OUR REVENGE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Many important events had occurred in the Mediterranean since the
outbreak of hostilities. At the moment of the sudden Declaration of War,
the ships forming the British Mediterranean Squadron were at Larnaka,
Cyprus, and on receipt of the alarming intelligence, the Admiral sailed
immediately for Malta. On arrival there, he heard that a strong force of
French vessels had been despatched to Gibraltar for the purpose of
preventing any British ships from getting out of the Mediterranean in
order to strengthen the Channel Squadron. Nevertheless he waited for
some days at Malta, in hourly expectation of instructions, which came at
length about two o'clock one morning, and an hour later the Squadron
sailed westward for an unknown destination.
Our Fleet in those waters was notoriously inadequate in comparison with
those of France and Russia. It consisted of three of the battleships
constructed under the 1894 programme, the _Jupiter_, _Caesar_, and
_Victorious_, with the cruisers _Diana_ and _Dido_; the ironclads
_Collingwood_, _Dreadnought_, _Hood_, _Inflexible_, _Nile_, _Ramillies_,
_Repulse_, _Sans Pareil_, _Trafalgar_, _Magnificent_, _Empress of
India_, and _Revenge_; the cruisers _Arethusa_, _Edgar_, _Fearless_,
_Hawke_, _Scout_, _Orlando_, _Undaunted_; the torpedo ram _Polyphemus_;
the torpedo gun-vessel _Sandfly_; the sloops _Dolphin_, _Gannet_,
_Melita_, and _Bramble_; and the despatch vessel _Surprise_, with
twenty-two torpedo boats and six destroyers.
The information received by our Fleet at Malta was to the effect that
the French force at Gibraltar was so strong that a successful attack was
out of the question; while the Russian Mediterranean and Black Sea
Fleets, the strength of which was considerable, were also known to be
approaching for the purpose of co-operating with the French.
Notwithstanding the addition of three new battleships and two new
cruisers to our force in the Mediterranean, the utter inadequacy of our
Navy was still very apparent. For years the British public had demanded
that a dozen more new battleships should be constructed in case of
casualties, but these demands were unheeded, and during the three years
that had passed we had lost our naval supremacy, for France and Russia
combined were now considerably stronger. France alone had 150 fighting
pennants available along her southern shores, against our 59; and the
Tsar's ships were all strong, well-equipped, and armed with guns of the
latest type.
As was feared from the outset, the Russian Black Sea Fleet had struck
for the Suez Canal, England's highway to the East. Egypt, the Bosphorus,
Gibraltar, and Tripoli in the grasp of the enemy, meant supremacy in the
East, and a situation that would not be tolerated by either Italy or
Austria. Therefore the British Admiral, recognising the seriousness of
the situation, and having received instructions to return home and
assist in the defence of Britain, mustered his forces and cleared for
action. The events that occurred immediately afterwards are best related
in the graphic and interesting narrative which was subsequently written
to a friend by Captain Neville Reed of the great steel battleship
_Ramillies_, and afterwards published, together with the accompanying
sketch, in the _Illustrated London News_, as follows:--
"After leaving Malta, we rounded the Adventure Bank off the Sicilian
coast, and headed due north past Elba and on to the Gulf of Genoa.
From Spezia we received despatches, and after anchoring for
twelve hours,--during which time we were busy completing our
preparations,--sailed at midnight westward. Off St. Tropez, near the
Hyeres Islands, in obedience to signals from the flagship, the _Empress
of India_, the ironclads _Jupiter_, _Sans Pareil_, _Repulse_, with the
cruisers _Edgar_, _Dido_, _Diana_, _Orlando_, _Undaunted_, and _Scout_,
the sloop _Gannet_, and five torpedo boats, detached themselves from the
Squadron, and after exchanging further signals, bore away due south.
Giving the shore a wide offing, we steamed along throughout the
afternoon. The Mediterranean had not yet been the scene of any bloody or
fatal conflict, but as we cut our way through the calm sunlit waters
with a brilliant cerulean sky above, the contrast between our bright and
lovely surroundings and the terrible realities of the situation during
those breathless hours of suspense still dwells distinctly in my memory.
"It was our duty to fight the enemy, to beat him, and to pass through
the Straits of Gibraltar and help our comrades at home. Every man,
although totally unaware of his present destination, felt that at last
the moment had come when the supreme ambition of his life was to be
realised, and he was to strike a blow for his country's honour.
