HEROES OF THE SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 384, 2 June 1915, Page 6

HEROES OF THE SEA.

MERCHANTMEN, y. SUBMARINES.

THE REAL 11.M.5. AUDACIOUS.

London, April 13.

A supplement to the London Gazette, ! published last Friday, and giving a list of decorations conferred oil officers and men in tlic Navy, is a splendid chronicle of brave deeds, including some —such as the little cruiser Gloucester's ehaso of tlie Goeben at the beginning of tbe war —wliit'U have not been described in any oflicial despatch. But even the Navy cannot show anything more creditable in its way than the action of those oflicers and men of the merchant marine, who 011 'March 27, on board the steamer Vosges, endured one and a-half iiour* shell (iro from a German submarine. The vessel was hit constantly; the chief engineer was killed near the stokehold while exhorting the firemen to further efforts; yet the captain and crevr succeeded in getting 'their ship away, .though, she eventually sank in consequence of her heavy injuries. The story (which has now come to ham!) of the 57-mile chase of the Ilolt liner Theseus, on .March "2!), is very similar, tllougsi happily in this case no one was killed and the vessel kept afloat. The courage and skill shown in both instances reflects the greatest credit on those concerned, hut it is surely high time all our merchantmen were encouraged to equip themselves with guns for self-pro-tection against submarines. If their weapons were only of sufficient calibre to compel the submarine to submerge, that would he something gained, for once submerged it could be out-distanced by any ship capable of doing more than ten or eleven knots. These ' underwater craft do not carry very formidable guns, and they are far too vulnerable to carry on a surface duel with any ship that can reply even with small quick-firing guns.

Tiie argument against the wholesale arming of merchant vessels has been that such a course would give the enemy's submarine the right to sink them at sight and without warning, but seeing that the Germans have already adopted this evil course, the placing of a gun or guns on board would not in the least increase the. risk of attack for merchantmen, and would at least give them a chance of hitting back. The captain of the Vosgcs and the Theseus, and other vessels attacked by submarines prayed for guns, whilst tliey dodged and ran, and more than one merchantman commander has declared that if they had had even a small cannon on board thqj' could have sunk the attacking craft, for the submarines came to the surface in some cases barely a couple of hundred feet from their prey. NO SURRENDER. A thrilling tale of the encounter of the steamship Vosgos with a German submarine is told in an Admiralty statement issued by the Press Bureau. The oflicial stoVy is as follows: At 10.15 a.m.. on March 27, the steamship A'osges was attacked by a German submarine in latitude 50.27 north, longitude fi west. Captain Green ordered all firemen below and asked the passengers to volunteer to assist the tiremen, which they did willingly. The submarine opened fire from straight astern; the first round was blank, but was followed by one which hit the vessel 'in the stern. Drtring this time the vessel was going at extreme speed, and altering course as necessary to keep the submarine dead astern. This continued fdr about, one and a-half hours, during which time the vessel was struck repeatedly by shell, the funnel riddled, tlie bridge house on both sides smashed, and the engine-room badly pierced. The enemy were firing shrapnel. The chief engineer was killed near the stokehold by a shell striking liim in the chest, whilst lie was exhorting the firemen and volunteers to further efforts. The second mate was hit in the arm whilst on the bridge. One fireman was hit in the w r rist, and the message boy in tho leg. The mate was slightly wounded in the hand, and splinters also grazed the captain's hand. A lady passenger was slightly injured in the foot. At about 11.45 a.m. the. submarine sheered oil.

Tbe Vosges made all speed towards •Milford, intending to put in and report there, but water was gaining rapidly on the pumps, and at about 12.30 H.M.S. Wintonia was sighted. It then became evident that the Vosges was sinking, and after all hands had been transferred to the Wintonia. she sank at 2 p.m. The Wintonia took the survivors into Newquay.

