  "One crowded hour of glorious life FOREWORDA brief introduction to Part II of this book may assist the reader. The previous chapters have dealt with the general idea of the operation, the more important details of the plan, and the preparatory work involved. We are now approaching the actual events which occurred during the operation itself as carried out at the third attempt. For reasons stated in Part I, Chapter III, I do not propose to deal further with the enterprise at Ostende; the preparatory work for the blocking of that place has been fairly well covered in the foregoing pages. As a matter of historical interest a list of all vessels employed in the simultaneous operations at Zeebrugge and Ostende is given in the Appendix. Doubtless the Ostende story will be told in due course by one of those who took part in the operations at that place. Unless the reader's mind has clearly grasped our intentions as portrayed in the Zeebrugge plan it may be difficult to understand the connection between the actual events which occurred. The more important details of the plan have already been described, but chiefly under the consideration of each separate phase of the enterprise, or of the duties of each class of vessel, rather than as related items of one complete operation. It may be advisable, therefore, to describe briefly the various phases, in their proper sequence, Briefly, then, the main points of the plan for the blocking of Zeebrugge were as follows: The expedition was to cross the seas during the afternoon and evening, stopping for a few minutes about twenty miles from its destination for the purpose of disembarking the surplus crews of the blockships. At about this time the first of the diversions, in the form of aerial attacks, were to commence, to be shortly followed by the opening of the long-range bombardments. Meanwhile the expedition, working to a prearranged time table, was to approach the coast. At given intervals during the approach small craft were to be detached to carry out the duties of smoke screening, of diversionary attacks, of locating the destination, and of dealing with enemy vessels which might emerge from their harbours or which were already at sea. Immediately following the long-range bombardment, the storming vessels, having located the Mole, were to proceed alongside the high outer wall and land their storming parties over it to attack the Mole batteries—this constituting the main diversion of the enterprise. A few minutes later, the submarines, having steamed into place beneath the railway viaduct, were to blow up the railway. Twenty minutes after the storming vessels were due to arrive The foregoing brief summary serves to indicate that at any given moment after the approach had once commenced there would be many different events taking place simultaneously. For instance, early in the proceedings there would be a combined aerial attack and long-range bombardment whilst the main expedition, under cover of darkness, was silently approaching over the mine-fields, momentarily expectant of discovery by the enemy's patrol vessels. Later—say, ten minutes after the storming vessels had arrived at the Mole—the storming parties from Vindictive, Iris, and Daffodil would be attacking the northeastern end of the Mole; Vindictive's howitzers would be bombarding the shore batteries; small craft would be bombing the central part of the Mole; submarines would be blowing up the railway viaduct; the submarine's crews would be pulling away for dear life; other small craft would be laying their smoke screens close off the enemy's batteries and The enterprise was to be decidedly intensive. If all went well the defence should certainly be mystified and not a little worried by the time the blockships arrived in the picture. Thus, and thus only, should we be following out the maxim of Stonewall Jackson, "Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy." The enterprise divides itself naturally into three main phases, namely, the Approach, the Attack, and the Retirement; as far as practicable Part II will describe each of these phases in turn, whilst dealing more or less separately with the work of each class of vessel. CHAPTER ITHE START. THE OVERSEA PASSAGE The break of dawn on April 22, 1918, the first of the seven days of our tabulated period, found many anxious individuals on deck discussing the chances. There was an almost entire absence of wind; the sea was consequently as smooth as the proverbial mill-pond. The general feeling amongst us was that of straining-at-the-leash. We had suffered two major disappointments during the previous period, but we instinctively felt that we had now arrived at a period of maximum anxiety—we knew that the coming week would settle the matter once and for all. Presently light airs from the northward began to catspaw the glassy surface and to increase in frequency and strength until they settled down to a real northerly breeze. Our hopes ran high, but the matter of visibility still claimed our attention. There was the usual early morning mist; this was quickly dispelled when the sun rose above the horizon. It soon became evident that our hopes for misty weather were to be denied us. By 8 A.M. the visibility was extreme, as they say in meteorological circles; one's horizontal range of vision from shipboard was only limited by one's height of eye above the level of the sea. This condition, to say the least of it, was disconcerting. It would be high tide at Zeebrugge and Ostende soon after midnight. Arrival at such an hour would Early in the forenoon it was evident that all conditions except visibility were in favour of starting our third attempt. Our hopes ran high in spite of the fact that previous experience had shown us how fickle the weather could be. Somehow we felt that our chance had come at last. We were in telephonic communication with Dover via a lighthouse in the vicinity of our anchorage. Perhaps the word "communication" rather exaggerates the actual facts of the case. The line apparently passed through a certain holiday resort whose telephone exchange was below par and whose operative, in the kindness of her heart, generally managed to connect at least four persons simultaneously on our particular line. The resulting cross talk, further confused by the eternal argument between the tidal stream and the telephone cable, and our impatience at any and every interruption, with its resultant increase of knowledge of the vernacular to the lighthouse Order to Start To the Vice-Admiral at Dover fell the responsibility of deciding whether we should start or not. After a discussion on the telephone the die was cast—we were ordered to "proceed in execution of previous orders." The order was passed to the ships and the requisite preparations were put in hand immediately. We raised steam without delay. Baggage, final letters, and all unnecessary paraphernalia were disembarked. Once again determination and expectancy had expanded into enthusiasm. The time for "action" had arrived. I do not think we had any feelings of anxiety now except with regard to the weather. Surely nothing would prevent the culmination of all our hopes at this eleventh hour. No suggestion of failure ever occurred to us. Our confidence in the face of the many obstacles, when considered in cold blood months afterwards, may have seemed to be almost an impertinence. Everybody knew exactly what was expected of him. There was no actual excitement except that inseparable from intense enthusiasm. Last-minute orders or signals were not required, everything worked just as smoothly as if we had been merely starting off on a picnic. Engines were reported "ready" shortly after lunch. Just before weighing anchor I had gone below to don my sea-boots and other appropriate "togs"; on reappearing on deck I found several officers grouped for Of the earlier part of the oversea trip little need be written. Vindictive took Iris and Daffodil in tow and was closely followed by the blockships. In due course the Dover forces were sighted; the combined force, accompanied by aeroplanes, formed on Vindictive, which was "Guide of the Fleet." The fast motor boats and the two submarines were taken in tow, and the Vice-Admiral, with his flag flying in the Destroyer Warwick, directed the whole movements and gave the signal to proceed as soon as all were formed up. The visibility had already decreased and sufficient clouds were massing overhead to revive our anxieties about the weather. Light squadrons which had preceded us for the various duties of "supporting" or "bombarding," etc., had not reported any enemy patrol craft.
