Mediterranean with a view to draw - ing some of the ships in home waters - away. Picked crews were sent over- ! land to Constantinople to man the late i German ships Goeben and Breslau, i which had been held in by minefields i sown around the entrance to the Dardanelles. I The island of Lemnos contained in the harbour two big battleships, the Lord Nelson and Agamemnon, light cruisers, destoyers, and •mine layers 1 sufficient to deal with anything that might stray through the Narrows, and in addition there was ashore a large aeroplane base for the erection and repair of all kinds of aircraft, with outlying stations posted on various small islands around,;- the chief of which was Imbros.. ..; The German ships were ready to come out, but 'there remained to be found the key to the minefield, and for this they adopted quite a navel ruse. A seaplane flying at no great height appeared over' Imbros. Immediately the “duty ’bus” went up ‘in, pursuit, and after a mild scrap forced the German machine down in the water very near the mouth of the Dardanelles. BRESLAU HOLED AND SUNK. It was always the British practice to save life wherever possible, and true to their maxim, a monitor, was despatched from Imbros Harbour to rescue ■the fallen foe. The Germans had counted on this, and high up in tlje air, almost a speck, another German machine was marking off the course which the monitor took as it went on its errand of mercy. . Under cover of a morning mist, when aerial patrol was useless, the two ships proceeded down the Straits and through the gates to the high seas. To their amazement they ran straight into a nest of chain mines. Breslau dragged them all around her, and was so badly holed that she sank. Goeben, seeing the fate other., sister ship, hung back and commenced her part of the strafe.” A broadside was fired .at the two guard ships in Imbros Harbour. Monitors XXIX. and Lord Raglan. The first salvo went too far out of the water.. All ships carried a code word, “Goblau,” which\told the fleet that Goeben and Breslau were out. Goeben had completed her first post when she, too,, made the acquaintance of the mine's and began to sink. She was nut about and rushed as fast as possible back again, but had to be beached just outside the Dardanelles. In the meantime two’ patroTlMig destroyers, hearing the gunfire, had hastened to the spot to find the cause, and were just in time to pick up the survivers of the, Breslau, 278 in number. Goeben had retreated and was for them “unplayable,” so they sent

out the code word and rushed to Mudros with the prisoners. WARNING OF MINES. The Lord Nelson and other ships in the harbour picked up the message and prepared to steam out, when another message was received from the destroyers that it was unsafe, to proceed as a German officer had reported that a minefield was laid around the harbour mouth and he did no. wish to be blown up again. Minesweepers were sent out and sure enough a large minefield was swept up which had been laid by submarine mine-layers. Ry the time the ships were able to proceed Goeben had been moved inside the nets to comparative safety.. It was now the turn of the Air Service, and loading with bombs everything that would fly we proceeded to rain bombs on the stricken ship. It was not an easy mauer, however, as in the first place Goeben was defensively armed for aerial attack by a 3-in. armoured deck and a supply of powerful anti-aircraft guns, supplemented by a whole host of them mounted on lighters and floated down from Constantinople. All outlying flights were recalled, and we asked aid from the military on the Salonika front, so that in the end we had something like IUO machines constantly flying over Goeben and raining bombs on her. Day and night for five days we refuelled and reloaded machines as fast as we could and sent them off again. Some big seaplanes we loaded with a torpedo and sent, them off, but these met; with bad luck. nOW GERMANS WERE TRICKED. On the fifth day a gale arose and flying was impossible, so we had our ..rst rest and took stock of the situation. It was early realised that the ordinary bomb was useless and a load of armour piercing bombs was sent for. Next morning these arrived from Malta, and a lught was sent off, but. ilas, too late. During the bad iveather the Turks had made frantic efforts. And these had resulted in the Goeben -eing refloated and towed up to Conitantinople, thus robbing the R.N.A.S. >f a chance to slioav what they could 10. Now here is Avhere our foes had nado their one blunder. Wien the enplane was brought down, as arrangid and the other ’plane ivas up aloft narking the course, the British S.N.O. md heartlessly sent out Monitor XXIX o the rescue—a small flat-bottomed essel—and she, instead of threading hrough the minefield, had gone over t, thus leading the big ,ships astray nd to their doom. |