Operations in the North Sea and Channel
"Grey and solemn on the wave,
Vast of beam, immense of length;
Coldly scorning death and grave--
Citadel of monster strength.
"Darkened sky and troubled sea,
Thunder-crashing sound in air;
Massive citadel--was she
Such a thing as founders there."
"Submarined." (From _The Battleship_, by Walter Wood, 1912.)
THE next phase of the naval operations in the Channel and North Sea does
not afford quite such satisfactory reading as the "Battle of the Bight",
for the loss of several of our cruisers and smaller vessels by mine and
torpedo has to be recorded. At the same time the very fact that our
ships were at sea, and so offering a target to the German submarines,
while their ships were hiding under the fortifications of Kiel and
Heligoland, must not be lost sight of.
If we claim command of the sea we must face the risks of the position.
The sinking of a few men-of-war by mines or submarines will not transfer
the "trident of Neptune" to a fleet which only plays for safety, any
more than the destruction of one or two public buildings by a dynamitard
will give him the reins of government. The "silver lining" to the cloud
of our losses in men and material is the magnificent bravery and
discipline displayed by the crews of the vessels attacked, officers,
seamen, and marines alike. Space forbids a detailed account of each of
these losses, but it is as well to mention them.
Thus the _Speedy_ and _Pathfinder_, small cruisers of mature age, were
blown up, the first by a mine, the second by a submarine, during
September. In the month of October the cruiser _Hawke_, when in company
with the _Theseus_ in the North Sea, was attacked and torpedoed by a
German submarine, while the _Hermes_, fitted as a tender for aeroplanes,
was sunk in a similar way in the Channel, where, on the 27th, the German
submarine service went so far as to torpedo the French steamer _Amiral
Ganteaume_, crowded as she was with 2500 refugees. The biggest and most
dramatic of the losses occasioned by the enemy submarines was the
torpedoing of the three big cruisers _Aboukir_, _Cressy_, and _Hogue_ on
the morning of 22nd September. The ships were by no means new, and their
loss is not to be compared with that of the many gallant men who formed
their crews.
To quote the official statement issued to the Press: "The duty on which
these vessels were engaged was an essential part of the arrangements by
which the control of the seas and the safety of the country are
maintained, and the lives lost are as usefully, as necessarily, and as
gloriously devoted to the requirements of His Majesty's Service as if
the loss had been incurred in a general action." The ships were in the
neighbourhood of the Hook of Holland when they were attacked by the U
9--alone, according to the German story, though some of the survivors
think there were more, and claim that one was sunk. The _Aboukir_ was
the first victim, and the other ships, seeing her plight, stopped, or at
any rate reduced their speed, to lower their boats to pick up her men,
thus giving the enemy an opportunity of torpedoing them also which he
was not slow to take advantage of.
"The natural promptings of humanity have in this case led to heavy
losses which would have been avoided by a strict adherence to military
considerations," remarked the authorized statement published by the
Press Bureau, which went on to point out the necessity of this rule
being observed, especially in the case of large ships.
The material loss inflicted on the navy by the loss of the _Aboukir_,
_Cressy_, and _Hogue_ was not great. The three ships were all designed
as far back as 1898, which may perhaps account for the rapidity with
which they foundered, since the torpedo at that time was by no means so
formidable, either as regards range, accuracy, or explosive effect, as
those of to-day. It is probable, therefore, that the precautions against
these weapons, in the shape of internal subdivision, were not so
extensive as in our more modern ships of war. The _Aboukir_, _Cressy_,
and _Hogue_ were among our very oldest armoured cruisers, and, big as
they were, had a comparatively light armament considering their 12,000
tons of displacement.
Considering the extremely limited opportunities afforded by the coyness
of the German so-called "High Seas Fleet", our submarines and destroyers
retaliated fairly effectively. The E 9, one of our newest submarines,
commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Max K. Horton, R.N., torpedoed the
_Hela_, a light 2000-ton cruiser of an old type, on 13th September. The
ship was not a great loss to the German Navy, as she was quite an old
stager, dating from 1895, but the exploit was a notable one, being
carried out, as it was, well behind the Island of Heligoland, that very
formidable German naval fortress.
The same boat scored another success on 6th October, when she sighted
two German destroyers patrolling off the mouth of the Ems, not far from
the island of Borkum, and managed to torpedo one of them--the S 126, of
420 tons. "It was an easier case than that of the _Hela_," said one of
the E9's crew on her return to Harwich, "but luck was with us."
"When we rose," he said, "we saw two German destroyers travelling at a
speed of some 30 knots. Our commander was at the periscope, and ordered
the forward tubes to be fired." They then rose to the surface, and the
commander said: "Look at her; the beggar is going down." Then they saw
the German rise perpendicularly, and men rushed up to her stern and
dived into the water. The submarine then submerged and made her way
back.
"I don't want to boast," continued the narrator, "but we got our
'rooties'[86] home. It was not a bad performance."[87]
Again, a smart little action was fought on the afternoon of 17th October
between the light cruiser _Undaunted_, commanded by Captain Fox, who was
blown up in the _Amphion_--with the destroyers _Lance_, _Lennox_,
_Legion_, and _Loyal_, and four German destroyers, all of which were
sunk.
"We steamed out of Harwich," wrote an officer who was engaged, "with all
the ships' companies jubilant and eager to get into the danger zone, as
it was reported that a 'certain amount of liveliness' prevailed in the
North Sea.[88] All was quiet till two o'clock, when, heading up
northwards and skirting the Dutch coast-line, we sighted the smoke of
four vessels. Our captain immediately cleared for action, and signalled
the order to chase. We steamed at top speed, with two destroyers
disposed on either side of us. It was a never-to-be-forgotten
sight--nerves strained to their utmost tension, and everybody as keen as
mustard. Sea and spray flew all over us, and covered us fore and aft.
