BATTLE OFF BEACHY HEAD.
The sun at last broke forth brilliantly, betokoning another blazing day.
Having regard to the fact that both the Channel Fleet and the reserve
had been sent on futile errands by our enemy's secret agent, and the
superior forces against which the British had all along had to fight,
they had most assuredly shown what tact and courage could effect.
Opposite the Belle Tout lighthouse a disaster occurred to the
_Narcissus_. During the fight one of her engines had been injured, and
this being now strained to its utmost limit had suddenly broken down
altogether, with the result that the vessel gradually slackened speed,
and the _Sfax_ and _Alger_ bore down quickly upon her, pouring into her
a heavy fire from their 5-tonners. The reply was a weak one from her
quick-firing guns, her heavy arms having nearly all been disabled.
Onward steamed the _Galatea_ and _Hannibal_, keeping up a running fire
with the four vessels pursuing them, while the two cruisers engaging the
_Narcissus_ continued their strenuous endeavours to silence her guns.
The British sailors, however, still undaunted, quickly showed their
opponents that all the arms workable would be brought into play by
directing a most vigorous fire upon their pursuers, blowing away one of
the funnels of the _Alger_, and disabling one of her large bow guns.
Just then, however, while the _Narcissus_ was discharging a broadside, a
torpedo boat crept under her stern and sent forth its submerged
projectile. For a moment there was a hush of expectation, then a dull
explosion sounded as the cruiser, apparently rent in twain, plunged
stern foremost into the sea, and with her ensign still flying gradually
disappeared without a soul on board being able to save himself.
Meanwhile the _Galatea_ and _Hannibal_, with their torpedo boats, were
sustaining serious injuries from the heavy bow fire, and there seemed
every possibility that they too would share the same terrible fate as
the _Narcissus_, when suddenly one of the officers of the _Galatea_
discovered three vessels approaching. The "demand" was immediately
hoisted, and responded to by both vessels running up private signals.
With an expression of satisfaction he directed the attention of the
captain to the fact, for the flags of the first-named vessel showed her
to be the British turret-ship _Monarch_, and those of the second the
great barbette-ship _Rodney_, while a moment later it was discerned that
the third vessel was the _Gorgon_.
Even as they looked, other masts appeared upon the horizon, and then
they knew relief was at hand. Both vessels ran up signals, while the
men, encouraged by the knowledge that some powerful British ironclads
were bearing down to their aid in indented line ahead, worked with
increased vigour to keep the enemy at bay.
It was a fierce, sanguinary fight. Fire vomited from all the vessels'
battered works, and the scuppers ran with blood. The French vessels,
having apparently also noticed the relief approaching, did not seem
inclined to fight, but were nevertheless compelled, and not for a single
instant did the firing from the attacked vessels cease. Their guns
showed constant bursts of flame.
Soon, however, the _Rodney_ drew within range. A puff of white smoke
from her barbette, and the _Cecille_ received a taste of her
quick-firing guns, the shots from which struck her amidships, killing a
large number of her men, and tearing up her deck. This was followed by
deafening discharges from the four 25-ton guns of the _Monarch_, while
the _Gorgon_ and a number of other vessels as they approached all took
part in the conflict, the engagement quickly becoming general. With
great precision the British directed their fire, and the French vessels
soon prepared to beat a retreat, when, without warning, a frightful
explosion occurred on board the _Hirondelle_, and wreckage mingled with
human limbs shot into the air amid a great sheet of flame.
The magazine had exploded! The scene on board the doomed vessel, even as
witnessed from the British ships, was awful. Terrified men left their
guns, and, rushing hither and thither, sought means of escape. But the
boats had already been smashed by shots from the British cruisers, and
all knew that death was inevitable.
The burning ship slowly foundered beneath them, and as they rushed about
in despair they fell back into the roaring flames. A British torpedo
boat rescued about a dozen; but presently, with a heavy list, the
warship suddenly swung round, and, bow first, disappeared into the green
sunlit sea, leaving only a few poor wretches, who, after struggling
vainly on the surface for a few moments, also went down to the unknown.
The carnage was frightful. Hundreds of men were being launched into
eternity, while upon the horizon both east and west dozens of ships of
both invaders and defenders were rapidly approaching, and all would, ere
long, try conclusions.