On board each ship eleventh-hour preparations were being made—such as rigging stations for attending the wounded, distributing first-aid packages, passing hoses along in case of fire, fusing bombs and shell, testing electric circuits, providing candle lamps in case of electrical failures, grouping ammunition round the guns, donning clean underclothing as a guard against septic wounds, darkening ship to prevent any warning of our approach, placing spare charts in alternative positions, testing smoke-screen St. George for England Before darkness set in a signal was received from the Vice-Admiral reading "St. George for England." It was reported to me as being a personal signal to myself, but I subsequently ascertained that it was intended as a general signal to be passed down the line of ships. It was made in the semaphore code from Warwick and has often been misquoted as a signal hoisted with alphabetical flags. One garbled version described the signal as having been "flashed to all ships just before reaching the Mole." This story of a flash-light having been used just when the ships were endeavouring to take the enemy by surprise under cover of darkness is really too fantastic to pass uncontradicted. Believing it to be a private signal, a reply was determined upon. The reply[ Our prearranged time table had laid down the exact minute at which we were to pass through certain lettered positions, the latter being marked by buoys placed by the surveying officers mentioned previously. Position G was to be the parting of the ways, namely the position at which the forces destined for the inshore attacks on Zeebrugge and Ostende should separate en route for their respective destinations. That position was so chosen that the forces should After passing position D the whole assembly of vessels stopped for a few minutes for the triple purpose of disembarking surplus blockship crews, ascertaining the exact direction of wind (this information being required for the use of the smoke screens), and reforming into "approach order" after casting off the tow of the submarines and small craft. It was then pitch dark, the moon being entirely obscured by clouds. It has been stated elsewhere that the Intrepid did not disembark any of her surplus crews. The small vessel detailed to take these men failed to appear owing to a breakdown; this must have pleased the Intrepid's surplus crew who, it will be remembered, had shown a strong disinclination to leave their No time was lost in reforming the squadron and we started off again for position G. At about this time all conditions of wind and sea were still favourable, but slight rain had begun to fall and to reduce the already very limited visibility. The rain thus provided the first of the incidents which could not be foreseen. The result of the rain was twofold. Firstly, it somewhat delayed the commencement of the long-range bombardment on Zeebrugge owing to the reduction in visibility rendering the monitor's position doubtful. Secondly, and far more important, it acted very adversely against the use of aircraft. The difficulty and danger of flying in wet weather is too well known to need enlargement here, but the difficulty of locating the positions which were to be bombed was enormously increased. As related elsewhere our aerial bombers had made a magnificent attack on the occasion of our first attempt and they had become none the less determined to render a good account of themselves when the operation finally took place. Imagine their intense disappointment. It was not difficult for those who knew the splendid work of our Air Force to realise that they would stop at nothing to achieve their object. In spite of all the difficulties it is impossible to conceive of greater determination than was shown, but the rain rendered the attack impossible. The losses amongst these very gallant At position G the Ostende blockships parted company; inwardly we wished them the best of luck. The main portion of the oversea passage having been completed, the "Approach" now commenced. CHAPTER IITHE APPROACH. After zero time the remaining units kept in close company until such times as each, according to their respective instructions, was deputed to proceed independently to carry out its particular duty. The force was preceded by the Vice-Admiral in Warwick with some half a dozen other craft in company ready to fall upon and destroy any enemy patrol vessels which might be encountered. We were now steaming through the German mined areas and were hoping against hope that no mines would be touched to the main detriment of the element of surprise. If any mine had exploded the enemy could not have failed to have their suspicions aroused. The rain gradually increased and the wind became more fitful. Hot soup was distributed to the men in Vindictive at about 10.30 P.M. and a "tot" of rum was served out about an hour later to those who desired it. About fifty minutes before midnight the hawser with which Vindictive was towing Iris and Daffodil suddenly parted. It was then too late to retake these vessels in tow and, indeed, it would have been a difficult and dangerous task in the rain and inky darkness with so many vessels in close company, to say nothing of the loss of time and the obstacle to accurate navigation. Speed had to be somewhat eased temporarily to allow Vindictive to drop back to her original We were momentarily expecting to meet the German patrol vessels and to be discovered from the shore. Suddenly a light-buoy was seen. A hurried bearing laid down on the chart agreed exactly with the reported position of a buoy off Blankenberghe. Incidentally a captured prisoner had recently stated that this buoy had been withdrawn or moved elsewhere, but we had promulgated its original position to all concerned because we suspected that this particular individual was a disciple of Ananias. This agreement between our position by "dead-reckoning" and that of the buoy was decidedly heartening, for we had obtained no "fix" for several miles and were running through a cross tidal stream of doubtful strength. The difficulties attached to forecasting the movements of tidal streams were borne out in the case of the bombarding monitors, H.M.S. Erebus and Terror. In addition to being somewhat hampered by the low visibility resulting from the rain, these vessels, on arrival at their firing positions, discovered that the tidal stream was flowing in exactly the opposite direction to that anticipated; this, in turn, caused some delay in opening fire, but, as events subsequently showed, the delay was of no great consequence. The bombardment was carried out without any further hitch. The Germans do not appear to have been able to locate the monitors until the firing was nearly completed. The few German shell which burst in the It may be stated here that, barring the impossibility of aerial attack, the delay in commencing the long-range bombardment, and the parting of the towing hawser, there was no hitch of any kind sufficient to alter the general idea of the enterprise. Everything was carried out to schedule time. In Touch with the Enemy Soon after passing the Blankenberghe light-buoy the enemy appeared to suspect that something more than a bombardment was afoot. Star shell were fired to seaward and searchlights were switched on. That was exactly what we had hoped for. If only they would continue to illuminate the atmosphere our navigational difficulties would be enormously reduced. The star shell were extraordinary. They burst with a loud report just overhead and lit up our surroundings to the maximum of the then visibility. Much to our surprise no enemy vessels were encountered or even seen; presumably the enemy set the greater dependence on their mines. To the southward, that is, between us and the shore, our smoke-screeners had laid down a "pea-soup" fog. Nothing was to be seen in that direction except the glare of searchlights and of gun flashes, the latter being presumably directed against the fast motor boats which had run into the anchorage behind the Mole for the purpose of torpedoing vessels secured alongside. At this stage the wind died away completely and the rain was heavier than ever. In Vindictive we took up our action stations. Our battery guns had been instructed not to open fire until it was certain that our individual presence had been discovered. The guns in the fighting-top on our foremast were in readiness to engage. Rocket men had been stationed to fire illuminating flares for the purpose of locating the Mole. The storming parties were under cover awaiting the order to storm the Mole. The cable party were in the forecastle standing by to drop anchor at the foot of the high wall. Other parties with wire hawsers were stationed to assist the Daffodil in her important task of pushing Vindictive bodily alongside. Crews were standing by the bomb-mortars and flame-throwers for clearing the Mole before sending the stormers over the wall. The Engineering and Stokehold personnel were at their stations below for giving immediate response to all requirements from the conning positions. The first lieutenant—Lieutenant-Commander R. R. Rosoman, R.N.—was in the conning tower, from where the ship was being steered by the quartermaster, in readiness to take over the handling of the ship immediately I was rendered hors de combat. It was a decidedly tense period, but there were others to follow. Nearing the Goal At a given moment by watch-time Vindictive altered course towards the Mole—or rather towards the position where it was hoped to find the Mole. Almost immediately we ran into the smoke screen. The wind had now changed to an off-shore direction, diametrically opposite to that on which the screening plans had been based. I thought at the time that this smoke screen was the thickest on record—that opinion was changed later. The visibility at this time can hardly have amounted to a yard—the forecastle was invisible from the bridge. The firing of star shells and guns, and the flashing of searchlights became more frequent. Vindictive was being conned from the flame-thrower hut on the port end of the conning-tower platform. This position was especially suitable in that it plumbed over the ship's side and thus provided a very good outlook for berthing at the Mole. There was a curious absence of excitement. Even the continued repetition of the question, "Are you all right, sir?" from my first lieutenant—a prearranged idea to ensure a quick change over of command—became monotonous. Nothing had yet been seen of the Mole from Vindictive. This comparatively quiet period was not of long duration. CHAPTER IIITHE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ATTACK. A few seconds before the schedule time for the last alteration of course—designed to take us alongside the outer wall—the smoke screen, which had been drifting northwards before the new wind, suddenly cleared. Barely three hundred yards distant, dead ahead of us, appeared a long low dark object which was immediately recognised as the Mole itself with the lighthouse at its extremity. We had turned up heading direct for the six-gun battery exactly as arranged in the plan. Those who know aught of navigation will realise how far this was a fluke—probably the various errors in compass direction, allowance for tide, etc., had exactly cancelled one another. Course was altered immediately to the southwestward and speed was increased to the utmost. The Mole battery opened fire at once; our own guns, under the direction of Commander E. O. B. S. Osborne, replied with the utmost promptitude. The estimated distance at which we passed the Mole battery was two hundred and fifty yards off the eastern gun, gradually lessening to fifty yards off the western gun. It was truly a wonderful sight. The noise was terrific and the flashes of the Mole guns seemed to be within arm's length. Of course it was, to all intents and purposes, impossible for the Mole guns to miss their target. They literally poured