The German destroyers turned about and fled, but we had the advantage in
speed, soon got within range with our 6-inch bow gun, and opened
fire.... Once within effective range our 4-inch semi-automatic guns
blazed away, the destroyers acting independently. The Germans, seeing
themselves cornered, altered course, with the intention of obtaining a
better strategic position. Most of their shooting was aimed at the
destroyers. Lusty cheers rang from our ships as the first German
destroyer disappeared. A 6-inch lyddite shell struck her just below the
bridge. She toppled over on her beam-ends like a wounded bird, then
righted herself level with the surface, and finally plunged, bow first,
all in about two minutes.
[Illustration: "MISSED!"; THE HELM THE BEST WEAPON AGAINST TORPEDOES
This picture illustrates an incident which has frequently occurred in
the patrol flotillas when destroyers have been hunting down submarines
and the latter have retaliated by firing torpedoes. Clever manoeuvring
in combination with good gunnery is the war-ship's best protection
against attack by submarine.]
"We had by this time closed, and the enemy commenced firing their
torpedoes. They must have discharged at least eight, one missing our
stern by only a few yards. Fortunately for us, we caught sight of the
bubbles on the surface denoting its track, and just missed the fate of
the _Aboukir_, _Cressy_, _Hogue_, and _Hawke_ by a hairbreadth. At 2·55
p.m. the second of the enemy's vessels was seen to be out of action,
being ablaze fore and aft, showing the fearful havoc our lyddite shells
were making. As each shell hit its mark, funnels, bridge, torpedo-tubes,
and all the deck fittings disappeared like magic, dense fumes from the
explosive covering the vessels fore and aft. We actually passed over the
spot where the first vessel had sunk, and just for the space of a couple
of seconds, as we were tearing through the water at over 30 knots an
hour, we caught sight of scores of poor wretches floating about and
clinging to charred and blackened debris and wreckage. This was truly a
pitiable sight, but as we had two more combatants to put out of action,
to stop at such close range, even to save life, would have been courting
disaster. We should have been merely exposing ourselves to torpedoes. We
had to tear along and try and forget the gruesome result of our work.
The second ship, now a mass of seething flame, sank quite level with the
water, and we soon had the remaining two literally holed and maimed.
Their firing was very poor and inaccurate, although several shells flew
around, throwing shrapnel bullets about. It was a marvel that none
struck us. The _Loyal_ and _Lennox_ got quite near one of the German
vessels. The surviving German fired her last torpedo, which, however,
went wide of the mark. During these activities we had closed in with the
last of the Kaiser's destroyers, and placed her _hors de combat_. The
_Legion_ had two wounded. By 3·30 the action was over, and the German
fleet had been reduced by four units. Then came the order to get out
boats and save life. Altogether we saved 2 officers and 29 men.... Those
wretched Teutons made a good fight. They were, of course, completely
outmatched."
A few days afterwards the destroyer _Badger_ did a smart piece of work
in ramming and destroying a German submarine off the Dutch coast. The
Admiralty wired to her commanding officer--Commander C. A.
Fremantle--that they were "very pleased with your good service". But
about the same time our submarine E 3 was reported to have been lost in
the North Sea. The navy made rather a surprise appearance on the Belgian
coast towards the end of October, enfilading the right of the German
attack on Nieuport, which was being stoutly defended by the Belgians,
and formed the extreme left of the "far-flung battle line" of the
Allies. Three "Monitors"--novel craft in our service--which had been
building for Brazil, but had been taken up by the Admiralty at the
outbreak of war, played the leading part to begin with, but later on
other heavier ships took a hand in the proceedings. The "Monitors" were
especially well adapted for work in the shallow waters between Dunkirk
and Zeebrügge. Their appearance was unexpected by the Germans, who
suffered severely from their fire, and were unable to press their attack
against Nieuport. The "Monitors" _Mersey_, _Severn_, and _Humber_,
assisted by destroyers and a French flotilla, steamed within a couple of
miles of the shore and were in action from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m. on the
first day. Their fire was incessant, one vessel alone firing 1000
lyddite and shrapnel shells. The German trenches, which were about 3
miles inland, were especially aimed at, and the most terrible execution
was done upon the troops in them. The German batteries among the big
sand-dunes along the beach also came in for a good deal of attention.
One battery of field-guns was entirely wiped out, a train collected to
force the passage of the Yser was totally dispersed, an ammunition
column blown up, and General von Tripp and the whole of his staff, who
were near Westende, were killed.
The Germans seemed unable to make an effective reply, and even an
aeroplane sent up to signal the ranges by smoke-balls proved a failure.
By the end of the day the Germans had lost 4000 men and had been driven
from the coast, where nothing was visible but dense masses of black
smoke and lurid patches of flame. The British fire was extremely rapid,
some of the guns firing no less than fourteen rounds a minute at times.
A few casualties were suffered by the British, but no material damage of
a serious nature was sustained, although exposed both to gun-fire and,
it is stated, to submarine attacks, which were warded off by the
attendant destroyers.
The British Navy continued to do valuable work on the Belgian coast for
a considerable time. The _Venerable_, a pre-Dreadnought battleship, did
great execution with her big 12-inch guns, which outranged the German
batteries. In November, Zeebrügge, where the enemy had established a
submarine station, was heavily bombarded and considerable damage done.
The British casualties during these coastal operations were but slight.
The destroyer _Falcon_, however, received one very destructive shell,
which killed 1 officer and 8 men and wounded 1 officer and 15 men.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] i.e. torpedoes.
[87] _Naval and Military Record._
[88] _Ibid._