Before half an hour had passed, a fierce battle, as sanguinary as any in
the world's history, had commenced. The cruisers, acting as satellites
to the battleships forming the two opposing fighting lines, had quickly
commenced a series of fierce skirmishes and duels, all the most
destructive engines of modern warfare being brought into play.
The division of our Channel Fleet that had at last returned consisted of
the powerful battleship _Royal Sovereign_, flying the Admiral's flag;
the barbette-ships _Anson_, _Howe_, _Camperdown_, and _Benbow_; the
turret-ships _Thunderer_ and _Conqueror_; the cruisers _Mersey_,
_Terpsichore_, _Melampus_, _Tribune_, _Latona_, _Immortalite_, and
_Barham_; with the torpedo gunboats _Spanker_ and _Speedwell_, and
nineteen torpedo boats.
The forces of the invaders were more than double that of the British,
for, in addition to the vessels already enumerated, the reinforcements
consisted of the French battleships _Amiral Baudin_, _Formidable_,
_Amiral Duperre_, _Brennus_, _Trehouart_, _Jemappes_, _Terrible_,
_Requin_, _Indomptable_, _Caiman_, _Courbet_, _Devastation_,
_Redoubtable_, and _Furieux_, together with nine cruisers, and
thirty-eight _torpilleurs de haute mer_.
From the very commencement the fighting was at close quarters, and the
storm of shot and shell caused death on every hand. With such an
overwhelming force at his disposal, Admiral Maigret, the French
commander, had been enabled to take up a position which boded ill for
the defenders, nevertheless the British Admiral on board the _Royal
Sovereign_ was determined to exert every effort to repulse the enemy.
In the thick of the fight the great flagship steamed along, her
compartments closed, her stokeholds screwed down, her four 67-ton guns
hurling great shots from her barbettes, and her smaller arms pouring out
a continuous deadly fire upon the French ship _Indomptable_ on the one
side, and the great Russian armoured cruiser _Nicolai I._ on the other.
Upon the latter the British vessel's shells played with a terribly
devastating effect, bringing down the large forward mast and the machine
guns in her fighting tops, and then, while the crew worked to get the
wreckage clear, the Maxim, Nordenfelt, and Hotchkiss guns of the _Royal
Sovereign_ suddenly rattled out, sweeping with their metal hail her
opponent's deck, and mowing down those who were cutting adrift the
fallen rigging. A moment later a shell struck one of the pair of guns in
the _Nicolai's_ turret, rendering it useless, and then the captain of
the _Royal Sovereign_, who had been standing in the conning-tower calmly
awaiting his chance, touched three electric knobs in rapid succession.
The engines throbbed, the great ship moved along at increasing speed
through dense clouds of stifling smoke, and as she did so the captain
shouted an order which had the effect of suddenly turning the vessel,
and while her great barbette guns roared, the ram of the British vessel
crashed into the broadside of the Tsar's ship with a terrific impact
which caused her to shiver from stem to stern.
[Illustration:
_Nicolai I._ _Royal Sovereign._
BATTLE OFF BEACHY HEAD: H.M.S. "ROYAL SOVEREIGN" RAMMING THE
"NICOLAI I."]
Then, as the big guns in her rear barbette thundered out upon the
_Indomptable_, whose engines had broken down, she drew gradually back
from the terrible breach her ram had made under the water-line of her
opponent, and the latter at once commenced to sink. The force of the
impact had been so great that the Russian's hull was absolutely broken
in two, and as the iron stretched and rent like paper, she heaved slowly
over, "turning turtle," and carrying down with her over three hundred
officers and men.
The British captain now turned his attention to the French ship, which
had been joined in the attack by the _Brennus_, the fire from whose
58-ton guns at close quarters played great havoc with the British
flagship's superstructure. A second later, however, the captain of the
_Royal Sovereign_ caught the _Indomptable_ in an unguarded moment, and,
springing towards one of the electric knobs before him, pressed it. This
had the effect of ejecting a torpedo from one of the bow tubes, and so
well directed was it that a few seconds later there was a deafening
report, as part of the stern portion of the French ship was blown away,
raising great columns of spray.
