Combatant Cunarders
_Sleep on, O Drake, sleep well,
In days not wholly dire!
Grenville, whom nought could quell,
Unquenched is still thy fire.
And thou that hadst no peer,
Nelson, thou needst not fear!
Thy sons and heirs are here,
And shall not shame their sire._
WILLIAM WATSON.
With the war now over, and after five years, during which the public
mind has been accustomed to emergency arrangements of all sorts,
nothing is more difficult than to reconstruct the enormous and
unprecedented activities that were called so suddenly into being in
the first war weeks of 1914; and in these the Cunard Company had a
typical and vitally important part to play. Of the number of navigating
officers in their employment, namely 163, no fewer than 139 were in
the Royal Naval Reserve, and as such were immediately mobilised, being
instructed to report themselves for naval duty upon their arrival
in a British port; and by the end of the year 131 of these officers
had actually done so. Nor was this the least of the problems that the
Company had to face, in that, at a time when not only every reliable
officer and man was worth his weight in gold to them, so large a
proportion of their best and most highly trained servants had thus to
be yielded up to the senior service.
[Illustration: “MAURETANIA” ESCORTED BY DESTROYERS]
In the latest agreement arrived at with the Government in 1903, the
whole of the Cunard Fleet was, in time of war, to be placed at its
disposal, and there was considerable uncertainty at first as to the
various purposes to which the ships might be allocated. In the present
chapter we shall confine ourselves to dealing with those of the Cunard
vessels that were commandeered by the Admiralty for strictly combatant
purposes, of which the more important were the _Aquitania_, _Caronia_,
_Laconia_, _Campania_, and _Carmania_; and since the _Campania_ had
only just passed from Cunard control, it may be well, perhaps, in view
of her distinguished and lengthy service under the Company’s flag to
deal with her first. She became a seaplane carrier; after having at
first however, taken a large share in repatriating Americans stranded
in the British Isles owing to the exigencies of war. Her after funnel
was removed and a smaller one put abreast of the forward funnel; and
this alteration, together with the dazzle paint with which she was at
a later date covered, rendered her almost unrecognisable even to the
old Cunarders who had been familiar with her for many years. Throughout
the war she was fortunate in escaping injury both from enemy gunfire
and submarine attack, and her honourable career only came to an end
at the conclusion of the armistice, when she was accidentally sunk in
collision with H.M.S. _Revenge_ in the Firth of Forth.
Turning now to the other vessels, the _Aquitania_ and _Caronia_, these
were fully dismantled and fitted out as armed cruisers in the first
days of August, 1915. This, of course, meant the ruthless stripping
out of all their luxurious fittings and those splendid appointments to
which reference has been made in the last chapter; and for all these
articles storage had to be found on shore at the shortest notice. Some
idea of the work involved in this conversion can best be gathered
perhaps, by realising that no less than 5,000 men were employed upon
this herculean task, and that more than 2,000 waggon loads of
fittings were taken ashore from these two liners. While these two ships
were thus being fitted, yet a third, the _Carmania_, arrived in port
to be similarly transformed; and a brief account of what took place
on board this famous vessel may be taken, perhaps, as typical of what
occurred in all three.
[Illustration: THE “CARMANIA’S” STARBOARD FORWARD GUNS]
[Illustration: ROPE PROTECTION ON “CARMANIA” AGAINST SHELL SPLINTERS]
Arriving at Liverpool landing stage at 8 o’clock in the morning of
August 7th, 1914, she was almost immediately boarded by Captain Noel
Grant, R.N. and Lieutenant-Commander E. Lockyer, R.N., who were to be
respectively her Captain and First Lieutenant under the new conditions.
At that moment she looked about as unlike a man-of-war as she could
well have done. From half a dozen gangways, baggage was being landed at
express speed, while first and second class passengers were also going
ashore from the overhead gantries. Owing to the fact that there were
known to be Germans amongst the passengers on board, a considerable
number of police and custom officials were present upon the vessel;
and this necessitated the detention of a large number of third-class
passengers, who had to be carefully scrutinised and sorted out.