Running the Gantlet Looked at from the view of a naval officer it was little short of criminal, on the part of the Mole battery, that the ship was allowed to reach her destination. Everything was in favour of the defence as soon as we had been sighted. Owing to the change of wind our special arrangements for covering the battery with smoke had failed in spite of the magnificent work of our small smoke vessels which, unsupported and regardless of risk, had laid the screen close to the foot of the wall, that is to say, right under the muzzles of the guns. From the moment when we were first sighted until arriving alongside the Mole the battery guns had a clear target, illuminated by star shell, of a size equal to half the length of the lighthouse extension itself. To my mind the chief reasons for our successful running of the gantlet were twofold, firstly, the fact that we were so close, and secondly, the splendid manner in which our guns' crews stuck to their work. With regard to the former, a longer range would have entailed more deliberate firing, and this in turn would have given time for more deliberate choice of point of aim. A few projectiles penetrating the engine or boiler rooms, or holing us at the water-line, would have settled the matter. The range being so short one can conjecture that the German gunners, realising that they could not miss, pumped ammunition into us at the utmost speed of which their guns were capable without regard to the particular damage which they were likely to cause. Their loss of serenity, due in the The petty officer at one of our six-inch guns, when asked afterwards what ranges he fired at, said that he reckoned he opened fire at about two hundred yards and he continued till close to the Mole. "How close?" he was asked. "Reckoning from the gun muzzle," he replied, "I should say it was about three feet!" Gun-fire from the Mole One can picture the situation as seen from the Mole itself. A hostile vessel suddenly looming out of the fog at point-blank range, the intense excitement which resulted, the commencement of fire, the bursting of shell on the wall, the ardent desire to hit something as rapidly and as often as possible, the natural inclination to fire at the nearest object, namely, that part of the vessel on their own level, and the realisation that in a few moments the guns would no longer bear on the target. One can imagine the thoughts that were uppermost in their minds, "Hit her, smash her, pump it in, curse those guns of hers, don't lose a second of time, blow her to bits!" One cannot blame those gunners. To use a war-time expression, "They had the wind up." We had counted on that, we had concentrated all our efforts at "putting the wind up." Yet if anybody had seriously suggested that a ship could steam close past a shore battery in these modern days of gunnery he would have been laughed to scorn. Yet it was easy. The reason is not far to seek. Those who worship matÉriel have followed a false god. The crux of all fighting lies with the personnel—a fact borne out again and again on this particular night just as throughout past history. If the German gunners had been superhuman this tale would not have been told, but human nature, reckoned with by the attackers, was on our side; the initiative was ours. The material damage was very great, but, though it may sound paradoxical, of not much importance. The upper works and upper deck of the ship received the brunt of it. The most serious matter was the damage to our gangways. Several were shot away and many others damaged beyond further usefulness and, so far as could be observed at the time, only four were left us for the work in hand. Two heavy shell penetrated the ship's side below the upper deck. One passed in just beneath the foremost flame-thrower hut and burst on impact. The other came through within a few feet of the first and wrecked everything in its vicinity. Two other heavy shell came through the screen door to the forecastle and placed one of the howitzer guns out of action. The funnels, ventilators, bridges, chart-house, and all such were riddled through and through. The damage to the personnel was exceedingly serious. Orders had been given that the storming parties should remain below, under cover, until the ship arrived alongside. The number of personnel in exposed positions was to be limited mainly to those manning the guns, rocket apparatus, and flame-throwers. The senior officers of the storming parties, however, stationed themselves in the most handy position for leading and directing the assault, with Arrival at the Mole At one minute past midnight the ship actually arrived alongside the Mole, one minute late on schedule time, having steamed alongside at sixteen knots speed. The engines were immediately reversed at full speed and the ship bumped the Mole very gently on the specially constructed fender fitted on the port bow. The conning position in the flame-thrower hut was well chosen, our heads being about five feet above the top of the Mole wall. We had previously devoted many hours to studying photographs of the Mole But time was pressing. Our main diversion had certainly commenced, but at all costs we must have it fully developed before the blockships arrived at twenty minutes past midnight. The order was therefore given to let go the starboard anchor. A voice tube, for this purpose, led from the flame-thrower hut At last I had news from the cable deck—this was a great relief as I feared that the two heavy shell which burst between decks had killed all the anchoring party. The starboard anchor had jammed somewhere. It had been previously lowered to the water's edge and nothing was holding the cable, but it refused to budge. The port anchor was, therefore, dropped at the foot of the wall and the ship allowed to drop astern until a hundred yards of cable had been veered. The cable was then secured. The ship immediately swung bodily out from the Mole. With the helm to starboard she swung in again, but with her bows so tight against the Mole, and her stern so far out, that the foremost gangways It will be remembered that, as a result of the towing hawser having parted, and in consequence of our increase of speed when running alongside, the Iris and Daffodil had been left behind. We knew that whatever happened we could absolutely depend on Gibbs[ After we had been struggling against our difficulties alongside for about five minutes Daffodil suddenly appeared steaming straight for our foremast in a direction perpendicular to the Mole. Campbell pushed her nose against us, hawsers were passed to his vessel, and he shoved us bodily alongside the Mole, exactly in accordance with the Plan. Really he might have been an old stager at tug-master's work, pursuing his vocation in one of our own harbours, judging by the cool manner in which he carried out his instructions to the letter. Grappling the Mole Immediately the two foremost gangways reached Owing to the light wind of the preceding day we had not expected to find any swell against the wall. The scend of the sea, however, was so heavy and so confused, as each wave rebounded, that the ship was rolling considerably. Every time she rolled over to port there was a heavy jarring bump which was probably caused by the bilge on the port side of the ship crashing down on the step of the Mole some few feet below the surface. The whole ship was shaking violently at each bump and rolling so heavily that we were greatly apprehensive of sustaining vital damage below the water-line. The Stokes gun batteries had already been bombing the Mole abreast the ship. The flame-throwers should also have helped to clear the way for our storming parties. The order had been given to switch on the foremost flame-thrower. Unfortunately the pipe leading from the containers to the hut had been severed somewhere below by a shell explosion. This was not noticed before the order was obeyed, with the result that many gallons of highly inflammable oil were squirted over the decks. One hesitates to think what would have happened if this oil had become ignited. Inferno Incidentally the actual nozzle of this flame-thrower was shot away just after the order to switch on had been given by the officer in charge, Lieutenant A. L. Eastlake, attached R.E., who held the proud position of being the sole representative of the military on board the attacking vessels. Eastlake was the only other occupant of the hut and I don't think he will The other flame-thrower fared no better. Commander Brock was in charge. He lit the ignition apparatus and passed down the order to "switch on." The whole outfit of oil ran its course, but unfortunately at the very commencement the ignition apparatus was shot away, with the result that the instrument was converted into an oil thrower instead of emitting a flame. Lieutenant-Commander B. F. Adams, leading a party of seamen, stormed the Mole immediately the gangways were placed. The only two gangways which could reach the Mole were, to say the least of it, very unsteady platforms. Their inboard ends were rising and falling several feet as the ship rolled; the outer ends were see-sawing and sliding backwards and forwards on the top of the wall. My own personal impression at the time was that these gangways were alternately lifting off and resting on the wall, but apparently that was not so. The fact remains, however, that the run across these narrow gangways with a thirty-foot drop beneath to certain death was not altogether inviting. The first act of the advance party, in accordance with the instructions, was to secure the ship to the wail by means of the grappling anchors. A great struggle to do this was undertaken. The foremost grappling anchors only just reached the Mole. Some men sat on the top of the wall and endeavoured to pull the grapnels over the top as they were lowered from the ship. These grapnels, by virtue of the use for which they were designed, were heavy. That fact, combined with the continuous rolling of the ship, made it exceedingly difficult to control them. Rosoman and a party of men on board joined in the struggle, but a heavy lurch of the ship broke up the davit on which the foremost grappling iron was slung and the latter fell between the ship and the wall. Adams' party were followed out in great style by the remainder of the seamen storming parties led by their surviving officers, and then by the Marines. I propose to tell later of what occurred on the Mole itself in so far as I have been able to gather from the parties concerned. Work of the Daffodil As soon as it was clear that the grappling anchors had failed us owing to the heavy swell there was no other alternative than to order Daffodil to carry on pushing throughout the proceedings. A curious incident which has never been explained occurred just previously. Some individual in Vindictive had hailed Daffodil and called to them to shove off, "By whose orders?" came the response shouted by Campbell from Daffodil's bridge. "Captain Halahan's orders," was the reply. As a matter of fact poor gallant Halahan had been killed some ten minutes earlier. "I take my orders from Captain Carpenter," Campbell had been shot in the face, but such a trifle as that did not appear to have worried him, and he continued to push the Vindictive alongside from the moment of his arrival until the whole hour and five minutes had