THE FORMIDABLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 220, 24 February 1915, Page 2

THE FORMIDABLE.

HOW SHE WEXT DOWN. A BRAVE CAPTAIN. "EVERYONE PLAYED TIIE GAME.' : "They knew they were don? for, but kept their line to the end, and went down singing "Tippcrary," which was taken up by us in the water as wt swam towards, the light cruiser." In the years of our sea supremacy we have grown accustomed to heroic naval deeds, but few more glorious tales can ever be related than that of the loss of H.M.S. Formidable (says the Daily Mail of January 4). New Year's night found the battleship braving the Channel storm; the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" had barely died awav before disaster overtook the proud ship and her 750 souls.

The Formidable was weathering the storm with over 500 of her men sleeping, when, at 2.20 a.m., a terrific explosion occurred. Hammocks anil bunks were jerked up several inches by tlie shock. Had the ijiissile found its billet, in the words of a survivor, "it would have been another Bulwark —all blown to kingdom come." It missed the, magazine by ten feet. But it entered the dynamo room, and all electric lighting was put out of action. A more serious loss wan that of the ,'ireless communication.

Captain Loxley was on the bridge all through the three hours.before the Formidable took he plung". "Captain Lofley combined a lovable personality with that business manner which has become a tradition among the captains of the Navy. The crew worshipped him as a man who would hold impromptu lectures on the war and in every other way seek to get t.o their hearts. But it needed this fearful night to show Captain Loxley up in his true colors. HOW CAPTAIN LOXLEY DIED. "He never ceased phoning orders from the bridge—orders that in my estimation saved scores of lives, and when I last saw him, he was still on the bridge, his arms folded, his features set. The first order given directly after the explosion was: 'All hands on the upper deck.' We knew tlii-3 meant we had been done down, but everyone played the game. Men were stopping to salute their officers. They swarmed up, some, in pyjamas and others with nothing on at all. Some gave their clothes to wrap rcund the middies. It was the middies first all the way, which accounts for such a large number being saved.

Two minutes after tha first alarm v/onl came from the engine-room that flooding had begun and no more steam could be got up. This was the worst blow of all, for the Formidable had more than a sporting chance of reaching a haven of safety had she been able to speed up.

Lack of steam made itself felt even in the work of getting the Formidable'*, oats away. The necessary steam for hauling the boats clear was lacking, so the order went forth, "Man the pur'chase." This meant a body of 200 moil or more making for the quarter-deck and each and every one giving a hand with a will to the work of pulling the boats clear. Even the middies joined in this operation.

In the mountainous seas the work i'f getting the boats away was one of almost insurmountable .difficulty. Three boats were »ot away safely, so that it would, appear that one still has to be accounted for. The lirst swung clear was the barge. It capsized, hurling its crew of twelve into the sea. Two were washed aboard again and saved, though in a sadly crushed state.

Meanwhile, the gunners were ordered to their posts, and here they remained, so far as is known, until the end. Beyond the firing of distress signals, however, 110 report wns heard' Ol'dW '?9?.T'i IV ?.'5 perfect. Though the ship was now tilting up at an angle which wade it difficult for a man to retain his foothold, the seamen went about their business in "working parties," while those whose services were not nscded for the moment fell in and kept their line. IMPROVISED RAFTS. These working parties were Sooil bpei'ating in every part of the ship. One was led by Lieut. Hawthorns, Royal Marines. 1 rocurmg his electric torch, he' called for volunteers to go down into the messdecks and bring up tables, stools and chairs to be used in the last extremity. Meanwhile the ship's carpenters were tearing up the deck, making planks and improvising rafts by the dozen. Another officer, a survivor relates, risked his life in an effort to make certain that the ship's books should not go down, safe and all. Launched with her ciew of 2Q. cutter No. 1 made a perilous way round to the port side. "Fifty men only! Now then, you fellows, play the game," shouted the bo'sun up to the quarter-deck. The men made no violent I rushes to the side. A sheer drop of 25 I ft lay between them and the frail craft. | Down the side they swarmed hanging Ton to ropes, blankets and any article to hand, while others risked the jump. No more," shouts the bo'sun. "Good luck boys." A similar scene was being I enacted with cutter No. 2, when a sec-' ond explosion occurred. Curiously enough this served to lengthen the For- . midable s lease of life. A moment before tilted to a terrifying angle to starboard, it seemed that she must capsize within a few minutes. The nisi! of water mto the port aide had the eil'eet of balancing up tlie vessel, though she lay much lower in the water. A large percentage of those saved uore patent inflatable waist-coats, w.iieh are spoken of aa being mor e efficient than life-belts. The spirit of the navy stands revealed 111 the following incident, told by an eye-witness:—"We saw a passenger steamer through the storm a few miles ofl, but refrained from communicating with her for certain obvious reasons though in any case it would have been piactically impossible for her to have rendered assistance to us." The I'ormidable's end was hurried by her being struck thrice by terrific seas '.vithiu the space of a minute. Some 150 succeeded in swimming clear, and half this number were picked up by the li»i)t cruiser. 0 It was at this stage that the incident quoted at the beginning of this description occurred. In fche howling wind the strains of lipperary" went up from the swimmers. The immortal words wei e meant to refer to the cruiser, a I 011;; way off for swimmers in the winter sea, but, as events proved, in reality near enough to get to the exhausted men v. ithiii ten minutes or so. The swimmers were hauled on hrr. n\ with ropes, wraplied up in w:ir:u blanekts and given brandy. H CA'I'TAIN AND HIS DOO.

A survivor states that lie saw Captain JiOxlev on tlic bridge coolly smoking a cigarette, and heard him say to Lieutenant Simonds, wlio was superintending tho launching of tlm boats: "You have (Ion? very well, Simonds." Another sailor said the last words he heard Captain Loxley say were: "Steadv nien. It's all right. No panic, men Keep cool and be British. There's tons of life in the old ship yet." The Captain's terrier. Bruce was standing by his side as the Formidable disappeared. ' I