While all this was going on arrangements for the new equipment
and personnel of the vessel were already being discussed, and the
proportions of Cunarders and Naval ratings for the _Carmania’s_ future
war service being determined. It was decided that the engine staff was
to be Cunard, the men being specially enrolled for a period of six
months in the Royal Naval Reserve, while the Commander of the ship,
Captain J. C. Barr, was to remain on board as navigator and adviser to
Captain Grant, with the temporary rank of Commander R.N.R. The Chief
Officer, Lieutenant Murchie, with certain other officers, also remained
on board, Lieutenant Murchie, owing to his special knowledge of the
ship, ranking next to Lieutenant-Commander Lockyer for general working
purposes. The ship’s surgeon, her chief steward and about 50 of the
Cunard ratings for cooks, waiters, and officers’ servants, were also
retained, as well as the carpenter, who was kept on board as Chief
Petty Officer and given six mates, the cooper, blacksmith, plumber, and
painter, being also retained with the same rank.
[Illustration: LIFE ON A TRANSPORT (i): KIT INSPECTION]
[Illustration: LIFE ON A TRANSPORT (ii): RIFLE DRILL]
Leaving the stage about noon, the _Carmania_ was immediately docked at
Sandon, where after some further delay the third-class passengers
were landed. Owing to the fact that the _Caronia_ was already in the
_Carmania’s_ proper berth, being fitted out as an armed cruiser, and
that both she and the _Aquitania_ were already well on the way to
completion for their new task, the _Carmania_ could for the moment
neither discharge her cargo nor bunker owing to the shortage of labour.
As many painters, however, as could be assembled began at once to alter
her hull and funnels, blackening out her well-known red and black tops,
while a gang of shipwrights started to cut out the bulwarks fore and
aft on the ‘B’ deck, in order to allow of the training to suitable
angles of the guns that were to be placed in position there. Other
Cunard stewards and joiners also concentrated at once upon the task of
clearing out passenger accommodation from the vessel. During Saturday
and Sunday the _Carmania_ remained in the basin, and it was on this
day that her future midshipmen turned up, and had to be provided with
accommodation in the midst of the existing confusion. On Monday she
was able to get an empty berth, where she began at once to discharge
her cargo, and to bunker at express speed. Armoured plates were now
being put in position upon all her most vulnerable parts, and these
were also being re-inforced with coal and bags of sand by way of extra
protection. All the woodwork in the passengers’ quarters was being
taken away; two of her holds were being fitted with platforms and
magazines were being built on them; while means for flooding were also
being installed, speaking-tubes fitted in the aft steering gear room,
control telephones being run up, and her eight guns placed in position.
These were all of 4.7 inch calibre and with a range of about 9,300
yards. In addition a 6 ft. Barr and Stroud range-finder was being
fitted, together with two semaphores. Two searchlights were being
mounted on slightly raised platforms on the bridge ends, while two
ordinary lifeboats and eighteen Maclean collapsible boats were retained
for war purposes. By Wednesday all the coal was in, all the bunkers
being full, and the protection coal was in place. At 5 o’clock the next
morning, the Naval ratings in charge of Lieutenant-Commander O’Neil,
R.N.R., arrived from Portsmouth, most of them being R.N.R. men, but
a good many belonging to the Royal Fleet Reserve, while the Marines on
board were drawn in equal proportions from the Royal Marine Artillery,
and the Royal Marine Light Infantry. The able seamen were for the most
part Scotch fishermen of the finest type.
[Illustration: THE “CARMANIA” READY FOR ACTION]
On the same day messing, watch, and sleeping arrangements were made,
ammunition was taken aboard and stored in the magazines, together with
a limited number of small arms, in addition to the marines’ rifles: and
so unremitting had been the work of all engaged, and so efficient the
organisation evoked by the crisis, that the _Carmania_ was actually
at sea as a fully equipped armed cruiser by Friday, August 14th, only
a week after she had entered port as an ordinary first-class Atlantic
liner. With her later adventures we shall deal in a moment, but before
doing so let us follow the adventures of the other three vessels that
were converted into armed cruisers.
The _Aquitania_, fitted with 6-inch guns, sailed on August 8th, but
unfortunately was damaged in collision and on returning to port was
dismantled at the end of September. From May to August, 1915, she was
employed in carrying troops, when she was fitted out as a Hospital
Ship, in which capacity she continued to work until April of the
following year. She was again requisitioned as a Hospital Ship in
September, 1916, plying between England and the Mediterranean until
Christmas. She was then laid up by the Government for the whole
of 1917, and in March, 1918, was again put into commission by the
Admiralty as a transport, and played an important part in bringing
American troops to Europe at that critical time.
The _Caronia_ had a somewhat longer career as an armed cruiser. She
was commissioned on 8th August, 1914, by Captain Shirley-Litchfield,
R.N., with Captain C. A. Smith, Cunard Line, as navigator. She sailed
from Liverpool on August 10th, for patrol duties in the North Atlantic,
being attached to the North American and West Indies Station, under the
command of Rear-Admiral Phipps-Hornby, with Halifax (N.S.) as base.
