H.M.S. HAWKE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 168, 22 December 1914, Page 7

H.M.S. HAWKE.

HOW SHE WENT DOWN.

SOME TIiIiJLLIXG TALES.

Thrilling stories are, told by the survivors of the British cruiser Hawke, torpedoed by a German" submarine in the North Sea. When the order, "All hands on deck" was given; the crew, as -one survivor says, "formed up calmly as if on parade," and the captain was standing on the bridge as his vessel went down.

Captain John C'ormaek, master of the Benrinnes, was fishing about fourteen or fifteen miles off' Peterhead when a Norwegian steamer came in sight and reported the loss of the cruiser and asked him to take the survivors on board. The men told' Captain Cormaek that the Hawke had been torpedoed by a submarine, and sank in five minutes. They saw the periscope of the submarine, which disappeared immediately after the explosion. The survivors escaped in a boat, which they believed was the only one to get away. Hundreds of men were seen struggling in the water in cork jackets and hanging on to floats, and they could do nothing to save them. The boat was overloaded. The survivors had been in the open boat for live hours. "We were steaming northwards when we were struck amidships," said one of the survivors, an able-bodied seaman. "It was on the starboard side and right •aft of the fore-funnel. The torpedo must have strcuk a ready magazine, for a terrible explosion followed, and the ship ■rose as if she had hit a rock. Everything was dust, and fittings were sent flying about everywhere. "There was no confusion. The officers behaved admirably, and so did the men, but there was little chance to do much for ourselves, admirably equipped as the Hawke, was. She had" 10 lifeboats and I don't know how many provisional rafts. There was little time to get them into the water, and as the Hawke swung over on her beam, the boats and rafts could -hardly be lowered. The one side of the ■ship was useless, and the other was dangerous. Most of the boats were holed as they swung overboard. The picket .lioat, the finest of the lot, was staved in and went down a second after touching the water. EVERY MAN" FOR HIMSELF. "The skipper was on the bridge, and had been all the morning. He gave orders to lower the boats, and the instruction was obeyed as quickly as could be. .Hut what could we do? The Hawke was standing at God knows what am.de, an- 1 it .was physically impossible to get tll3 boats out then. 'Every man for himself/ someone sang out, and we were all over the rails as hard as we could. "When I came to the top after my plunge, I taw nothing but a huge, bank of smoke. The Hawke was down, and all round were hundreds of struggling men—hands, arms, and faces bleeding! torn in the desperate struggle to get overboard—shouting for assistance, fn our boat there was only a few at first, but we rowed round and picked up as many as was possible until we ourselves in the, longboat were in danger of being swamped, "Hanging about, and even when rowing, it was bitterly cold. We waited for help, end once the submarine ro>v not more than 200 yards away. The .Norwegian vessel came and took a bunch of us on board, towing the longboat be liind- . . ..." "We were more than grateful. It was .the most awful experience I have ever .been through." "I was on the forenoon watch," said a stoker, "and the lot of us were enjoying ourselves. .Someone had struck tip a chanty, and everyone was joining in, when the Hawke was struck. Where she was hit, I don't know, but the shockvibrated violently through the ship, and immediately she started canting over. I rushed for the ladder, dropning my shovel, and made up for daylight as hard as ever I could. BITTERLY COLD. "I snatched a lifebelt, and plunged over the rail, and found myself with dozens of others who had done the same. When I came up, the. Hawke was settling down, and within four minutes she had disappeared. Most of the men must have been on her when she settled. I struck out in the bitterly cold water, and after a few minutes, noticed that , cue of the boats had been successfully launched. It came along—how long after I can't say—and picked me up. "Wo rowed about for a time picking up men until we were overcrowded, and then all of us tore off our life-belts and threw them to the lads in the water, but we could do no more. I had only my singlet, trousers, and a sweater on, and most of us were only clad in underclothing. On the horizon I noticed a boat that turned out to be a Norwegian, and she came too late to be of much use. She took our lot on board and a few more, were picked up. It was then nearly dark, so that we must have been in the boat for five or six hours. Afterwards a trawler hove in siglit, and we were transferred to her."