"Apparently our Admiral was in no hurry. He no doubt was awaiting
events, for at sunset we lay-to about thirty miles south of La Ciotat,
and spent the calm bright night restlessly anxious and keeping a sharp
lookout for the enemy. There was a hush of expectation over the ship,
and scarcely a sound broke the quiet save the lapping of the water
against the smooth sides of the ironclad, and no sign of force except
the swish of the waves falling on either side of the formidable and
deadly ram.
"Just after seven bells in the morning watch, however, we resumed our
voyage, and turning, went north again. Then, for the first time, we knew
the Admiral's intentions. An ultimatum had already been given. _We were
to bombard Marseilles!_
"Three hours later we came within view of the city. Seen from the sea it
has a certain amount of picturesqueness. In the foreground there is the
harbour, with a barren group of islands at its entrance, and behind
masses of yellow houses covering an extensive valley, and white villas
dotted over a semicircle of green hills stretching in the rear.
Prominent in the landscape is the church of Notre Dame de la Garde,
perched on the eminence on the right; while on the left there stands on
an island the Chateau d'If, rendered immortal by the adventures of Monte
Cristo; and behind, on the broad Quai de la Joliette, rises the fine
Cathedral, built in alternate courses of black and white stone. It is a
handsome and wealthy city, with its fine shady boulevard, the Cannebiere
running through its centre from the Arc de Triomphe right down to the
old port whence the mail steamers depart. This city, teeming with life,
it was our duty to lay in ruins!
"Knowing how strongly fortified it was, that upon each of those hills
were great batteries ready at a given signal to pour out their deadly
hail, and that under the blue waters were mines which might be exploded
from the shore at any moment, we made preparations for counter-mining,
and then cautiously approached within range. Suddenly, however, having
got into position and laid our guns, we received the anxiously expected
order, and a few moments later opened a terrific and almost simultaneous
fire.
"Through my glass I could clearly distinguish the terrible confusion
being caused in the streets as our shells fell and burst on the Quai de
la Joliette, in the Cannebiere, and the Boulevard de l'Empereur.
"The first taste of our guns had produced a terrible panic, for a shell
from the _Dreadnought_, lying next to us, had struck the tower of the
Cathedral and brought down a great quantity of masonry, while another
shell from one of our 67-ton guns, bursting in the Palais de Justice
with terrible effect, had ignited it.
"It was our first shot, and the gun had been well sighted; but ere we
fired again such a storm of shell burst upon us that I confess for a
moment I stood in my conning-tower motionless in surprise. On all sides
the French had apparently established batteries. From the great Fort St.
Jean at the entrance to the port, and from the Batterie du Phare on the
opposite side, flame and smoke belched from heavy guns continuously.
From a small battery in the Chateau d'If, from another on the rocky
promontory on the right known as the Edoume, from a number of smaller
ones established on the hills of l'Oriol and the Citadel, as well as
from the great fortress of Notre Dame de la Garde on the highest hill, a
little to the right of the city, there came an incessant thunder, and
dozens of shots ricochetted over the placid water towards us.
"In a few moments, however, my 67-tonners were again adding to the
deafening roar, my ten 6-inch quick-firing guns were sending out their
messengers of death, and my smaller arms, consisting of 3 and
16-pounders, were acting their part in the sudden outburst. We had
attacked the town without intention of investment, but simply to destroy
it, and as the minutes slipped by, and I peered through my glass, I
could see how devastating were our enormous modern shells.
"All our guns were now trained upon the forts, and the bombardment was
most vigorous. The six coast-defence ships, which endeavoured to drive
us off, we quickly put out of action, capturing one, torpedoing two, and
disabling the three others; while up to the present, although a number
of shots from the land batteries had struck us, we sustained no serious
damage.
"We were avenging Hull and Newcastle. Into the panic-stricken town we
were pouring an unceasing storm of shell, which swept away whole streets
of handsome buildings, and killed hundreds of those flying for safety
into the country. Watching, I saw one shot from one of my bow barbette
guns crash into the roof of the fine new Hotel du Louvre, in the
Cannebiere. The French Tricolor on the flagstaff toppled over into the
street, and a second later the clouds of smoke and the debris which shot
up showed plainly the awful results of the bursting shell.
