ON THE SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 April 1916, Page 5

ON THE SEA.

THE LOWESTOFT RAID. GERMANS' POOR MARKSiL-iXSIIIP. A DRAMATIC ENDING. ENEMY FLEE BEFORE BRITISH LIGHT SQUADRON. London, April 27. Several of the houses destroyed at Lowestoft were not tenanted. A shell crashed into a large empty residence and carved out the interior. Two other houses were reduced to piles of rubble. The skipper of a fishing smack just after dawn noticed four 'biggish ships and a lot of smaller craft steaming southward parallel to the coast. Ho took them for British ships.

Eyewitnesses state that the. vessels opened fire about six miles off the coast, :uid soon a hail of shells was Whooping over the town, the missiles landing being Gin. to 12in. shells.

Some missed the town altogether and were picked up as far inland as Oulton Broad and Carlton-Colville. The marksmanship was poor. One broadside of four guns did the most damage.

The bombardment ended with dramatic suddenness. A British light squadron was seen approaching from the south at wonderful speed. Though outmatched in point of ,-ize and outnumbered, they tackled the Germain tenaciously.

The reverberating cannonade was more terrific than the bombardment. One of our destroyers was hit and smoke and flames were visible, 'but she continued blazing away with 'her guns. The fight was conducted in bright sunshine, and the cascades of water thrown up by the shells made an impressive spectacle. The German shells fell around the British ships, which reserved their fire until well within range. Time and again they hit the German monsters, and once a volume of flame leapt from the funnel of one big warship. Another suddenly staggered, but righted itself, although steam and smoke came from unusual places. The sea was so churned with shells that it looked like foam. i

Suddenly a seaplane came from the north at a terrific rate and gave a mesage to the Germans, who turned tail at high speed. One of the giants appeared to be in trouble. IN THEIR OWN COIN. U BOAT SURPRISED. AND SUNK BY DISGUISED BRITISHER Received April 28, 9.55 p.m. Amsterdam, April 28. The Maaabodc states that a disguised British patrol boat suddenly shelled and sank a U boat in the North Sea, which was holding a Dutch vessel. BRITISH CRUISER TORPEDOED.

A GERMAN 7 REPORT. Amsterdam, April 27. A German communique says: A torpedo from a German submarine struck a British cruiser of the Arethusa type jn the southern waters of the North Sea on April 25. BRITISH SUBMARINE SUNK London, April 27. The Press Bureau states that a German wireless message announces that E'22 has been sunk in the North Sea. Two men were saved. A VESSEL BEACHED Received April 28, 9.55 p.m. London, April 28. The Maashaven lias been beached at Harwich.