To Captain Green the Admiralty have granted a commission as lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve, and the King lias awarded him the 'Distinguished Service Medal, "in recognition of his gallant and resolute conduct." Tho Admiralty have also expressed their high appreciation of the gallant behaviour of the officers and crew during the attack and propose to present the officers with gold watches, and each member of the crew with £3. The widow of the chief engineer, Harry Da vies, who was killed, will be presented with the gold watch which would have been awarded to liira. For British pluck and skilful seamanship the record of,the Vosges is hard to beat, but it is quite equalled by that of the 500-ton steam tug Homer, of South Shields. TUG BAFFLES SUBMARINE. This encounter took place some fifteen miles off St. Catherine's Point in the English Channel. The tug was towing the barque General de Sonis—a French barque laden with , grain—from Queenstown to 'Sunderland. At 3.30 the submarine appeared, and challenged the captain of the Homer to abandon the ship. Captain Gibson ignored the signal, whereupon the pirate changed lie.r course and came on the other side of the. tug, repeating the challenge and .firing a warning shot over the bridge. Captain Gibson waited until the submarine was abeam of his vessel, and ■then, casting off the towing hawser, steamed straight for the submarine. There was a rough sea running, and unfortunately the Homer missed the pirate by a few feet. During this time a perfect hail of bullets fell about the wheel-house and Tiridge of the tug, doing considerable damage to the superstructure, but the captain and crew fortunately escaped injury. The submarine next steamed

away for somo distance, and fired a torpedo at the tug, Trhich, however, Captain Gibson was able to steer clcir of. finally, the pirate, after chasing the. tug for five minutes, gave up Hie pursuit, and went after the General ue Son is, but somehow the barque manage! to elude, the pursuer, for later she turned up at Dover.

TIIE REAL-AUDACIOUS. I Tho latest Admiralty returns of 'the'' comparative losses of the Dual Alliance and the Allies in the matter of warships makes no mention of 11.M.5. Audacious in the list of shins Britain has lost since war began, but the real ''Audacious" of the King's Xavee is the light-cruiser Gloucester, a ship of less than 3000 tons, earrving nothing more formidable than a coupie of (iin guns, ten tin, and a few quick-firers. "flic. Gazette makes special reference to, and throws a new light upon the, Gloucester's memorable chase of the Goeben when that manylived ship escaped to the Dardanelles. It shows the daring of the British commander, and constitutes a "model" naval episode. So the King confers a C.Ji. on Captain William Archibald Howard Kelly, lloyal Navy, or in official phraseology, appoints him "to be an additional member of the Military Division of the Third Class, or Companion, in recognition of his services during the chase of the German cruisers Goeben and Brcslau on August G and 7, 1014. Here is the official account as gazetted:—

"The report of the "Gloucester shows that the Goeben could have caught and sunk her at any time had she darel to turn upon her. The Geoben was Apparently deterred by tho Gloucester's boldness, v.-hieli gave tlie impression of gupport close, at hand. "The combination of audacity W'th restraint, unswerving attention to the principal military object, namely, holding oil to the Goeben without tempting her too much, and strict, conformity to orders, constitutes a naval episode which may justly be regarded us a model." THE PEGASUS INCIDENT. "Bravery, fortitude and resolution have won for Commander Henry Peel Ritchie, R.N., the coveted Victoria Cross. Tbe Gazette tells us that on Novc'mler 23, 1014, whilst in command of tlie searching and demolition operations as Dar-es-Salpam, East Africa, Commander Ritchie, "though wounded several times, his fortitude and resolution enabled bun to continue to do his duty, inspiring all by bis example, until at His eighth wound lie became uneonsicous. The interval between his first and last severe wound was between 20 and 25 minutes." It will be recalled that the PegasiH visited Dar-es-Snlaam and destroyed the wireless station, a gunboat, and a small floating dock, being herself afterwards, on September 20, sunk at Zanzibar by the Koenigsberg. Tlie episode caused .•treat alarm among the. British colonists, but the. Goliath (Commander Ritchie) arrived, accompanied by the Fox, a'n.l in November Dar-es-Salaam was bombarded, all the enemy's vessels in the harbor being demolished. A blockade of the whole coast of German East Africa has since keen established.