ODD JOBS THE NAVY DOES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 231, 9 March 1915, Page 7

ODD JOBS THE NAVY DOES.

IIOW A RED SEA PORT WAS REDUCED. HARD WEATHER IN THE NORTH SEA. Bypaths in the history of this' war are full of interesting incidents, as is shown liy the following extracts from a letter by one of the crew of a warship which has been officially recorded as taking part in the bombardment of Sheik Seyd, in the Red Sea. "I don't suppose you have seen much in the papers of our ship, but w,e had. our share," lie says. "We have safely i convoyed thousands of Indian troops "across to tlfe seat of war, and have heen doing duty near the Persian Gulf, one of the hottest places in\the world. We bombarded and helped to demolish a Turkish fort in the Red Sea, too. But we haven't had any chocolates nor cigarettes like the Home Fleet, yet. Since the war started, we have done 10,924 miles at sea, so "now you can think we have been oil the move. Now, about our little part in the bombardment. We. intended giving them a surprise bv landing a force of Indians under cover of the darkness and guns of our ship if necessary. We arrived ofT the place just after midnight. It was harcj luck that the sea was too rough to land the troops. They all had to he put ashore, from' the transports in rowing' boats, nulled l>y men from our ship, and nearly 1(H) men were wanted for that job alone."

"GOOD MORNING!"

"The Turks must have found out that we had arrived in the bay, for they opened fire, so we lay oft a little further ami had a rest till daybreak. Then we gave them 'good morning' from one of our six-incli guns in case they had gone to sleep, and ■peppered them for about an hour. The bouridcra didn't reply, so we went to breakfast. After, wards, we got our boats out, and just when our upper dec" was crowded. Mr Turk put a shrapnel just over our bows, and another burst a'short distance from our ship. Happily no one was Tiui't, and then we gave them a doing with lyddite shells. Their guns were well concealed in ridges of rocks: we could not actually see them, and could only watch for the pud's of smoke. "While we engaged the, fort, the Indian soldiers began to land. They had half a mile of water to cross, and the first man out of tlie- boats was wounded by a shrannel bursting, and so was an officer. When they found our troops were landing they turned their £uns on them. We were about 4.000 yard's distant, practically out of their range; but it was a picture to see how our guns demolished tlie ■nliice: Tlie' gnn wnlS (ire; after a short' interval" yon would" see a great cloud" of smoke' and' dust' ashore, and when if bail' cleared' away, there was a gap'in-tlie side of the fort or gun position. All'tlie time tTTTa was going on the troops were landing' and' attacking. It took all' day to get' tlie' soldiers ashore, and it was a beautiful to watch tliem do the attack, across the open Aind beacli, not a sparkle of cover, a burning hot sun. and a lofty mountain of rock to"take before the job was done.

MOVIABLE 'GUNS,

"We had put aIL the guns we had seen out of action by noon, so I was able to go on deck and watch operations. Some of their guns, however, were movable, because all of a sudden a couple on the side of the mountain fired on the troops. '.Then only fired once. Our guns just coughed at them a bit vio. lently, and they gave, up the ghost, lint to see the Indians go up the rocky side of the mountain was a sight never to he forgotten. They were as agile as ants. The Turks retired quickly, you- bet, only two of them being captured. (We don't know how many had been killed, as they took their dead and wounded with them. The idea was to demolish the forts, and we did it. The main fort had six guns. They were all put out of action, three of them completely dismantled by our gun fire, and imc with the muzzle knocked off. Now wo are on our old station again, steaming, as hard as we can through a veTy rough, sea. We do feel tlie change, l.ast week we were only in flannel sh':rts ami white trousers; now we can do with a greatcoat. Then we were glad to get on the upper deck to sleep ■"I mittf.ine; now we are glad to get below tojsleep in our hammocks with a lilanki't. i have only slept on a mattress three times, sjnee the war started."

IN A DESTROYER. A chief petty officer in a destroyer pives this picture of patrol work in the North Sea on just such a ilav as that tin which Scarborough was bombarded liv flip Germans: —"Yon must be on board to realise it: T cannot describe it. T was between a hatchway and a stanchion, with a lump of bread in one hand "and a lift of cheese in the oilier. trying to got breakfast. All round me a. fearful wreck, tables up. side iloivn. pots and pans washing from ot>e ii'r to the other, and everything that was not secured smashed, the ynimjpT '.mrt of the crew looking green and praying for harbor and a sipu'i'e meal. Tt was dangerous to try to move nlomr the upper deck, as green seas were ndlni'/ across it all the time, and we had life-lines stretched along it to hung to. This wiil be our'share for the. remainder of the winter out liere in the war."