"Time after time my 67-tonners crashed and roared, time after time I
pressed my fingers upon the little knobs in the conning-tower, and huge
projectiles were discharged right into the forts. In conjunction with
the never-ceasing fire of companion ships, we rained iron in a
continuous stream that wrought havoc in the defences and destroyed all
the buildings that offered targets. In an hour the Arsenal behind the
Palais de Justice was laid in ruins, the fine Hotel de Ville was a mere
heap of smouldering debris, the Bourse, and the great Library in the
Boulevard du Musee were half wrecked by shells, and the Custom House,
the Gendarmerie, and the Prefecture were burning furiously. The Chateau
du Phare on the headland at the entrance to the fort was suffering
frightfully, and the shells that had struck the Citadel and the fort of
Notre Dame had been terribly effective. Every part of the city from the
Promenade du Prado to the Botanical Gardens was being swept continuously
by our fire, and from the black smoke curling upward in the sunlight we
knew that many broad handsome streets were in flames. Excited over their
work of revenge, my guns' crews worked on with a contemptuous disregard
for the withering fire being poured upon us from the land. They meant,
they said, to teach the Frenchmen a lesson, and they certainly did.
Around us shots from the batteries fell thickly, sending up huge columns
of water. Suddenly a shell struck the _Ramillies_ forward in front of
the barbette, and burst like the rending of a thundercloud. The deck was
torn up, a dozen men were maimed or killed, poor fellows! but the solid
face of the barbette held its own, and the muzzles of our two great guns
remained untouched.
"Several shots from the Notre Dame Fort and the Endoume Battery then
struck us in quick succession. One was particularly disastrous, for,
crashing into the battery on the port side, it burst, disabling one of
the 6-inch guns, and killing the whole gun's crew in an instant. The
effect was frightful, for the whole space around was wrecked, and not a
man escaped.
"Such are the fortunes of war! A few moments later we turned our heavy
guns upon the Endoume Battery, perched up upon the rocky headland, and
together with the _Empress of India_ and the _Victorious_ thundered
forth our great projectiles upon it in a manner which must have been
terribly disconcerting. The battery replied vigorously at first, but the
_Nile_, noticing the direction in which we had turned our attention,
trained her guns upon the same fort, and let loose a perfect hail of
devastating shell. Without ceasing for a second, we played upon it, and
could distinguish even with the naked eye how completely we were
destroying it, until half an hour later we found that the Frenchmen had
ceased to reply. We had silenced their guns, and, in fact, totally
wrecked the fort.
"Several of our vessels were, however, severely feeling the fire from
the Notre Dame Fortress and that of St. Jean. Nearly one hundred men on
board the _Trafalgar_ had been killed; while two shots, entering one of
the broadside batteries of the flagship, had caused frightful havoc, and
had blown to atoms over forty men and three officers. A torpedo boat
that had approached the French coast-defence ship just before she was
captured had been sunk by a shot, but the crew were fortunately all
rescued, after much difficulty, by the sloop _Dolphin_, which had
severely suffered herself from the vigorous fire from the Batterie du
Phare. The funnel of the _Nile_ had been carried away by a shot from the
Citadel, while among the more conspicuous British losses was a serious
catastrophe which had occurred on board the _Hood_ by the premature
explosion of a torpedo, by which a sub-lieutenant and thirty-three men
were launched into eternity, and sixteen men very severely wounded. The
engines of the _Arethusa_ were also broken.
"The smoke rising from the bombarded city increased every moment in
density, and even in the daylight we could distinguish the flames. The
centre of Marseilles was burning furiously, and the fire was now
spreading unchecked. One of our objects had been to destroy the immense
quantity of war stores, and in this we were entirely successful. We had
turned our united efforts upon the Fort St. Jean down at the harbour
entrance and that of Notre Dame high on the hill. Pounding away at
these, time slipped by until the sun sank in a blaze of crimson and
gold. Both forts made a gallant defence, but each of our shots went
home, and through my glasses I watched the awful result. Suddenly a
terrific report caused the whole city to tremble. One of our shots had
apparently entered the powder magazine in the Fort St. Jean, and it had
blown up, producing an appalling catastrophe from which the fortress
could never recover.
[Illustration: BOMBARDMENT OF MARSEILLES BY THE BRITISH:
"ONE OF OUR SHELLS HAD ENTERED THE POWDER MAGAZINE OF FORT ST. JEAN."]
"By this time the whole of the shipping in the docks was burning
furiously, and the congested part of the city lying between the port and
the Lyons Railway Station was like a huge furnace. The sight was one of
terrible grandeur.