elapsed before we left the Mole. Originally the Daffodil had been detailed to secure alongside Vindictive as soon as the latter was secured to the Mole and then to disembark her demolition parties for their work on the Mole. That part of the plan could not be carried out, however, though several of his parties climbed over her bows into Vindictive on their way to accomplish it. The demolition charges had been stowed outside the conning tower ready for use; on the passage across we had come to the conclusion that this was a case of risking the success of the whole landing for the furtherance of a secondary object, and the charges had therefore been removed to a safer position. This change of arrangement was indeed fortunate, for the deck on both sides of the conning tower became a regular shambles during the final approach. Yeoman of Signals John Buckley, who had volunteered to take up a position outside the conning tower in On the order being given to storm the Mole the storming parties had rushed up every available ladder to the gangway deck. At the top of the foremost ladder the men, in their eagerness to get at the enemy, were stumbling over a body. I had bent down to drag it clear when one of the men shouted: "That's Mr. Walker, sir, he's had his arm shot off." Immediately Walker, who was still conscious, heard this he waved his remaining hand to me and wished me the best of luck. This officer, Lieutenant H. T. C. Walker, survived. The high wall, towering above our upper deck, was now protecting the hull of the ship from gun-fire; no vital damage could be sustained in that way so long as we remained alongside. The chief source of danger from which vital damage might accrue before we had completed our work at the Mole was that of the fast German motor boats stationed at Blankenberghe. The latter harbour was barely five minutes' steaming distance away, and, as the enemy would now be fully cognisant of our position, we might reasonably expect a horde of these craft to come to the attack with torpedo. It does not require much naval knowledge to realise that the difficulty of avoiding torpedo fire The Fight Aloft Our guns in the fighting-top were directing a murderous fire into their special targets. Chief amongst those were the heavy gun battery at the end of the broad part of the Mole and the lighter battery on the lighthouse extension. In neither case could the enemy's guns bear on the ship, and we had the advantage of taking the former battery from the rear and giving the latter a taste of enfilading fire from its western flank. But there was another target of importance. Immediately abreast the ship a German destroyer was berthed alongside the inner wharf of the Mole only eighty yards distant from the ship. We had an uninterrupted view of the greater part of her between the two northern sheds, her bridges showing well above the ground-level of the Mole. Our guns in the fighting-top, in charge of Lieutenant Charles N. B. Rigby, R.M.A., riddled that destroyer through and through. We could see the projectiles hitting the Mole floor whenever the gun was temporarily depressed, and then shower upon shower of sparks as they tore through the destroyer's upperworks. The There seems little doubt that our fighting-top was now coming in for the attention of most of the enemy guns. Presently a tremendous crash overhead followed by a cessation of our fire indicated that a heavy shell had made havoc with poor Rigby and his crew of eight men. As a matter of fact, that shell had wrecked the whole fighting-top, killed all the personnel except two gunners who were both severely wounded, and dismounted one of the guns. The only survivor who was not completely disabled—Sergeant Finch, R.M.A.—struggled out from the shambles somehow and, without a thought for his own wounds, examined the remaining gun, found it was still intact, and continued the fight single-handed. He continued to serve this gun and again did great execution until a second shell completely destroyed the remains of the top and put Finch completely out of action. The splendid work of Lieutenant Rigby and his guns' crews had been invaluable, and one cannot but attribute the complete success of our diversion very largely to these gallant men. Rigby himself had set a wonderful example; all who knew him had never doubted that he would do so. Finch survived and was afterwards voted the Victoria Cross by the men of the Royal Marines. The Howitzers As soon as the ship had been securely anchored the howitzer guns manned by the R.M.A., in charge of Captain Reginald Dallas-Brooks, R.M.A., The 7.5-inch howitzer gun on the forecastle could not be used. A heavy shell had burst amongst the original gun's crew and had killed or disabled them all. A second crew was sent from one of the naval six-inch guns in the battery and was just being detailed to work the howitzer when another shell killed, or disabled, all but two men. Soon after opening fire the midship 7.5-inch howitzer was damaged by another shell which killed some of the crew, but the remainder repaired the gun under great difficulty and managed to resume the firing later on. The eleven-inch howitzer on the quarter-deck was extremely well handled. This gun fired at a steady rate throughout the proceedings in spite of the darkness, the fumes, the difficulty of manhandling such large projectiles in a cramped-up space and the battering that the ship was Mention must be made of the pyrotechnic party, as we called them. Having located and reached the Mole ourselves, an early duty was that of indicating its extremity to the approaching blockships. For this purpose a rocket station was rigged up in my cabin below. The rocket apparatus protruded through a port in the stern of the ship and had been placed at an angle calculated to carry the rocket behind the lighthouse before bursting, so that the lighthouse would show clearly against an illuminated background. One of the party was told off for this position, instructed as to the object to be attained, and ordered to carry on according to his own judgment. I believe this man had never previously served afloat and had never been in action, but, like the rest of them, he did his bit without the slightest hesitation and, judging by results, with one hundred per cent efficiency. Others of the pyrotechnic brigade landed with the storming parties and worked the portable flame-throwers, special flares, etc., before finally attending the smoke-making apparatus and assisting with the wounded. Lieutenant Graham S. Hewett, R.N.V.R., was in command of the pyrotechnic party. The Viaduct Explosion A few minutes after the storming of the Mole had commenced a terrific explosion was seen away to the westward, and we guessed that the submarine party had attacked the viaduct. A seaman was standing near me at the time and brought back to me an old At about 12.15 A.M. the blockships were expected to be close to the Mole, and a momentary glimpse of them was obtained as they passed close to the lighthouse on their way to the canal entrance. So far so good. We saw nothing more of the blockships and received no further news of them until the operation had been completed. Nevertheless, no news was good news under the circumstances and we felt quite confident that the blockships had not been seriously hampered by the German Mole defences. Our primary object was, therefore, attained; the diversion had been of sufficient magnitude. Our further tasks were firstly that of continuing the diversion until the crews of the blockships had had a reasonable chance of being rescued subsequent to sinking their vessels in the canal, secondly of re-embarking our storming parties and withdrawing to seaward, and thirdly of carrying out demolition work on the Mole during our stay alongside. It will be noticed that these three tasks are not mentioned in their proper sequence of event but in their order of importance. It is obviously true that demolition work might be of assistance from the point of view of diversion, but not to a great extent when one realises that the enemy were already so animated with a desire to destroy our ship that they would hardly care one way At about half an hour after midnight the full force of the diversion had been developed. Although the ship was still being hit continuously and the inferno showed no signs of abatement one can say that the conditions had become stabilised. As far as we could gather we could not augment our efforts, but could only carry on for the time being. So we carried on. Being somewhat anxious as to the state of things between decks I took the opportunity of a hurried visit below. On my way down from the bridge I met Lieutenant E. Hilton-Young, R.N.V.R., our parliamentary representative. He was attired in his shirtsleeves and minus any head-gear. His right arm was bandaged. I remember that he was breaking all the accepted rules of the drill-book by smoking a large cigar as he performed his prearranged duties of supervising the foremost six-inch guns and his self-appointed duty of cheering everybody up. On enquiry he informed me that he had "got one in the arm." I heard afterwards that even when he had collapsed, he refused to, have his wound attended to, and had to be taken below by force. Eventually his right arm had to be amputated, but with his unfailing resource he did not let many hours pass by before commencing to educate himself in the art of left-handed writing.
Every available space on the mess deck was occupied by casualties. Those who could do so were sitting on the mess stools awaiting their turn for medical Scene Between Decks During a fight at sea the personnel below know little or nothing of how things are going. This especially applies to the stokehold and engine-room personnel, who are, indeed, in an unenviable position. It applies, also, to the wounded who have been carried below. It is not difficult to imagine their feelings, especially when one considers how rapidly a vessel may sink after sustaining a vital injury. One does not need to be an advanced psychologist to understand the importance of keeping those stationed between decks supplied with information as to what is occurring on deck. So I shouted out something about everything going splendidly, the Mole being stormed, the viaduct being blown up and the blockships having passed in. The cheer that went up will live long in my memory. Those who could stand crowded round and forgot their wounds. Some of those on the deck endeavoured to sit up to ascertain the news. I did not then know that I had been reported as killed. The crowd almost barred my way in their excitement, and the question which caught my ear more than any other was, "Have we won, sir? Have we won?" just as if the whole affair had been a football match. The medical officers and their assistants, under the direction of Staff-Surgeon McCutcheon, were working at the highest pressure. The wounded were The news of the blockships spread quickly, and one heard every now and then renewed outbursts of cheering. The news had reached the stokehold and did much to relieve the tension amongst the personnel in that part of the ship. A few pieces of shell had fallen into the engine room, but no damage had been done. A return to the lower bridge showed little apparent change in the situation. Shell were still hitting us every few seconds and many casualties were being caused by flying splinters. Large pieces of the funnels and ventilators were being torn out and hurled in all directions—one wondered how much more of this battering the ship could stand. The exact nature of the various missiles and the direction from whence they came were of course unknown to us. It