On the Sea

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8, 8 September 1915, Page 5

On the Sea

, A STUDY IN SEA GREEN. ! ' < ' 1.0. !■■■', ) i i vm <’ < ijt i/ j .. ■i • • •(! VISIT TO THE GRAND FLEET. • i • i > . . i > United Press ASSOCIATION*. ! London. September u. - ' Mr Palmar; 1 : cdntih«cs: At a®; imprtrtadt 1 Base'thbi'e > s line after liiie'hf painted the color of tlie sh'a, ' ! Queen Elizabeth, back from the .Dardanelles,' and the light cruiser squadron returned from scouting in the North Sea. The sea'planes had theii headquarters upon a, famous Atlantic liner. The presence of the Lion and Tiger in their places in the battle Squadron disprqved, story that the Tiger was at, the hottoiUj of. the sea. Whether in the turrets, on the bridge, or below 'deck, thhrh was a significant absence of' anything.' A vet 1 ! the minutest, not serving |i purpr)se in battle. With every passing month the fleet grows stronger and better organised to meet any The methods' of countering 'submarine attacks and destroying submsirines liave also developed beyond expectations. The navy’s hardest part in the war was in the early days when, >i was continually at sea looking for battle. Now it is securely ready, and can steam out to action immediately the patrols sweeping the North Sea report any signs of the enemy. Approaching the flagship I saw Admiral Jellicoe walking on the quarter-deck, with a telescope under his arm, keeping an eye upon all those grey monsters. He is quick of movement and speech, tanned by years of exposure and constant duty. Only a baud ot gold lace distinguished him from the other officers as he received his guests. The youthful appearance of Admirals Beatty. Sturdee ,and other squadron commanders was impressive. Admiral Jellicoe. at 57, was senior ,to them all. He is rarely without a telescope, and there is nothing which the officer of the l watch sees but Admiral Jellicoe sees also. He escorted bis guests throughout tiro flagship. The men were drilling, ami lie paid particular attention to the special machine giving the gunlayers ' firing practice and recording the results of each shot. The health of the bluejackets, is bettey than in peace time, because of the length of the period on board, the consistent regime, good food and ample exercise. The patience. thoroughness, energy and eagerness for the fray of every man on board was amazing. The officers declare that Germany’s chance, if any, was at tb(> outset of the war. She lias no chance now. AFTER HELIGOLAND. TOWING THE LION HOME. I ENEMY SUBMARINES FOILED. (Received 1.0 p.m.) / New York, September 7. Continuing his narrative, Air Palmer says: The officers on the Lion, which received the roughest handling of any major ship afloat, dwell on the difficulty they experienced in persuading Admiral Beatty after the action began to descend from his exposed position on the bridge where lie had an unhampered vision to the .protect-

ion of the conning slower. They gave a thrilling account of the Lion being towed home aWa rate of five knots an hour after The.) Blucher was > sunk, and of the destroyers foiling the shhnuiriifes’ efforts to reach the crippled i leviathan and ’ loihVte her. Her ill juries ai'e ' lid I'ongenHliVcei’M'hltC in 1 some plftcefThwShg 1 to till? ‘'reconstruction of a sedfjflif 7vvhWre 'a 'shell bursty hut they tiU evident elsewhere 'by patches over the damaged plates. A ivefy small percentage of. the German : shl*ilk’ hvt at' '(jhonsaml yards £tuHv stages of the battle. ... | -V' • iI . Jlh: l- ■ ■'y ■ " ■« OTIUIIi-,! I M':!•■!(; . THE TICHTi'NC SHIPS. ■ ■) ‘m- i . ■ |„. . ) : FEW OUTWARD AND VISIBLE ' . , SIGNS*, ;■,i I’M r>,< vldodpiti ‘ (Received 10 ; 25 a ; .m,) . ! ‘ London, September). §..11;., i'iAlr Palmer says further : ■The battleship Tiger hasifeweiMscats to fshowc The only l visible signs )6f the Queen; Eljzaheth’s experiences in thusDardanelles consist 61 a rough space of nowi pljanking inutile deok iwhere a shell>strnck and a deiibl-in»one<of 'the 115-i nob gin ns from a ; glancing’ shot. The Inflexible suffered less-Tin jury at the- Falklauds than at tlie Dardanelles, where she was struck by a mine ami was under heavy fire from the shore. 'I he only colour visible in that vast array of fighting ships stretching into the misty horizon or against the hackground of the . ha. her was the uniforms of the crews and occasional signal lings.

THE HESPERIAN. . t ; y ; i A GERMAN GOOD FAITH. AMERICANS INDISPOSED TO QUESTION IT. (Received 8.10 a.m.) Washington, September 7. Judgment ohm the sinking of the Hesperian has been suspended pending complete investigation. The officials are indisposed to question the good faith of the recent qualified assurance /of the German Government that commanders were ordered to attack no more liners without warning, WILSON SATISFIED WITH GERMAN ASSURANCES. WAS THE LINER ARMED OR WAS THE SUBMARINE WARNED? (Received 11.10 a.m.) Washington, September 7. President Wilson prefers to take Germany’s submarine assurances at their lace valine, and not to protest against the torpedoing of the Hesperian if it is disclosed that the German commander had' not been warned by his Government, or if thy Hesperian was armedi'

SUBMARINE VICTIMS.

HARRISON LINER SUNK. United Press Association (Received 9 a.in.) London, September 7. The- Harrison liner Dictator was sunk. The crew ol lorty-tno "oic landed. THE U 27 MISSING. ALLEGED SINKING OF SMALL BRITISH CRUISER. Received 9 a.m.) Amsterdam, September 7. Official; A Berlin telegram states that German submarine reports show that the U 27 about August 10 «ank a small Britisli cruiser of an old type, westward of the Hebrides, and that the twenty-seven had not returned and must lie regarded ns lost.