The Piping Times of Peace

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 146, 10 September 1927, Page 26 (Supplement)

The Piping Times of Peace

(Written for THE SEX by

FRANCIS YEW

APTAIN J. HOWEL.LPRICE, D.S.O , D.S.C., yJsJ who commands the steamer Somerset, which JMSSSrjZ'iI// sailed this morning from m'.; 'J<k the port of Auckland, cSSMKL-, finds life “very deadly” and "terribly tame” in these piping davs of peace. lie had four years dodging death in submarines during the war and found it “nice and lively.” His visit jto Auckland is of particular interest because of his association with the blowing up of the Mole at Zeebrugge and bottling up a Gerniaffi submarine base. Capt. Howell-Price says submarines hre the safest things in or on the sea—hard to ram, and very hard to sink, even if rammed. He was in a submarine which was hit by 6-inch shells and she got back all right. An “H” class submarine, under the famous Canadian, Captain Johnstone, was Struck by a German mine when 40ft below the surface and had her nose blown off, but she returned safely to her base. Capt Howell-Prit e was awarded the D.S.O. for his heroic work in the raid on Zeebrugge, where he was second in command of the famous C 3 under Diem. R. D. Sandford. The officers had four ratings with them in this desperate expedition, it was a volunteer job—men were not ordered to venture on so forlorn an enterprise—and the gallant, little company were bid an affecting good-bye by Admiral Keyes "For. of course, you know you will never get back, boys,” said the Admiral. Among the treasured possessions of the master of the Somerset is the

will he made an hour previous to setting out on the Zeebrugge expedition.

The C 3 rammed the shore end of the Mole at midnight of St. George's

Day, April 2, 1918. When Lieut. Sandford was satisfied she was jammed fast, an eight-minute fuse was lighted to fire the explosives on board, blow up 'the Mole and destroy communication. The crew then launched a dinghy and pulled seaward under a terrific fusilade from the shore. How they emerged from this fire was a miracle. The commander and two of the men were shot through the body, but the others pulled away seaward, and, by a most remarkable coincidence. they were rescued by a fast picket boat which was in charge of Lieut Sandford s brother. All the wounded recovered and were suitably rewarded. Lieut. Sandford receiving the V.C., and Lieut. HowelllTice tlic D.S.O. The C 3 had done

the job completely, and the destruction of the heavy guns on the outer Mole and the sealing of the mouth of the canal followed, bottling up the Germans completely. In speaking at the unveiling of the Zeebrugge Memorial on August 28, Colonel Stanghlanber, the Belgian iniator of the movement, said: “Here the British Navy wrote the noblest page of its history.” Four members of the crew of the C 3, who unveiled the memorial, received commemorative medals—two could not be there — Lt. Sandford, who is dead, and Lt. Howell-Price, who is now in Auckland on the Somerset. In the memorial the female figure arises from the smoke and points to England; in her left hand she holds the Victoria Cross awarded to Lt. Sandford. The D.S.C. was awarded Captain Howell-Price for having, as lieutenant of the Alcantara, taken part in the famous duel with the German raider Greif. To use a pun, the Greif came to grief. So did the Alcantara, for that matter. The Greif was a heavilyarmed and armoured merchantman, a sister ship to the notorious Moewe. She fell foul of the Alcantara ou February 29, 1916, and, after 40 minutes’ lighting, both ships were sunk. “It was a great scrap,” said Capt. Howell-Price, reminiscently. “There was no time to launch any of the boats that might have remained unsmashed, and the survivors of the Alcantara were floating about in the water for two hours before being picked up by the cruiser Munster. Sixty of a crew of 370 were either killed or drowned, and the German lost many of a crew of 400, the survivors aiso being rescued by the Munster —a good haul of prisoners, at any rate.”