was afterwards suggested that the shore guns to the Anxiety for the Daffodil Our chief anxiety at this period was the safety of Daffodil, which seemed to bear a charmed life. Vindictive's hull was amply protected by the wall itself, but Daffodil was far more exposed. As already mentioned the loss of Daffodil would almost certainly have entailed the loss of the whole of the storming parties on the Mole. CHAPTER IVTHE FIGHT ON THE MOLE. H.M.S. IRIS. As soon as the two foremost gangways reached the wall a party of seamen led by Lieutenant-Commander Adams had commenced the storming of the Mole. Lieutenant-Commander A. L. Harrison, the senior officer of the seamen storming parties, had been wounded in the head and was too dazed to land on the Mole until later. Commander Brock, having completed his duties in the aft flamethrower hut, also stormed the Mole. Adams and a handful of men made their way along the parapet to the left and found an observation hut situated on it close by. This was bombed, but no occupants were found inside. Brock is believed to have gone inside this hut for the purpose of examining its interior; there is no authentic evidence that he was ever seen again. Adams stationed some of his men to guard a ladder leading from the parapet to the floor of the Mole and then returned to find us struggling with the grappling anchors as already described. Adams then reconnoitred again to the eastward and located a German machine-gun firing at the parapet from the trench system on the floor of the Mole. Barbed wire surrounded this trench, which interposed between Vindictive and the three-gun battery at the end of the broad part of the Mole. The seamen were then detailed to bomb the trench position, but in doing so they suffered many casualties from machine-gun The terrific noise, the darkness, the bursting of shell, and the hail of machine-gun bullets rendered it exceedingly difficult for any one individual to make such observations as would lead to a connected account of the fighting on the Mole itself. A Splendid Sacrifice Just before arriving alongside the Mole, Lieutenant-Commander Harrison, in supreme command of the seamen storming parties after Commander Halahan's death, was struck on the head by a fragment of a shell; he was knocked senseless and sustained a broken jaw. On recovering consciousness he proceeded over one of the gangways to the parapet, where he took over command of the party detailed to attack the Mole batteries to the eastward, Lieutenant-Commander Adams going back to obtain reËnforcements. Gathering together a handful of his men, Harrison led a charge along the parapet itself in the face of heavy machine-gun fire. He was killed at the head of his men, all but two of whom were also killed, these two being wounded. Harrison's charge down that narrow gangway of death was a worthy finale to the large number of charges which, as a forward of the first rank, he had led down many a Rugby football ground. He had "played the game" to the end. To quote the final words in the official notification of his posthumous award of the Victoria Cross—"Lieutenant-Commander Harrison, although already severely wounded With Harrison's death the Navy lost an officer who was as popular and as keen as he had been invaluable to the success of this particular operation, especially in the preparatory work. Able-Seaman McKenzie, one of the survivors of Harrison's party, finding himself alone, did good execution with his Lewis gun in spite of being wounded in several places; he eventually returned to Vindictive after accounting for a number of the enemy. Storming of the Mole The Marines, now commanded by Major B. G. Weller, R.M.L.I., had followed the seamen over the gangways. The prearranged details of the operations on the Mole had to be somewhat modified owing to the fact that Vindictive was further to the westward than originally intended. The reason for the latter has already been given, but a further word may not be out of place. The responsibility for the actual position of the ship was entirely my own; the error in position was, therefore, my own also. When the attack was originally planned the intention had been to endeavour to place the ship with her stern seventy yards from the western gun of the battery on the lighthouse extension. Actually Vindictive's gangways rested on the Mole nearly three hundred yards to the westward. One can only conjecture what would have happened, under the circumstances of the failure of Lieutenant F. T. V. Cooke, who afterwards greatly distinguished himself, led out the first party of Marines and silenced a party of Germans who were observed firing at the parapet from a position near No. 2 shed. Another party under Lieutenant Lamplough then established a strong point near No. 3 shed for the purpose of dealing with any enemy approaching from the westward. His party also attacked and bombed a German destroyer berthed at the inner side of the Mole. Another party was ordered to the eastward to reËnforce the seamen. As soon as the position was more clear the main party of the Marine force, under Captain E. Bamford, commenced an assault on the German positions covering the Mole battery. It is not possible to say how many of the storming parties reached the Mole—the loss of officers and men and the resulting temporary disorganisation naturally prevented the collection of definite information. Suffice it to say that a large number stormed the Mole in furtherance of our diversion, and that the latter was undoubtedly successful in that we attained our primary object of assisting the blockships to pass an all-important obstacle in the Mole batteries. Before passing on to other phases of the operation a From the time of our arrival the Mole abreast the ship was subjected to extremely heavy fire. Presumably the shore guns, including the Kaiser Wilhelm battery with its twelve-inch guns and the Goeben battery (9.4-inch guns) situated almost within point-blank range, were shelling the Mole for all they were worth, regardless of damage to their own property or of danger to their own personnel. That, of course, would be a correct action, the repulse of the enemy always being of first importance. The parapet on the high wall was almost entirely destitute of cover. The difficulty of placing the scaling ladders from the parapet to the floor-level of the Mole and of descending them whilst carrying such paraphernalia as rifles, bombs, flame-throwers, Lewis guns, etc., can easily be imagined. The difficulty would certainly not be lessened by the fact that the men would have their backs to any enemy who might be awaiting them on the Mole itself. The fighting amidst entirely strange surroundings in the face of properly organised strong points held by the enemy would not be easy. Add to that the certain losses and consequent disorganisation entailed during the assault, the difficulty of recognising friend from foe at night, and the blinding glare of star shell or searchlights alternating with momentary periods of inky darkness.
Undoubtedly the assault would be difficult enough. But what of the retirement? The bodies of any men Daffodil and Iris Daffodil, as already described, was prevented from landing her demolition parties in the prearranged manner, but some of them, led by Sub-Lieutenant F. E. Chevallier, had climbed into Vindictive and made their way to the Mole. Lieutenant C. C. Dickinson, commanding the demolition parties, and a party of his men on board Vindictive had landed at the commencement of the assault. They placed a couple of ladders, descended them, and then proceeded across the Mole, killing some Germans who were apparently making for the ladders. Demolition charges were placed in position, but not actually exploded owing to the presence of our own men in the vicinity. There is little doubt that the demolition parties would have been able to carry out considerable destructive work if more time had been available. Whatever the results of their efforts it is certain that Dickinson, Chevallier, and their men did all that was possible under the circumstances. Iris had reached the Mole and dropped her anchor at the foot of the wall, about 12.15 A.M., her position Deaths of Hawkings and Bradford Lieutenant-Commander George N. Bradford, who was actually in command of the storming party in Iris and whose duties did not include that of securing the ship, climbed up the ship's derrick, which carried a large parapet anchor and which was rigged out over the Mole side of the ship. The derrick itself was crashing on the Mole with each movement of the ship, which, in turn, was rolling and pitching heavily; a more perilous climb can scarcely be imagined. Waiting his opportunity, Bradford chose the right moment and jumped to the wall, taking the anchor with him. He placed the latter in position, but almost Nothing could have been finer than Bradford's efforts to secure the ship. He had been a splendid fighter in the "ring"; it was against his nature to give in as long as there was the remotest chance of winning through; his death brought us the great loss of a great gentleman. Really, one cannot conceive greater bravery than was shown by these two officers, who have set an example which will surely never be forgotten. The anchor placed by Bradford had either slipped or been shot away, with the result that Iris suddenly surged out from the Mole. It was then obvious that the difficulty of securing to the Mole was insuperable, so Commander Gibbs very rightly decided to land his men across Vindictive. He therefore ordered the cable to be slipped and then steamed round the stern of Daffodil and came alongside Vindictive. This change of plan, necessitated by the unfavourable state of the sea, showed a highly creditable degree of initiative. It must be realised that these movements and proceedings of Iris had occupied over half an hour; it was about 12.55 A.M. before Iris was secured to Vindictive. By that time the order for the retirement had been given. A few men scrambled out of Iris, but that ship was almost immediately ordered to shove off. She therefore left Vindictive and shaped course to the northward. She had barely turned when she came under a heavy fire from some enemy batteries. Two large shell and several small shell hit her, Havoc in Iris Valentine Gibbs, who had remained on the bridge throughout the operation, was mortally wounded. I had known "Val," as we had always called him, since he was a boy of thirteen. Even at that age he had shown himself to be absolutely fearless. Later in life he pad risen rapidly in his profession and would assuredly have been marked out for high command in due course. In peace days he had won the great race on the Cresta Run at St. Moritz, in war he had volunteered for every dangerous operation for which he had the remotest chance of selection. At last his opportunity had come and he lived for nought else than to put Iris alongside Zeebrugge Mole. I was told afterwards that in his short periods of consciousness after being wounded he asked and repeated but one question, "How are things going?" and he continued to ask how things were going until he died. I cannot write more of "Val"—words and phrases fail to do him justice. The havoc in Iris was serious. From Vindictive she appeared to have been sunk, for she suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flame. Major C. E. E. Eagles, D.S.O., in command of the Marine storming parties in Iris, was killed, and many of his men were killed and wounded at this period. Artificial smoke was emitted and a small motor boat also laid a smoke screen to shoreward of Iris—this probably accounted for her sudden disappearance from view.