"Presently, just as the sun sank behind the grey night clouds, we ceased
fire, and then gazed with calm satisfaction upon the result of our
bombardment. We had treated a French city in the same manner as the
French and Russians had treated our own homes, and we could look upon
this scene of destruction and death without a pang of remorse. But that
was not all. When our guns were silent we could distinctly hear vigorous
rifle firing at the back of the city. Then we knew the truth.
"While we had been attacking Marseilles from the sea, the Italians, who
a week before had crossed the frontier, and with the Germans occupied
Lyons, had co-operated with us on land, and the terror-stricken
Marseillais, hemmed in by fire and bullets on either side, had been
swept away in thousands.
"The scenes in the streets were, we afterwards learnt, awful; and
although the garrison offered a desperate resistance to the Italians
along the valley near the Chateau des Fleurs, most of them were killed,
and nearly three thousand of their number taken prisoners. But the
Italians were unable to enter Marseilles themselves, as, long before
they had succeeded in breaking up the land defences, we had set the
place on fire, and now, as night fell, the great city was one mass of
flames, the lurid light from which illuminated sky and sea with a bright
red glare."
* * * * *
The blazing African sun was fading, flooding the calm sapphire
Mediterranean with its blood-red afterglow. The air was oppressive, the
wind blew hot from the desert, and shoals of tiny green birds were
chattering before roosting in the oasis of tall date palms that cast
long shadows over the sun-baked stones of the Place du Gouvernement at
Algiers. Everything was of a dazzling whiteness, relieved only by the
blue sky and sea. The broad, handsome Square was almost deserted, the
jalousies of the European houses were still closed, and although a few
people were sipping absinthe at the cafes, the siesta was not yet over.
At one corner of the Square the Mosque of Djama-el-Djedid, with its dome
and minarets, stood out intensely white against the bright, cloudless
sky, its spotless cleanliness causing the white-washed houses of
Europeans to appear yellow and dingy; and as the _mueddin_ stood on one
of the minarets with arms uplifted, calling the Faithful to prayer, idle
Moors and Arabs, who had been lying asleep in the shadow during the
afternoon, rose quickly, rearranged their burnouses, and entered the
Mosque in order to render thanks to Allah.
Darkness crept on after a brief twilight. Moorish women, wrapped in
their white _haicks_, wearing their ugly baggy trousers, and veiled to
the eyes, waddled along slowly and noiselessly among the palms, and
gradually a gay cosmopolitan crowd assembled in the Place to enjoy the
_bel fresco_ after the terrible heat of the day, and to listen to the
fine band of the 1st Zouaves, which had already taken up its stand in
the centre of the Square, and was now playing one of Strauss's dreamy
waltzes.
The night was bright and starlit, one of those calm, mystic evenings
peculiar to North Africa. All was peaceful, but no moon had yet risen.
The city wore its gay air of carelessness. White-robed Moors and
red-fezzed Arabs, negroes from the Soudan, and Biskris in their blue
burnouses, lounged, chattered, and promenaded, while the cafes and
bazaars around were full of life, and the warm, balmy air was laden with
the scent of flowers.
Suddenly, without warning, the whole place was illuminated by a
brilliant light from the sea. Slowly it swept the town, and a few
seconds later other bright beams shot forth, lighting up the quays, the
terraces of white, flat-roofed houses, and the Moorish city on the hill.
Then, before the promenaders could realise the cause, a loud booming
was heard at sea, and almost at the same moment a shell fell, and,
exploding in the midst of them, blew a dozen Moors and Arabs into atoms.
In a few seconds the cannonade increased, and the battery in the centre
of the harbour replied. Then firing seemed to proceed from all quarters,
and a storm of shell suddenly crashed upon the town with the most
appalling effect.
British war-vessels had crept up within range, and were pouring the
vials of Britain's wrath upon the ancient city of the Deys!
The detachment of vessels which, led by the new battleship _Jupiter_,
went south from St. Tropez, had received instructions to destroy Algiers
and return with all speed to Cagliari, in Sardinia, to await further
instructions. The bombardment of the two cities simultaneously was in
order to draw off the French Squadron from the position it had taken up
near Gibraltar, so that the British could fight and then run past them
into the Atlantic.