The situation was awful, and the loss of life everywhere enormous.
Dense, blinding smoke, and the choking fumes of melinite, obscured the
sun, and in the darkness thus caused the flames from the guns shed a
lurid light upon decks strewn with dead and dying. The cruisers and
scouts by which our battleships were surrounded cut off many of the
French torpedo boats, but a large number got right in among the fleet,
and some terrible disasters were thus caused. Once inside the circle of
British cruisers, all fire directed at the boats was as dangerous to our
own ships as to the enemy's boats.
The superiority of the French torpedo boats was, alas! keenly felt by
the British, for in the course of the first hour five of our
cruisers--the _Terpsichore_, _Galatea_, _Melampus_, _Tribune_, _Mersey_,
the turret-ship _Conqueror_, and the battleships _Hannibal_ and
_Rodney_, had been blown up. As compared with these losses, those of the
enemy were at this stage by no means small. The French had lost two
cruisers and four torpedo boats, and the Russians one battleship, three
cruisers, and six torpedo boats.
The British, with all these fearful odds against them, still continued a
galling fire. The _Camperdown_, _Anson_, and _Benbow_, steaming together
in line, belched a storm of shell from their barbettes, which caused
wholesale destruction among the crowd of ships engaging them. Yet the
withering fire of the enemy was telling terribly upon the comparatively
small force of the defenders. Upon all three battleships the casualties
were frightful, and on board each one or more of the heavy guns had been
disabled. Suddenly a shot, penetrating a weak point in the armour of the
_Anson_, entered her engine-room, disabling a portion of her machinery,
while a moment later a shell from the _Amiral Duperre_ fell close to her
broadside torpedo discharge, and a fragment of the shell coming into
contact with the striker of a torpedo, just as it was about to leave its
tube, caused a terrific and disastrous explosion between the decks. The
effect was horrifying. The torpedo contained over 70 lb. of gun-cotton,
therefore the devastating nature of the explosion may be readily
imagined. Over a hundred men were blown to atoms, and the whole six of
the broadside guns were more or less disabled.
A second later, however, a shell from the _Benbow_ struck the _Amiral
Duperre_, carrying away the greater portion of her conning-tower, and
killing her captain instantly, while almost at the same moment a torpedo
from one of the British boats struck her bows with a frightful
detonation, blowing an enormous hole in them. The catastrophe was
complete. The crew of the doomed ship, panic-stricken, left their guns
and commenced to launch the only two boats that remained uninjured; but
ere this could be accomplished, the _Trehouart_, which suddenly went
astern, apparently to avoid a torpedo, crashed into her, with the
result that she heeled right over and quickly disappeared.
The _Camperdown_, fighting fiercely with the _Requin_, the _Terrible_,
and the _Courbet_, was suffering terrible damage from bow to stern;
nevertheless her guns kept up an incessant torrent of shot, until
suddenly, just after one of her shells had struck right under the turret
of the _Terrible_, there was a deafening report, the air was filled with
dense smoke, and the French ship, with her engines disabled, commenced
to fill and sink.
A portion of the shell had penetrated to her magazine, and she had blown
up, nearly half her crew being killed by the terrific force of the
explosion. Many of the remaining men, however, scrambled on board the
_Caiman_, which by some means had come into slight collision with her;
but scarcely had the last terrified man left the sinking vessel, when
the _Camperdown's_ powerful ram entered the _Caiman's_ bows, breaking
her hull, and she also foundered, carrying down with her not only her
own crew, but also the survivors of the _Terrible_.
This success was witnessed with satisfaction by the British Admiral, who
nevertheless saw how seriously weakened was his force, and how critical
was the position of his few remaining ships. Yet he remained quite cool,
for the heavy guns of the steel monster in whose conning-tower he stood
continued thundering forth their projectiles, and the White Ensign still
loomed defiantly through the dense black smoke, fluttering in the
freshening breeze that was now springing up.
Although a number of the enemy's vessels had been sunk, he knew the
issue must be fatal to his force, for they were now surrounded by a
number of ships so vastly superior to them in armament and speed, that
to die fighting was their only course.