The navigating officer had been seriously wounded. Lieutenant Oscar Henderson took command. Petty Officer Smith was illuminating the compass with a torch in one hand and steering with the other. Able-Seaman F. E. Blake, having extinguished the fire on the bridge, employed himself in throwing overboard live bombs which were lying amongst the burning debris on the upper deck. Iris had not received her share of good fortune. Nevertheless, although she actually failed to land her storming parties, there is every probability that her proceedings assisted to enhance the success of the diversion at the Mole and thereby materially assisted towards the safe passage of the blockships, i.e., the attainment of our object. CHAPTER VTHE ATTACK ON THE RAILWAY VIADUCT. In the previous chapter I mentioned that the explosion of the submarine took place shortly after the storming of the Mole had commenced. The immediate purpose in destroying the railway viaduct connecting the Mole to the mainland was twofold: firstly, that of preventing the Germans from sending reËnforcements across to the help of the Mole garrison; secondly, that of augmenting the main diversion. There were, however, ulterior objects also. Firstly, the destruction in itself would be a valuable part of the general work of demolition designed to reduce the efficiency of the Mole as a naval and aerial base; secondly, the loss of the railway would deny to the enemy the use of the Mole as a place of embarkation for military purposes. If deprived of railway communication the Mole would lose a high percentage of its special war value. Two old submarines, C1, commanded by Lieutenant Aubrey C. Newbold, and C3, commanded by Lieutenant Richard D. Sandford, were chosen for the purpose—each carrying a volunteer crew of one officer and four men in addition to the officer in command. The submarines were provided with special control apparatus so that the personnel, after having set the apparatus to guide the vessel to its destination, could abandon their craft before reaching the viaduct itself. For the purpose of abandonment each submarine was given motor-driven skiffs and special ladders. The latter might enable the crews to climb up the viaduct and escape before the explosion took place, the motor skiffs being supplied for escaping to seaward if that was found to be feasible. Each submarine carried a heavy cargo of high explosive. This latter was fitted with time fuses and special instruments so that there would be sufficient delay between the ignition of the fuse and the final explosion. At a prearranged minute after passing position G, the submarines were to have slipped from their towing hawsers and then to have made the best of their way to the viaduct. Unfortunately C1 was so much delayed by the parting of a hawser that she could not continue her voyage to the viaduct without running the risk of hampering C3. The latter, exactly in accordance with the Plan, slipped from tow and proceeded under her own engines on the prearranged courses. At midnight the submarine appears to have been sighted in the light of a star shell. Searchlights immediately picked her up and some firing was seen in their direction. Artificial smoke was immediately made use of, but the wind, having then commenced to blow towards the north, was found to be unfavourable. The firing was only of short duration and the artificial smoke was switched off. A few minutes later the viaduct showed up clearly against a glare in the background and course was altered to ensure striking exactly at right angles. Sandford disdained to use the control apparatus to take his submarine into her position. The vessel was run under the viaduct, at a speed Destruction of the Viaduct Several of the enemy had appeared on the viaduct and commenced to fire on her with machine-guns from close range; the latter cannot have amounted to many feet! The crew lowered a motor skiff and Sandford ordered them to abandon ship. He then fired the time fuse and jumped into the boat. Their purpose was now to steam away to the westward at utmost speed
Many miracles occurred that night, but none more extraordinary than the escape of this little boat with its two officers and four men. Presently Sandford himself and his petty officer were severely wounded; the stoker was also wounded. The boat was hit again and again, but fortunately the motor pump was working and the water could be rapidly ejected. Sandford was again wounded. The skiff had managed to struggle about three hundred yards from the viaduct, when there was a deafening roar as submarine C3, the viaduct above her, the railway on the viaduct, and the Germans on the railway were hurled to destruction. It must have been a wonderful moment for Sandford and his crew. The enemy searchlights were immediately extinguished and the firing died away. A few minutes later a picket boat—the ordinary type of steamboat carried by all large men-of-war—emerged from the darkness and hailed the skiff. The occupants of the latter were assisted into the picket boat, which then proceeded seawards and placed them on board the destroyer Phoebe. The picket boat, under the charge of Lieutenant-Commander F. H. Sandford, R.N., brother of the commander of the submarine, had been detailed for Look Before You Leap Submarine C1 saw what was probably the glare of the explosion caused by C3, but could not be certain whether the latter had reached her destination or not. They therefore waited until they considered ample time had passed for C3 to have arrived at the viaduct if all had gone well. C1 then approached the Mole en route towards the viaduct and sighted Vindictive retiring to the northward. This appeared to signify that the forces were retiring and that the operation had either been completed or had been found impracticable owing to the change of wind. Lieutenant Newbold, therefore, had to decide as to whether he should continue for the sake of augmenting the destruction caused by C3 or whether he should haul off so as to be available for any further services required. It was a difficult decision to make. He chose the latter and earned the Vice-Admiral's commendation for doing so. Those of us who were au fait with the details of all phases of the operation little thought we should ever see these heroic attackers of the viaduct again. The chances against manoeuvring a submarine into the viaduct were very considerable, the chances of any The execution of this most difficult submarine operation was beyond all praise; it was, indeed, a miracle that the crew of C3 lived to witness the unqualified success of their efforts. Before the night was ended these gallant lives were again in jeopardy. We heard afterwards that a German cyclist corps was hurriedly sent to reËnforce the Mole garrison, and, not knowing that the viaduct had been destroyed, they were precipitated into the sea and thus infringed the Gadarene copyright. CHAPTER VITHE SMOKE SCREENING. SUBSIDIARY ATTACKS. The author is particularly anxious that each phase of the operation and the work of each class of vessel should be clearly understood, so that the reader may fully appreciate the work of the blockships, the latter forming the crux of the whole operation. It will be convenient, therefore, to describe in this chapter the proceedings of those small craft whose work was not carried out in actual company of the blockships themselves. The general idea of the smoke screens has already been described. A large number of small craft, including coastal motor boats, motor launches, and destroyers, were required for the purpose. At given intervals after the force had passed through position G the several units left the force to carry out their various duties. The latter comprised laying screens shoreward of the main line of advance, further screens to cover the shore batteries on each side of Zeebrugge, others close off Blankenberghe for the purpose of hampering the German motor boats at that place, and a screen close off the German battery on the lighthouse extension of the Mole. The earlier screens were so efficient that they undoubtedly prevented the enemy from discovering our presence until we were close to our objective. When the wind changed, however, the ideal screening arrangements were no longer possible. Such an eventuality had been allowed for, and, in accordance with Coastal Motor Boats The coastal motor boat (C.M.B.) detailed for "fogging" Blankenberghe was C.M.B. 16, Lieutenant D. E. J. MacVean, R.N.V.R. Owing to temporary difficulties with the engines, and uncertainty of position due to drifting while carrying out repairs, this boat accompanied Vindictive to the Mole, which was first seen thirty yards away. MacVean then proceeded to Blankenberghe harbour. On arrival near the entrance he came under fire of a four-gun battery, but placed his smoke floats close to the entrance piers and kept renewing them at intervals until the whole operation had ceased, when he returned to harbour. This piece of work was typical of the C.M.B. flotilla, which, most ably commanded by Lieutenant A. P. Welman, R.N., established a new naval tradition. Welman, himself in command of C.M.B. 236, found it necessary to undertake the duties of another C.M.B. in addition to his own, owing to a difficulty in communicating a modification in the orders. He was personally responsible for a very important part of the screening, namely, that close off the Mole batteries. In spite of the concentrated fire from the latter, and the difficulties due to the change of wind, this gallant officer, who had always allotted himself the most dangerous tasks, with the able assistance of two other C.M.B.'s, maintained a fog screen which must have been an important factor in our success. C.M.B. 226 steamed close in under the Mole battery Torpedoing the Enemy Before Vindictive's arrival at the Mole two coastal motor boats had left the force for the purpose of attacking German vessels inside the Mole. They soon lost sight of one another in the fog and became separated. C.M.B. 7, Sub-Lieutenant L. R. Blake, R.N.R., first sighted the Mole about one hundred and fifty yards away and steamed close round the lighthouse at high speed. Having located the defence booms of barges and nets he followed down the line of the latter until close inshore and then stopped for the purpose of selecting a target. Observing an enemy destroyer alongside the Mole he steamed straight towards her at high speed and fired his torpedo at her. He then stopped to observe the result. The torpedo was seen to explode near the forebridge of the destroyer, but the conditions of visibility rendered it impossible to ascertain the definite result. During this time he was being heavily fired at by machine-guns on the Mole and by the shore batteries to the eastward of the canal. Small enemy vessels suddenly appeared and engaged him, and he was further fired at from a dredger which had a machine-gun. C.M.B. 7 had other duties to fulfil in connection with smoke screening. Whilst proceeding at high speed for that purpose she collided with an unlighted buoy, which made a large hole in her bows. Speed was increased to lift the bows clear of the water. It soon became apparent that the damage which she had sustained precluded all further chance of being usefully The other, C.M.B. 5, Sub-Lieutenant C. Outhwaite, R.N.V.R., had found herself within fifty yards of the Mole and had immediately altered course to pass round the lighthouse. She then sighted a German torpedo-boat destroyer steering to the northeastward