GALLANTRY RECOGNISED.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 July 1919, Page 5

GALLANTRY RECOGNISED.

■— ■ » ' ni OTAKI'S FIGHT WITH MOEWB. The following is a copy of a letter received from the head otlice of the Ne*r Zealand Shipping Company at Christchurch concerning the steamer Otaki'a flght with the German raider Moewe:— ■ "We have received advice that a poa« (humous award of the Victoria Cross ha* been made to Captain Archibald B. Smith for most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of the 'g.s. Otaki on March 10, 1917. Chief Officer McNeish )jas also been awarded the D.5.0., and the two gunners, Worth and Jackson, ,the DS.M. "In this connection, the directors have been very impressed by the reports from survivors of the gallant action of the ' gunner, Leading Soamon Worth, and they have made him a presentation of a tankard, on which appears the following description: " "Presented by the New Zealand Shipping Company to Leading Seaman Alfred Worth, with a cheque for one hundred guineas, as a mark of appreciation of hit gallant fight as gunner of their a*. Otaki tn her engagement with the German raider Moewe in the North Atlantic. March 10, 1017.' "The secretary of the Admiralty wrote as follows: , '"Tho Lords Commissioners of ,the Admiralty consider this a very gallant action, and if the Otaki had had a little more luck she would have mini: tin raider against overwhelming odds.' " The following is a comparison of the armament of the two vesßeto: S. S. OTAKL Defensive armament, one 4.7 fcon. A, E. Worth was leading seamen on tin Otnkj; E. Jackson, gunner's mate; W J2 Martin, apprentice (killed); and I*ll ' Kiltfer, apprentice (killed). MOEWfi. Two 7.5 guns, two din. guns, aht 31a. guns, four torpedo tubes