_The following story of how the little Mary Rose, a British
destroyer, went down with colors flying, when, in October, 1917,
she fought against overwhelming enemy forces, has been compiled
from official sources:_
The Mary Rose left a Norwegian port in charge of a westbound convoy of
merchant ships in the afternoon of Oct. 16, 1917. At dawn on the 17th
flashes of gunfire were sighted astern. The Captain of the Mary Rose,
Lieut. Commander Charles Fox, who was on the bridge at the time,
remarked that he supposed it was a submarine shelling the convoy, and
promptly turned his ship to investigate. All hands were called to action
stations. The Mary Rose had increased to full speed, and in a short time
three light cruisers were sighted coming toward them at high speed out
of the morning mist. The Mary Rose promptly challenged, and, receiving
no reply, opened fire with every gun that would bear at a range of about
four miles. The German light cruisers appeared to be nonplused by this
determined single-handed onslaught, as they did not return the fire
until the range had closed to three miles.
They then opened fire, and the Mary Rose held gallantly on through a
barrage of bursting shell until only a mile separated her from the
enemy. Up to this point the German marksmanship was poor, but as the
British destroyer turned to bring her torpedo tubes to bear a salvo
struck her, bursting in the engine room and leaving her disabled, a log
on the water. All guns, with the exception of the after one, were out of
action and their crews killed or wounded, but the after gun continued in
action, under the direction of Sub-Lieutenant Marsh, R. N. V. R., as
long as it would bear. The Captain came down from the wrecked bridge and
passed aft, encouraging and cheering his defeated men. He stopped beside
the wrecked remains of the midship gun and shouted to the survivors of
its crew: "God bless my heart, lads, get her going again; we're not
done yet!" The enemy was now pouring a concentrated fire into the
motionless vessel. One of the boilers, struck by a shell, exploded, and
through the inferno of escaping steam, smoke, and the vapor of bursting
shell came that familiar, cheery voice: "We're not done yet."
As the German light cruisers sped past, two able seamen, (French and
Bailey,) who alone had survived among the torpedo tubes' crews, on their
own initiative laid and fired the remaining torpedo. French was killed
immediately and Bailey badly wounded. Realizing that the enemy had
passed ahead, and that the four-inch gun could no longer be brought to
bear on them, the Captain went below and set about destroying his
ciphers. The First Lieutenant, (Lieutenant Bavin,) seeing one of the
light cruisers returning toward them, called the gunner (Mr. Handcock)
and bade him sink the ship. The Captain then came on deck and gave the
order "Abandon ship." All the boats had been shattered by shellfire at
their davits, but the survivors launched a Carley raft and paddled clear
of the ship. The German light cruiser detailed to administer the coup de
grace then approached to within 300 yards and poured a succession of
salvos into the already riddled hull.
The Mary Rose sank at 7:15 A. M. with colors flying. The Captain, First
Lieutenant, and gunner were lost with the ship, but the handful of
survivors, in charge of Sub-Lieutenant J. R. D. Freeman, on the Carley
raft, fell in some hours later with a lifeboat belonging to one of the
ships of the convoy. Sailing and rowing, they made the Norwegian coast
some forty-eight hours later, and were tended with the utmost kindness
by the Norwegian authorities.
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