and at once increased to utmost speed with the object of attacking her. C.M.B. 5 was evidently seen in the light of star shell and the German switched on her searchlight and opened fire. As soon as the motor boat was sufficiently close she fired a torpedo, which struck the destroyer in the fore part of the vessel. By this time some guns on the Mole had taken up the firing. Under concentrated fire from two directions the motor boat was forced to haul off, and was unable to witness the fate of the destroyer or to search for survivors. This motor boat then proceeded to the eastward and rendered useful assistance to the smoke-screening vessels operating in that direction. Three other coastal motor boats, Nos. 25, 26, and 21, had been detailed for yet another form of attack on the Mole, namely, that of dropping Stokes bombs on its western portion around the seaplane base. These three craft obtained many hits on the Mole from a range of only fifty yards, one of them actually remaining stopped opposite the seaplane sheds and pumping her bombs over the outer wall just as if there had been no enemy in existence. C.M.B. 32 waited until the blockships had passed The work of the other coastal motor boats, in connection with the blockships' movements, will be described later. Destroyers Eleven torpedo-boat destroyers took part in the inshore operations; many others were utilised as supports to seaward and as escorts to the bombarding monitors. The destroyer flotilla was commanded by Captain Wilfred Tomkinson, under whose direction their work of preparation had been carried out; he accompanied the Vice-Admiral in H.M.S. Warwick. Of the eleven destroyers, H.M.S. Warwick, flying the Vice-Admiral's Flag, had a roving commission so that the Vice-Admiral could direct the whole operation and render assistance where necessary. The most favourable position from which to direct events was in the vicinity of the Mole lighthouse. Two other destroyers, Phoebe, Lieutenant-Commander Hubert E. Gore-Langton, and North Star, Lieutenant-Commander Kenneth C. Helyar, were also detailed to operate near the lighthouse. These two vessels experienced a very anxious time. At the commencement of the attack they patrolled in company with Warwick, Commander V. L. A. Campbell, firstly with the object of preventing torpedo attacks by enemy vessels from being directed against the storming vessels at the Mole, and secondly for the Just before the Mole was reached at the commencement of the attack these three destroyers, which had been stationed ahead of the main force during the approach, eased down to allow Vindictive to pass, and then commenced their patrol. They passed just inside an area of very heavy barrage fire and they frequently came under fire from the Mole. The smoke screens made it very difficult for them to keep touch either with the movements of other vessels or with each other. Very soon the Phoebe and North Star became separated from the Warwick; the latter continued her patrol until the attack was virtually at an end. North Star, on becoming separated from the others, proceeded towards her patrol area, but had great difficulty in ascertaining her position owing to the smoke. Suddenly an enemy vessel was encountered and the track of a torpedo was clearly seen in the glare of the enemy's searchlight. North Star returned the compliment, but it is probable that her torpedo missed similarly to that fired by the enemy vessel; the latter was lost sight of almost immediately. Continuing her efforts to locate the Mole, she found herself close inshore to the eastward of the Mole. After putting her helm hard-over, some ships were seen right ahead, and were recognised as the blockships making their final run to the canal. The Mole was then seen to the northward and a torpedo was fired at a vessel alongside it. At this moment North Star was lit up by a searchlight and the German batteries opened a heavy fire upon her. She passed close to the Mole and fired three more torpedoes at vessels alongside it, but H.M.S. Phoebe, after becoming separated from Warwick, commenced to patrol off the lighthouse in accordance with her instructions. Presently she fell in with the steamboat which had rescued the crew of Submarine C3. The latter, who were in urgent need of medical attention, were transferred to Phoebe, which vessel then continued her patrol as before. Later on North Star was sighted in a crippled state and Phoebe at once went to her assistance. Fate of the North Star North Star was still being illuminated by searchlights and heavily fired at. Phoebe laid out a smoke screen to hide her and then took her in tow—a most difficult operation under the circumstances. Unfortunately the tow parted and the smoke screen drifted away before the wind. Once again heavy fire was directed at these vessels and they were being frequently hit. Phoebe again took North Star in tow, but the towing wires were cut by shell explosions; to make matters worse, the Phoebe's steam siren was hit and commenced to fill the air with its discordant shrieking, thus assisting the enemy to locate them. Phoebe next endeavoured to push North Star bodily away from the batteries, but this proved to be impossible. The only other thing to be done was to save North Star's crew and to sink her to prevent capture. Phoebe, therefore, laid out another protective smoke screen and lowered her boat for the rescue work. Helyar in North Star very reluctantly had to order "abandon ship," But Phoebe had not given up hope. She laid out yet another smoke screen and made another attempt to take North Star in tow, going alongside her for the purpose. Helyar and some of his crew had remained on board North Star and passed the wires to Phoebe. The North Star was still being hit repeatedly by shell and commenced to list over as a result of the damage. Phoebe then persuaded Helyar to leave his ship and took him on board after embarking the remainder of the crew. On going astern to avoid the searchlights, another man was seen on board North Star. Phoebe at once returned alongside and ordered the man to jump across. During all this time Phoebe herself had been repeatedly hit, resulting in several casualties, but Gore-Langton considered that he ought to sink North Star before leaving her. His ship then came in for increased fire from the German batteries, and as a result of the smoke, was unable to locate North Star again—probably she had sunk[ The remaining destroyers, Whirlwind, Myngs, Trident, Mansfield, Felox, Morris, Moorsom, and Melpomene, all carried out their patrolling duties close to the northward of Zeebrugge without any incidents that require special mention here. Captain R. Collins, R.N., in charge of the motor launches, was on board M.L. 558, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Chappell, R.N.V.R. This motor launch rendered useful work in assisting the blockships to find the Mole before the latter vessels had penetrated the smoke screen, and also directed the picket boat towards the viaduct en route to rescue the crew of the submarine. Considering the dangerous locality in which M.L. 558 was operating, she was fortunate in being hit by only one shell. M.L. 424, commanded by Lieutenant O. Robinson, R.N.V.R., was less fortunate. Soon after passing through the smoke screen she was badly hit—her captain and two men being killed and another man wounded. The second-in-command, Lieutenant J. W. Robinson, R.N.V.R., finding the launch was completely disabled, decided to abandon her. Having got the crew into the dinghey, he set fire to his boat and left her in flames; the occupants of the dinghey were picked up by M.L. 128. M.L. 110, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Young, R.N.V.R., was also unfortunate. She was struck and badly damaged by several shell, which killed her commanding officer and a petty officer, another officer and two men being wounded. The second-in-command, Lieutenant G. Bowen, ordered the crew to abandon the vessel in the dinghey. This was done after the launch had been sunk to prevent any possibility of its capture by the enemy. The survivors were picked up by M.L. 308. The motor launches detailed for smoke-screening did splendid work, as did all the launches which took part in the operation. Some detailed stories of the remaining launches will be given presently. CHAPTER VIITHE WORK OF THE BLOCKSHIPS. The blockships had eased down soon after passing through position G so as to drop astern of Vindictive sufficiently far to enable that vessel and her consorts to create the necessary diversion. The conning and steering positions in each ship were triplicated and fully manned so that, in the event of one position being destroyed, the handling of the ship could immediately be taken over by another party. Guns' crews were standing by their guns ready to defend their vessels against attacks by enemy craft or to retaliate against the batteries in the hope of reducing the latter's fire. At about midnight heavy firing was heard close at hand, but nothing could be seen owing to the dense smoke screen which was then drifting slowly to seaward. During the first quarter of an hour after midnight the blockships passed through an area which was apparently being barraged with shell fire. They were steaming in the order Thetis, Commander Ralph S. Sneyd, Intrepid, Lieutenant Stuart S. Bonham-Carter, and Iphigenia, Lieutenant Edward W. Billyard-Leake. At twenty minutes past midnight the Mole was sighted right ahead in the glare of the rockets fired from Vindictive; the blockships had just been hailed by M.L. 558, who gave the direction of the lighthouse. Dash for the Canal Thetis increased to full speed and, passing round
It must have been at about this moment that the enemy first realised the true nature of the enterprise. The attacks on the Mole, the blowing up of the viaduct, the explosions of torpedoes on the inside of the Mole, the smoke, the rapid changes of visibility, and the terrific noise on all sides had combined to leave the enemy in a hopeless state of stupefaction as to our real intentions. We heard afterwards that they believed a forced landing on the coast was in progress. The impossibility of using one's defensive measures to the best advantage when the initiative lies in the hands of the attackers has already been referred to. Suffice it to say that the enemy do not appear to have discovered the real purpose of our operations until too late to make the best use of their defensive measures. Thetis now came under extremely heavy fire both from the direction of the Mole and from shore batteries near the canal. Her six-inch gun on the forecastle was replying to the shore batteries. She appeared to have grounded about three hundred yards from the canal entrance. Thetis now appeared to be settling down. All chances of struggling into the canal entrance appeared to be hopeless. She had been hit again and again and was on fire in several places. She had taken the brunt of the firing whilst her two consorts were following comparatively undamaged. She could do little more now than assist Intrepid and Iphigenia to reach their objectives. Prearranged signals, therefore, were made to these other two ships guiding them to the canal. It must be remembered that it was now half an hour after midnight. Intrepid and Iphigenia, in that order, passed close to Thetis. Thanks to the latter's signals they were able to locate the entrance piers; the further movements of those two vessels will be described in a moment. As soon as Iphigenia was clear Captain Sneyd in Thetis ordered the artificial smoke to be turned on, and had almost decided to abandon ship when Engineer Lieutenant-Commander Boddie succeeded in getting the starboard engine to go ahead. The ship moved slowly forward for a short distance, but was apparently dragging her stern along the bottom. As far as could be seen she was not only in the dredged channel leading to the canal, but was lying across it. The ship was undoubtedly in a sinking condition, so her captain decided to blow the bottom out of her in accordance with the Plan. Sinking the Blockships The blockships had each been fitted with explosive Intrepid had experienced a certain amount of shell fire when approaching the Mole, having apparently passed through an area which was being barraged by the enemy. She passed the Mole without difficulty and navigated between the obstruction booms. The sinking of the southernmost barge and the tearing away of the entanglement nets by Thetis, with the resultant widening of the unobstructed channel, had greatly reduced the chance of Intrepid getting into trouble at this point. During the final run to the canal she had escaped serious damage from gun-fire
