ON THE SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 April 1918, Page 5

ON THE SEA.

THE ZEEBRUGGE RAID. A DRAMATIC EXPLOIT. THE NATION' TULULLED. Loudon. April 2-1. Vice-Admiral Key;--, .-.(ates that tlio dl'alliaCc exploit ill Zcchrilgge ii.l.thrilled the nation. JI recall, the piiickif .-.t of old-time cutting out expeditions. Tiie gunfire was heird On the British coast daring Hie greater p:irt of 1 lie night. Intense excitement prevailed in Lover and ileal when the ships returned and tin; survivors told their tale. Tiiev were strangelook'.ng objects, many as black as niggers, others half-nuked, owing to the loss of their kits, limped along with limbs roughly bandaged during (lie hurricv escape after the expedition had been completed. The survivors state that they completely surprised the Germans, and readied Zeebrugge harbor almost unobserved. AX ENTRY FORCED. The first cruiser to enter rammed a German destroyer which was attempting to s lip out at high speed. The debfroyer was cut iu half amidships and sank like a stone. Meanwhile the shore batteries caught glimpses of the Vindictive, and up went the star-shells., making the night like broad daylight. Every battery concentrated its fire on the attackers. There were shells of all calibres, including 17-inch. The Vindictive got inside the mole, and was chiefly damaged above the water-line, owing to the protection from the mole. When the British marine and sailors landed, the Germans, almost with one voice, shouted, ''lt's Americans; it's flie Yankees.'' The Germans bolted en masse from the nearest batteries, leaving the guns to the British. DESTROYERS CAUGHT NAPPING. Some British boats boarded German destroyers anchored in the harbor. These also Mere surprised. .'Some Germans hurried up the gangways wearing j nightgowns, but ''before they could reach the decks we tapped iiiem on Die [heads with sticks which wo carried in addition to rifles.'' The German guns on the decks were still covered with tarpaulins. The sailors and marines On the moles quickly destroyed the guns, while the flame-throwers attacked the sheds and munition stores. Meanwhile the concrete-laden cruisers reached the harbor and were sunk. ESCAPE OF THE VINDICTIVE. Then the Vindictive picked up the landing parties and tried to leave the harbor. The escortng ships scarcely j believed it possible that a vessel so dam- i aged could keep afloat, but the stokers were si ener.-etic thai the Vimiicitive | came back throwing ten-foot flames j from her funnels and iu perhaps the fastest time ever accomplished. The Gorman batteries fired a thousand shells in the hope of hitting the escorting ships, which did not reply, in order not to reveal their whereabouts. . LOCK GATE BLOWN UP. The survivors believe that the raid also resulted in tile blowing up of the lock gate at the entrance to the Bruges Canal The artificial fog screen used was invented by WingComniander Frank I'rock, son of the well-known fireworks maker, wdio was killed during the raid on Zeebrugge. The seamen engaged stato that two destroyers blew up flic Zeebrugge dock gates, and they saw the water in the Bruges Canal running out and the ships in the docks straining at their hawsers. EXPERT dPINION OF THE WORK. Experts think that the Bruges Canal is effectively blocked. The entrance is 508 feet wide, and two ships, each "it ■■'■• feet long, have been sunk broadside on, and the sea water will quickly turn the cement into a solid concrete wall which will take skilled underwater workers with special plants many weeks to remove. A naval correspondent expects lessened shipping losses owing to Ostend and Zeebrugge being temporarily sealed up. British airmen will photograph the damage and delay and obstruct the repairs by bombing raids. NEWSPAPER TRIBUTES. London, April 2-1. The newspapers, not merely pay a tribute to the initiative, resource, and daring displayed -in the raid, but to the elaborate preparations,, including re- I hem-sals for weeks. I The men state that during the hour they were ashore they were subjected to terrific machine-gun fire, which they returned with interest. A Gallipoli veteran paid that, while it lasted, it was much, hotter Ihpn the Dardanelles landing. When the men returned to the cruiser they found the decks torn up by the enemy fire, and that few of the crew had aseaped injury. Experts believe that the results are of paramount, importance, not merely on account of the sealing of the '/.■-■■ hrugge hornets' nest, but probably because it has a connection with a' contemplated greater operation. THE GERMAN ACCOUNT. A FIERCE FIGHT ON THE MOLE. Received April 25, 10-30 p.m. London, April 24. The German official statements referring to the raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend on the 2Hrd, sa\s the enterprise, which was conceived on a large scale, was planned regardless of sacrifice, and was frustrated Small cruisers, escorted hy numerous destroyers and motorboats, after a violent bombardment, pushed forward tinder the veil of an artificial fog neat| Cslend and Zeebrugge to quite near tie "oast, the intention he- • ing to destroy locks and harbor [ works. Only lorty.-jiarines got on the mole. These fell into our hands, some alive and some dead. Both parties , fought orl the narrow, high wall with the iluiißoet fWepnea*.