Though the cockpits were full, true British indomitable courage was
showing itself everywhere on board our ships. Officers by words of
encouragement incited their men to splendid heroic deeds, and guns'
crews, with dark determined faces, seeing only death ahead, resolved to
fight and struggle to the last for the honour of the Union Jack, which
should never be surmounted by the Tricolor.
A moment later, the captain, standing with the Admiral, who had just
entered the conning-tower of the _Royal Sovereign_, suddenly uttered a
cry of dismay, and with transfixed, horrified gaze pointed with his
finger to the sea.
Breathlessly the Admiral looked in the direction indicated.
Though one of the bravest men in the Navy, and on his breast he wore the
Victoria Cross, his eyes fell upon a sight that appalled him.
It was a critical moment.
A small French vessel, the unarmoured cruiser _Faucon_, had crept up
unnoticed. The attention of the British officers had been, until that
moment, concentrated upon the three powerful battleships, the _Requin_,
the _Devastation_, and the _Jemappes_, which kept up their hot fire upon
the flagship, causing terrible destruction. Now, however, the British
Admiral saw himself surrounded by the enemy, and the sight which caused
his heart to beat quickly was a distinct line of bubbles upon the water,
advancing with terrific speed, showing that a torpedo had been ejected
from the _Faucon_ directly at his ship!
In the conning-tower all knew their danger, but not a man spoke. Both
the Admiral and the captain at the same instant saw the death-dealing
projectile advancing, and both retained their coolness and presence of
mind. The captain, shouting an order, sprang back and touched one of the
electric signals, which was instantly responded to.
It was the work of a second. The great engines roared and throbbed, and
the huge vessel, propelled backwards by its 13,000 horse-power, swung
steadily round just as the torpedo glanced off her bow obliquely. The
crew of the _Royal Sovereign_ had never been nearer death than at that
instant. Had the ironclad not halted in her course, the striker of the
torpedo would have come square upon her bows, and one of the finest
vessels of the British Navy would have probably gone to the bottom.
The _Faucon_ was not given an opportunity to make a second attempt. The
captain of the _Anson_ had witnessed how narrowly the British flagship
had escaped, and immediately turned his great guns upon the little
vessel, with the result that her quick-firing guns were quickly rendered
useless, her hull was torn up like paper, and she slowly sank without
offering resistance.
Shots came from the frowning barbettes of the _Camperdown_, _Benbow_,
and the turrets of the _Monarch_ rapidly, the damage and loss of life
suffered by the enemy now being enormous. The three French battleships
engaging the _Royal Sovereign_ at close quarters received terrible
punishment. One of the 75-ton guns of the _Requin_ had been rendered
useless, her deck had been torn up, and her bulwarks had been carried
away, together with her funnel and forward mast. The rear barbette gun
of the _Jemappes_ had been thrown off its mounting, and a shell striking
the port side battery, had burst against the forward bulkhead, and
wrought horrible destruction among the guns' crews.
The three powerful French vessels pouring their fire upon the British
flagship, and finding themselves being raked by the heavy fire of their
adversary, signalled the _Tonnerre_ and _Furieux_ to assist them. Both
vessels drew nearer, and soon afterwards commenced pounding at the
_Royal Sovereign_.
The _Anson_, however, noticed the dangerous position of the British
flagship, and, having manoeuvred adroitly, succeeded in getting under
way, and with her great forward guns thundering, she crashed her ram
into the _Furieux_, and sank her, while almost at the same moment a
torpedo, discharged from one of the British boats, struck the _Tonnerre_
right amidships, dealing her a blow from which she could never recover.
Five minutes later, the _Gangut_, fighting desperately at close quarters
with the _Camperdown_, had part of her armoured casemate blown away, and
the British battleship followed up this success by directing a torpedo
at her in such a manner that, although she drew back quickly to avoid
it, she nevertheless received it right under her stern. Some ammunition
on board that vessel also exploded, and the effect was frightful, for
fragments of wood, iron, and human bodies were precipitated in all
directions.
The loss of life, although heavy on the British side, was nevertheless
far greater on board the enemy's ships. The continuity and precision of
the British fire wrought awful destruction. Between the decks of many of
the French and Russian ships the carnage was frightful. Among wrecked
guns and mountings lay headless and armless bodies; human limbs
shattered by shells were strewn in all directions upon decks slippery
with blood. The shrieks of the dying were drowned by the roar and crash
of the guns, the deafening explosion of shells, and the rending of iron
and steel as the projectiles pierced armourplates, destroying everything
with which they came in contact.