She was employed on the usual patrol duties, stopping, boarding and
examining shipping. In the very early days of the war, she captured at
sea and towed into Berehaven the four-masted barque _Odessa_, and, some
little time after, she took over from a warship and towed to Halifax a
six thousand ton oil tanker.
Eight 4.7-in. quick-firing guns were originally mounted in the
_Caronia_, but, on her return to England for refit in May, 1915, they
were replaced by a similar number of six-inch.
She was at sea again in July, 1915, for another commission on the same
station, with Captain Reginald A. Norton, R.N., in command, and Captain
Henry McConkey, Cunard Line, as navigator. She remained away until
August, 1916, when she returned to this country to pay off.
The _Caronia_ was then employed in trooping between South and East
Africa and India until her return to the Company’s service.
During the whole of this time, she was manned chiefly by mercantile
marine ratings, enrolled for temporary service in the R.N.R. for the
duration of hostilities.
The _Laconia_, for the first two years of the war was also used as
an armed cruiser, seeing special service on the German East African
Coast, and taking part in the operations which ended in the destruction
of the German cruiser _Konigsberg_ in the Rufigi River. She was then
taken out of commission, and returned to the Company’s transatlantic
service. She was finally sunk by a German submarine on the 25th
February, 1917, American lives being lost aboard her. There is no doubt
that this was the “overt act” that helped to confirm the decision of
America to enter the war on the side of the Allies.
It is safe to say that all these vessels maintained in their new naval
roles, not only the best traditions of the Cunard Company itself,
but those of the Mercantile Marine of which they had once been so
distinguished a part, and the British Navy of which they became not the
least useful and honourable units. To the _Carmania_, indeed, fell the
singular honour of being the only British armed auxiliary cruiser to
sink a German war vessel in single armed combat; and the five years war
at sea produced few more kindling and romantic stories than that of her
duel with the _Cap Trafalgar_ in September, 1914, near Trinidad Island
in the South Atlantic.
[Illustration: SOUTH AFRICAN INFANTRY ON BOARD THE “LACONIA”]
Leaving the Mersey, as we have seen, on Saturday, August 15th, she
first went up the Irish Channel examining merchant vessels, on her way
to the Halifax trade route; where she was to carry out her first
patrol duties. Having kept this track, however, for twenty-four hours
without adventure, she received orders to sail for Bermuda, and on her
way there seized the opportunity of dropping a target and carrying out
some practice, firing which not only proved that her gun-layers were
exceptionally skilful, but which gave all on board considerably greater
confidence in the ship as a fighting unit. On the evening of August
22nd, she sighted the searchlights off St. George, Bermuda, and early
next morning performed the difficult task of navigating a channel that
no vessel of anything like her great size had ever before been through.
Here for the next five days she coaled, while officers and men were
able to obtain certain articles in the way of tropical clothing, that
they had not had time to procure at Liverpool.
On August 29th she left the Bermudas, and on September 2nd passed
through the Bocas del Dragos, at the mouth of the Gulf of Paria. Here,
amidst scenery new and entrancing to many on board, she approached
the Port of Spain, whence after a couple of days’ coaling, she
left to join Admiral Cradock’s ill-fated squadron, which was then
searching the coast of Venezuela, and the mouths of its rivers, for
the German cruisers _Dresden_ and _Karlsruhe_. To this squadron
she became attached about a week later, and soon received orders
to investigate Trinidad Island in the South Atlantic. On September
11th, however, while on her way there, she received orders to try and
intercept, in conjunction with the cruiser _Cornwall_, the German
collier _Patagonia_, which was supposed to be leaving Pernambuco that
night; but she was not found, and, as a matter of fact, did not sail
for another three days, when she succeeded, in the absence of the
_Cornwall_, in getting away. Before this, however, the _Carmania_
had received orders to continue on her original mission, namely the
examination of Trinidad Island, and she accordingly headed down
for it. This is a small and lonely piece of land, about 500 miles
distant from the South American coast, rising to a height of some
2,000 feet, and being only some 3 miles long by 1½ miles broad, but
with a good anchorage on its south-west side. Though often sighted by
sailing vessels homeward bound from Cape Horn, this island was well
out of reach of any ordinary steamer, and was thus an extremely
likely place for an enemy vessel desiring to coal in a convenient and
unobserved position. Moreover, although both Great Britain and Brazil
had at various times attempted to form small settlements there for
the purpose of cultivating the castor oil plant indigenous to the
island, these attempts had never been successful, and the island was
uninhabited.