How far the manoeuvre succeeded is shown in the few interesting details
of the bombardment given in the course of an interview which a reporter
of the _Daily Telegraph_ had with Lieut. George Ingleton, of the
first-class cruiser _Edgar_. The officer said:--
"We arrived off Algiers two hours after sundown, and after an inspection
with search-lights, began to let fly with our big guns. In a few minutes
the Al-Djefna Battery in the centre of the harbour replied, and a moment
later a very rigorous fire was poured forth from Fort Neuf on the right
and Forts Bab-Azzoun and Conde on the left. All four were very strong,
and in conjunction with coast-defence vessels offered a most vigorous
resistance. So suddenly did we fire upon the town, that a frightful
panic must have been caused. Before we had fired half a dozen times, a
shot from one of our 22-tonners crashed into the dome of the Mosque and
totally demolished it, while another particularly well-aimed shell
struck the Mairie, a big handsome building on the Boulevard de la
Republique, facing the sea, tearing out a portion of the front. Then,
turning our guns upon the long row of shops, banks, and hotels which
formed the Boulevard, we pounded away most effectively, while several of
our other vessels attended to the forts.
"During the first half-hour the four warships of the enemy gave us
considerable trouble, but very soon our torpedoes had sunk two of them,
and the other two were quickly captured.
"Meanwhile, under the hot fire from the forts, the bombardment grew
exciting. Shells were ricochetting on the water all round us, but our
search-lights being now shut off, we offered a very indistinct target to
the enemy. On nearly all our ships, however, there were some slight
casualties. A shell severely damaged the superstructure of the
_Jupiter_, while others rendered useless several of her machine guns. A
shell penetrated the _Gannet_, unfortunately killing fourteen
bluejackets; and had it not been that the deck of the _Edgar_ was
protected throughout, the consequences to us would also have been very
serious. Nevertheless, our two 22-ton guns rendered valuable service,
and contributed in no small measure to the demolition of the town.
"From the outset we could see that Algiers was totally unprepared for
attack, and, continuing our fire calmly and regularly, we watched the
flames bursting forth in every part of the town and leaping skyward. On
shore the guns kept up their roaring thunder, although by aid of glasses
we could detect how effectual were our shells in wrecking the
fortifications and laying in ruins the European quarter. Every moment we
were dealing terrible blows which shook the city to its foundations. The
formidable city walls availed them nothing, for we could drop our shells
anywhere we pleased, either on the hill at Mustapha or upon the pretty
Moorish villas that lined the shore at St. Eugene.
"Blazing away at long range upon the town, we spread destruction
everywhere. Houses toppled like packs of cards, mosques were blown into
the air, and public buildings swept away like grains of sand before the
sirocco. Under such a fire thousands of natives and Europeans must have
perished, for we were determined to carry out our intentions, and teach
the invaders a lesson they were not likely to easily forget. Time after
time our heavy guns crashed, while our 6-inch quick-firers kept up their
roar, and our machine guns rattled continuously. As the hours went by,
and we continued our work of merciless destruction, we were hit once or
twice, but beyond the loss of two men and some unimportant damage we
escaped further punishment.
"The roar of our guns was deafening, and the smoke hung over the calm
sea like a storm-cloud. Still we kept on in the face of the galling fire
from the shore, and before midnight had the satisfaction of witnessing a
magnificent spectacle, for the isolated conflagrations gradually united
and the whole town was in flames.
"We had accomplished our work, so with cheers for Old England we gave a
parting shot, and turning were soon steaming away towards the Sicilian
coast, leaving Algiers a mass of roaring flame.
"The journey was uneventful until just before noon on the following day.
I was at that time on duty, and suddenly, to my surprise, detected a
number of ships. By the aid of our glasses, the captain and I found to
our dismay that a number of the most powerful vessels of the Russian
Fleet were bearing down upon us! All our other vessels had made the same
discovery, and I must confess that the meeting was somewhat
disconcerting. The strength of the Russian ironclads was such as to
cause our hearts to beat more quickly. To engage that great force meant
certain defeat, while it was necessary that our Admiral off Marseilles
should know of the whereabouts of this hostile squadron, therefore we
resolved to get away. But although we altered our course and put on all
speed, we were, alas! unsuccessful. At last we determined at all hazards
to stick to our guns so long as we were afloat, and as the first of the
Tsar's ironclads drew within range, one of our 22-tonners thundered. The
white smoke, driven forward, tumbled over our bows. We had spoken the
first word of battle!"