The noon had passed, and as the day wore on other catastrophes occurred
involving further loss of life. One of these was the accidental ramming
of the _Sfax_ by the French battleship _Redoubtable_, which managed,
however, to save the greater portion of the crew, although her engines
broke down.
During the afternoon the fire from the British ships seemed to increase
rather than diminish, notwithstanding each vessel flying the White
Ensign fought more than one of the enemy's ships, and in doing so
constantly received shots that spread death and destruction between the
decks. Still, amid the blinding smoke, the din of battle, and the
constant roaring of the guns, British bluejackets with smoke-begrimed
faces worked enthusiastically for the defence of Old England. Many
heroic deeds were performed that memorable afternoon, and many a gallant
hero was sent to an untimely grave.
On board the _Royal Sovereign_ the destruction was frightful. By four
o'clock many of the guns had been disabled, half the crew had perished,
and the decks ran with the life-blood of Britain's gallant defenders.
The captain had been struck upon the forehead by a flying fragment of
shell, causing a fearful wound; yet, with his head enveloped in a
hastily improvised bandage, he stuck to his post. He was engaging the
_Redoubtable_ and getting the worst of it, when suddenly, having
manoeuvred once or twice, he turned to his lieutenant, saying, "Lay
guns, ahead full speed, and prepare to ram." The officer addressed
transmitted the order, and a few moments later, as her guns thundered
forth, the bows of the _Royal Sovereign_ entered the broadside of the
French ship with a loud crash, ripping her almost in half.
Backing again quickly as the _Redoubtable_ sank, she suddenly received a
shock which made her reel and shiver. A shell from the Russian flagship
had struck under her stern barbette, but, failing to penetrate the
armour, glanced off into the sea.
Fiercer and more fierce became the fight. A well-directed shot from one
of the 67-ton guns on the _Anson's_ rear barbette struck the
conning-tower of the _Magenta_, blowing it away, killing the captain and
those who were directing the vessel.
The sun was sinking, but the battle still raged with unabated fury. Each
side struggled desperately for the mastery. The British, fighting nobly
against what had all along been overwhelming odds, had succeeded in
sinking some of the enemy's finest ships, and inflicting terrible loss
upon the crews of the others; yet the British Admiral, on viewing the
situation, was compelled to admit that he was outnumbered, and that a
continuance of the struggle would inevitably result in the loss of other
of his ships. There still remained three of the enemy's vessels to each
one of the British. His ships were all more or less crippled, therefore
a successful stand against the still overwhelming force would be sheer
madness. He was not the sort of man to show the white feather;
nevertheless a retreat upon Portsmouth had now become a matter of
policy, and the _Royal Sovereign_ a few minutes later ran up signals
intimating to the other vessels her intention.
As the British Squadron moved away down Channel the hoarse exultant
shouts of the enemy filled the air. But the fighting became even more
desperate, and for over an hour there was a most exciting chase. The
running fire did little harm to the retreating ships, but their stern
guns played terrible havoc with the French and Russian torpedo boats,
which were picked off one after another with remarkable rapidity.
Off Littlehampton one of the Russian ships ran up signals, and
immediately the enemy's ships slackened. Apparently they had no desire
to follow further west, for after a few parting shots they turned and
stood away up Channel again, while the surviving ships of the British
Squadron steamed onward in the blood-red track of the dying day.
At their head was the _Royal Sovereign_, battered, and bearing marks of
the deadly strife; but bright against the clear, calm evening sky, the
British flag, half of which had been shot away, still fluttered out in
the cool breeze of sunset.
The British Lion had shown his teeth. Alas, that our Navy should have
been so weak! Several of the ships had had their engines severely
damaged or broken, but our margin of additional strength was so small
that we had no vessels wherewith to replace those compelled to return to
port.
The struggle in this, the first naval battle in the defence of our
Empire, had been desperate, and the loss of life appalling.
The First Act of the most sanguinary drama of modern nations had closed.
What would be its _denouement_?
_BOOK II_
_THE STRUGGLE_