[Illustration: THE “CARONIA” LEAVING DURBAN]
It was at nine in the morning of Monday, September 14th that the
_Carmania_ sighted the island ahead; and soon after 11 a.m. a large
vessel was made out, lying on the island’s westward side. It was a
bright clear day, with a gentle north-easterly breeze blowing, and the
mast of the unknown vessel showed distinctly above the horizon, two
funnels becoming visible a little while later. It was at once concluded
that she must be an enemy, since it was known that there were no
British war vessels in the neighbourhood, and that no British merchant
vessel was at all likely to be here. Her exact identity, however,
remained a problem that was not to be solved, as it happened, until
several days afterwards. The only enemy vessels that might possibly
be in the neighbourhood according to the knowledge of those on board
the _Carmania_, were the _Karlsruhe_, with four funnels, the _Dresden_
with three funnels, the _Kron Prinz Wilhelm_ with four funnels, and the
_Konig Wilhelm_, an armed merchant cruiser which had one funnel. Even
had the funnels been altered it could not have been any of these, since
the outlines of all these vessels were known to one and another of the
experienced and widely travelled observers on board the _Carmania_,
and this uncertainty added to the excitement of a peculiarly thrilling
occasion. The sudden pouring out of smoke from the strange vessel’s
funnels showed at once that the _Carmania_ had been sighted and that
the enemy was getting up steam, while the position of the island added
further to the thrilling possibilities of the situation.
[Illustration: H.M.S “MERSEY” ALONGSIDE THE “LACONIA,” OFF THE RUFIGI
RIVER]
It was true that there were no other vessels in sight, but the
_Carmania_ had approached so as to head for the middle of the island,
in order that any observer who might be on the look out should be
unable to tell on which side the armed cruiser meant to pass. This
meant, however, that the greater part of the island’s lee side was
out of sight, and behind its shelter other enemy vessels such as the
_Karlsruhe_ or _Dresden_, might well be lying in wait--the visible
vessel merely acting as a decoy to the approaching Britisher. That
other ships were indeed present, became manifest almost at once, as a
smaller steamer, a cargo vessel, as it appeared, of about 1,800 tons,
was now seen backing away from behind the enemy ship. This vessel
at once began steaming away to the south-east, probably in order to
discover whether or no the _Carmania_ was accompanied by consorts at
present hidden by the land. There were also to add to the anxiety of
the _Carmania’s_ commanding officer, two more masts appearing above the
side of the unidentified ship that obviously belonged to a vessel still
out of sight. Fortunately, however, this proved to be only another
small cargo boat, who very soon detached herself and steamed away to
the north-west.
This left them up to the present only the one big vessel as an
opponent, a vessel of some 18,500 tons, and an armed cruiser like the
_Carmania_. It promised, therefore, as regards numbers at least, to be
an equal fight, and in preparation for it dinner was ordered for all
hands that could be excused duty, for the hour of 11.30, in accordance
with the old naval principle--food before fighting. Meanwhile every
endeavour was being made to identify the mysterious enemy, and the
conclusion arrived at was that she must be the _Berlin_, a German
vessel of 17 knots. She was, as a matter of fact, although those on
the _Carmania_ were not to learn this for several days, the _Cap
Trafalgar_, the latest and finest ship of the Hamburg South American
Line--a vessel of 18 knots that had as yet only made one voyage. She
had been built with three funnels, one of them being a dummy one used
only for ventilation, and this had been done away with, reducing the
number to two. She had been in Buenos Aires when war broke out, and had
left that port, as it chanced on the very day that the _Carmania_ had
sailed from Liverpool, her destination being unknown and her cargo one
of coal.
[Illustration: TORPEDOING OF THE “IVERNIA”]
The _Carmania_ had by this time gone to “General Quarters,” and all on
board were ready for the encounter. The largest ensigns floated both
from the flagstaff aft and the mastheads, and the _Cap Trafalgar_ now
ran up the white flag with the black cross of the German Navy. It was
still, however, not quite certain that the enemy was armed, and it was
therefore necessary that the usual formalities should be attended
to. Well within range, Captain Grant ordered Lieutenant Murchie to fire
a shot across her bow, and the shell, very skilfully aimed, dropped
about 50 yards ahead of this. The reply was immediate, the enemy firing
two shells which only just cleared the _Carmania’s_ bridge, and dropped
into the water about 50 yards upon her starboard side.
The fight had now begun in earnest, and the firing on both sides was
of a high order, although the first round or two from the _Carmania_
fell short, while those of the _Cap Trafalgar_ erred a little in the
opposite direction. Quite soon, however, hits were being made by both
sides, and soon one of the _Carmania’s_ gun layers lay dead, his No. 2
dying, and almost the whole of the gun’s crew wounded.
For the first few minutes of the duel, only three of the _Carmania’s_
guns could be brought to bear, but soon by porting a little she was
able to bring another gun into action, and some very successful
salvoes at once followed. The British gun-layers, firing as coolly
as if they had been at practice, were now hitting with nearly every
shot, and the vessels were closing one another rapidly, when at
about 5,500 yards the new and sinister sound of machine-gun firing
began to thread the din of the bursting shells. By this time a well
placed enemy shell had carried away the _Carmania’s_ control, so that
it was no longer possible for ranges to be given from the bridge to
the guns by telephone, and it was evidently the _Cap Trafalgar’s_
intention to disable the bridge entirely, shell after shell hitting its
neighbourhood, or only just missing it. It was at once clear to those
on board that if the enemy’s machine-gun could now get the range, the
guns and ammunition parties on the unprotected decks of the _Carmania_
would be inevitably mown down. The order was therefore given to port,
and the _Carmania_ wore away in order to increase the range. This
brought the enemy astern and another of the _Carmania’s_ guns into
action, and for a brief moment she had five guns bearing upon the _Cap
Trafalgar_. Still porting, however, the guns on that side ceased to
fire, and the turn came for the starboard gunners to take their hand.
The enemy now also ported, and as she did so, it became clear that she
was visibly listing to starboard; she had already been set on fire
foreward, but this fire seemed to have been extinguished.
[Illustration: THE “CARMANIA” APPROACHING TRINIDAD (“Cap Trafalgar” to
the right)]
[Illustration: ONE OF THE “CARMANIA’S” GUNS]
The _Carmania’s_ gunners, on the soundest principles, were steadily
aiming at the _Cap Trafalgar’s_ water line, and there was no doubt that
as a result of this policy she was already beginning rapidly to make
water. It was by no means, however, the case of the honours resting
with one side entirely, and the enemy was constantly registering hits
on the _Carmania’s_ masts, ventilators, boats, and derricks, and it
is an amazing fact, considering that at one time the range was not
more than 1½ miles, that her casualties should have been so few.
The _Carmania’s_ gunners were now firing so fast that the paint was
blistering off the guns, and at the same time she herself was on fire
to an extent that might have proved very serious. The main pipes having
been shot away, no water could be got through the hose pipes and
brought to play upon this fire, and reliance had therefore to be placed
upon water buckets handled under the most difficult conditions of smoke
and heat.
It was now evident that the _Carmania’s_ bridge would in a very short
time be untenable, and her Captain therefore ordered the control to be
changed to the aft steering position, and this was accordingly done,
the enemy being kept at about the same bearing. The bridge was now well
alight, and the flames were licking upward with increasing ferocity.
The port side of the main rigging was hanging in festoons from the only
remaining shroud. The wireless gear had been shot away in the first
moment of the action. Many of the ventilator cowls were in ribbons, and
a large hole yawned in the port side of the aft deck.
Battered as she was, however, it was now clear that the _Cap Trafalgar_
was in a far worse case. She was listing heavily, and her firing,
though still rapid, was becoming wild. She was badly on fire, and
almost wholly wrapped in smoke. Suddenly she turned abruptly to port
and headed back for the island, leaning right over with silent guns,
and already beginning to get her boats out.
[Illustration: “ABANDON SHIP” DRILL AT SEA]
[Illustration: AFTER THE FIGHT]
Upon this all the _Carmania’s_ hands, except the gun layers, were
employed in trying to extinguish the fire. Bucket gangs were formed,
and at last a lead of water was arranged from the ship’s own fire
main once more. It was, of course, hopeless now to attempt to save
the bridge and the boat deck cabins, but there was still a hope of
preventing the fire from spreading, and in order to stop the draught
the engines were slowed down. It was a fierce task, and one that
demanded every energy on the part of all on board, but it was one in
which they were encouraged, as they toiled and sweated, by the sight of
their heeling enemy, from whose sides half a dozen boats had already
cleared, pulling towards one of her smaller colliers who was standing
about 3 miles away.
More and more the big liner fell over until at last her funnels lay
upon the water, and then, after a moment’s apparent hesitation, with
her bow submerged, she heaved herself upright and sank bodily. It had
been a good fight and she had fought honourably to the end and gone
down with her ensign flying, and when, as she vanished, the men of the
_Carmania_ raised a cheer, it was hardly less for their own victory
than as a tribute to the enemy.
By now, thanks to their unremitting exertions, the crew of the
_Carmania_ had overcome the fire, but a new danger was already reported
and necessitated prompt action on the part of her Commander. Smoke
had been reported on the northern horizon, and soon afterwards four
funnels appeared, the new comer being undoubtedly another enemy,
probably summoned by wireless by the _Cap Trafalgar_. Crippled as she
was, and with nearly a quarter of her guns’ crews and ammunition supply
parties either killed or injured, it would have been the sheerest
madness for the _Carmania_ to risk another action at that moment,
and she accordingly increased her speed, shaping a course to the
south-west, and steering by sun and wind, until she could assemble what
was left of her shattered navigating gear. Afterwards it was learned
that the enemy sighted was the _Kron Prinz Wilhelm_, who, on learning
by wireless of the _Cap Trafalgar’s_ fate, decided that discretion was
the better part of valour and did not approach any nearer.
During the night the _Carmania_ succeeded in getting into touch
with the cruiser _Bristol_, with whom she arranged a rendezvous for
the next morning, and under whose care, and afterwards that of the
_Cornwall_, she came to anchor near the Abrolhos Rocks at eight
o’clock on the morning of the day after. Here, with the aid of the
_Cornwall’s_ engineers, the worst of her holes were patched up, and
with what navigating gear she could borrow, and in company with
the _Macedonia_, the _Carmania_ set out for Gibraltar at 6 p.m. on
September 17th. Well did she deserve, as she did so, the hearty cheers
of the _Cornwall_, and the two accompanying colliers, and those of the
old battleship _Canopus_ whom she passed early on the morning of the
19th.
[Illustration: CHART-HOUSE AND BRIDGE OF THE “CARMANIA” AFTER THE FIGHT]
She arrived at Pernambuco on the same afternoon, leaving there Captain
Grant’s despatches for the Admiralty, and reached Gibraltar nine days
later. Her re-fitting took several months, but she remained as an armed
cruiser until May, 1916, when she was again restored to the Cunard
Company’s service. Her casualties in this brilliant action amounted
to nine killed or dying of wounds, and four severely and twenty-two
slightly wounded. There were no Cunarders among the casualties. Besides
other honours conferred upon participants in this fight, his Majesty
the King decorated Captain Barr with the well deserved Companionship of
the Bath, in recognition of his splendid services in what was to prove
a unique action of the war at sea.
Twelve months later, on September 15th, 1919, there was an interesting
sequel on board the _Carmania_, which had then returned to the
Cunard Company’s service. A piece of plate which belonged to Lord
Nelson, and was with him at Trafalgar, was presented to the ship in
commemoration of her very gallant fight. Twenty-four of these pieces
of plate came into the possession of the Navy League who asked the
Admiralty to allocate them to various ships. The _Carmania_ was the
only merchant vessel to receive this honour. In notifying the Company
of the presentation, the General Secretary of the Navy League stated
that “the Navy League realises that while every unit of the fleet has
rendered service in accordance with the best traditions of the Royal
Navy, _H.M.S. Carmania_ has been able to render herself conspicuous
amongst her gallant comrades, and in accepting this souvenir, the Navy
League trusts that you will recognise it as an expression of gratitude
to the glorious fleet of which that ship was so distinguished a
representative.”
The veteran Admiral, the Hon. E. R. Fremantle who was present, stated
that there never was a single ship action which reflected greater
credit, both on the R.N. and on the Mercantile Marine, and more
especially on the R.N.R. It had very aptly been compared with the
fight of the _Shannon_ and the _Chesapeake_.
[Illustration: “CARMANIA” SINKING “CAP TRAFALGAR”]
Captain Grant was unfortunately unable to be present, but in a letter
read at the function he claimed that “this action was the only one
throughout the war in which an equal, or as a matter of fact, a
slightly inferior vessel annihilated the superior force.... I shall
always feel proud of the fact that it was my great good fortune to
command a ship in action in which the glorious traditions of the
British Navy were upheld by every soul on board.”
Captain Barr, who retired from the Company’s service in 1917, said that
the Captain of the _Cap Trafalgar_ put up a very gallant fight. “I do
not know his name,” he said, “but he is the only German I would care to
meet.”