One cutter full of men pulled out to seaward and was picked up by M.L. 526, which has already been mentioned as saving the crew of Thetis. Another cutter pulled out to sea, actually past the Mole, and was picked up by the destroyer Whirlwind. Lieutenant Bonham-Carter, Lieutenant Cory-Wright his second-in-command, Sub-Lieutenant Babb the navigator, and four petty officers were the last party to leave the sunken vessel. They launched a raft and proceeded to paddle it towards M.L. 282, which had followed the blockships into the canal. Whilst on the raft this party had a very trying experience. The Germans had a machine-gun on the shore within a few yards. This gun and many others had been pouring a hot fire into the ship. A lifebuoy light had been inadvertently left on the raft and automatically Completing the Block Iphigenia had followed Intrepid and had rounded the Mole with much the same experience as the latter ship. Having dropped somewhat astern she increased to full speed and made for the canal. By this time so many star shell were being fired and so many searchlights being used that there was not much difficulty in locating the entrance piers; she was also assisted by the signals from Thetis. Passing close to the latter, Iphigenia was twice hit by shell, one of which cut a steam pipe, with the result that the forepart of the ship was enveloped in steam. In addition to that she shortly afterwards ran into thick smoke and temporarily lost sight of the entrance. Suddenly the western pier loomed up close ahead. Lieutenant Billyard-Leake ordered "full speed astern." The ship ran between a dredger and a barge; on going ahead again she pushed the barge up the canal. There appeared to be a gap between the bow of the Intrepid and the eastern bank of the canal, so Iphigenia was steered to close it. Turning his ship by going alternately ahead and astern, Billyard-Leake managed to get her round well across the channel and then grounded with his bows on the eastern side. He ordered the crew to abandon ship and exploded his The entire crew, officers and men, got away in a single cutter, the other boat having been severely damaged. M.L. 282 was then seen close ahead of the ship. The cutter pulled up to her and most of the crew managed to get on board. The remainder turned the cutter and again pulled to the launch. All except about three men, of whom one had been killed, climbed into the launch at the second attempt. The cutter herself was secured to the bows of the launch, which, having just picked up the raft party from Intrepid, was still heading up the canal. The launch went astern and backed out of the canal, stern first, with the cutter in tow. No less than a hundred and one survivors from the blockships were on board the motor launch. Under ordinary circumstances such craft can carry from forty to fifty passengers with a bit of a squash; a hundred and one passengers, several of them wounded, must have crowded every inch of her deck. M.L. 282, commanded by Lieutenant Percy T. Deane, R.N.V.R., and M.L. 526, commanded by Lieutenant H. A. Littleton, R.N.V.R., had followed the blockships, exactly in accordance with the Plan, during their perilous journey from the Mole. These officers had been specially chosen for the rescue work from the large number of volunteers for that dangerous task.
M.L. 282 had steamed straight into the canal and stopped between the two sunken blockships. She came under heavy machine-gun fire from close range, Rescue of the Crews M.L. 526 had steamed into the sunken blockships in the canal, embarking many of Intrepid's men from a cutter, and then proceeded to Thetis, where all the survivors from that vessel were also embarked from a cutter. The motor launch had come under heavy fire from the shore guns and her escape added one more item to the long list of miracles which took place that night. With sixty-five survivors Lieutenant Littleton steamed out to sea past the Mole and made the entire passage to Dover under her own steam, in spite of the gruelling which his frail vessel had gone through. The rescue work, as carried out by these two motor launches, compels admiration. Their chances of success had seemed to be exceedingly remote. Yet, in spite of all the difficulties, they had rescued no less Of the crew of M.L. 282 one officer and two men (out of four) laid down their lives in this splendid achievement. Of all the blockships' officers and men not a single living soul fell into the hands of the enemy. In a subsequent chapter I shall give a more detailed description of the results of the actual blocking. There can be no two opinions concerning the handling of the blockships. The utmost that can be said of the diversions, from the point of view of their connection with the main object of the enterprise, is that they assisted the blockships to pass a danger point nearly a mile short of the canal entrance, and, to a lesser extent, diverted some of the enemy's attention during the final run to the blocking position.
From the vicinity of the Mole batteries to their final destination the blockship commanders had to depend almost entirely on their own efforts. Running the gantlet of modern batteries at point-blank range would ordinarily appear to be foolhardy in the extreme. Yet these officers made light of the task and showed that difficulties cannot always be judged by first impressions. The navigation alone was hazardous enough; concentration of thought in that particular direction must have been greatly hampered by the Well Done, Blockships Of all the happenings on that memorable night the outstanding feature, which turned success from a possibility into a certainty, was the magnificent handling of the blockships by Commander Sneyd and Lieutenants Bonham-Carter and Billyard-Leake. This fact cannot be too strongly emphasised, for, although it was naturally and fully realised in the Navy, there were indications that it was not so well grasped by the man-in-the-street. CHAPTER VIIITHE RETIREMENT It had been arranged that the storming parties on the Mole should have twenty minutes' warning of Vindictive leaving the outer wall. A maximum length of stay alongside had also been laid down so that, under certain circumstances, watches would provide some guide as to the amount of time available. The warning signal for leaving the Mole was to consist of a succession of long and short blasts on the siren, or a particular method of waving the searchlight beams, or, if all other means failed, a message conveyed by runner. At about 12.50 A.M., three-quarters of an hour after Vindictive's arrival alongside, the question of the length of stay was considered. The blockships had been seen passing the lighthouse en route to the canal, the viaduct had been blown up. The diversion on the Mole had throughout served to attract the fire of a large number of enemy batteries. From this followed the deduction that some chance of rescue work had probably offered itself to our motor launches. It was likely that in another twenty minutes these latter vessels would have definitely succeeded or failed in their object. Beginning of the End The primary object for which the attack on the Mole was designed had been attained. There remained the secondary object of demolition. The only guns in Vindictive which could have borne directly on the Mole had been put out of action. Her upper The question which arose out of the foregoing considerations was as to whether it was worth while to remain alongside during the last ten minutes for the sake of demolition work whilst risking, at the least, the loss of the whole of the storming parties then on the Mole. Shortly after 12.50 A.M. the order was given to make the retirement signal. Vindictive's sirens had both been shot away. The starboard searchlight had received a direct hit from a projectile and had been hurled off the bridge down to the upper deck. The port searchlight had also been put out of action. An order was passed to Daffodil to make the retirement signal on her siren. The latter spluttered and gurgled whilst emitting a veritable shower bath, but presently began to show signs of being useful. A low groan developed into a growling note which in turn travelled gradually up the scale until loud enough to be heard at a distance. The signal was repeated several times and then came an anxious period of waiting. At about this time a large stack of Stokes bomb The Recall The storming parties commenced to return to the ship almost at once. Many of the ship's company, officers and men, assisted in carrying the wounded on board over the gangways, which were as rickety as ever. One Marine carried a disabled man on board, placed his charge on the deck, kissed him on both cheeks and was heard to remark, "I wasn't going to leave you, Bill." I have seen both statements and illustrations to the effect that our storming parties, before leaving, erected a staff on the Mole and hoisted a Union Jack upon it. It may seem a pity to spoil a good story, but this event was quite imaginary. A memento of our visit, however, was prepared in the shape of a board to which were attached our visiting cards bearing the letters P.P.C., but there is no very clear evidence as to whether this memento was left on the Mole, though I believe that was the case. A shell burst just outside the conning tower whilst three of us were discussing the probability of any men being still on the Mole. Lieutenant-Commander Rosoman was shot through both legs; Petty Officer Youlton had an arm shattered; a very slight wound in the shoulder was my own share of the damage. By the time that fifteen minutes had elapsed from the sounding of the retirement signal practically all the storming parties had returned. No more men were seen to come back, but I had given a definite promise that the full twenty minutes' notice would be allowed. After repeated assurances from other officers, backed up by my own personal observation, that no others were returning we decided to leave the Mole. The cable had already been unshackled ready for slipping overboard when no longer required. Lieutenant-Commander Rosoman, in spite of his wounds, accompanied me to the conning tower. He absolutely refused to sit down, but remained standing so that he could keep a lookout through the slit in the armour. The conning tower was of very small dimensions. Four wounded men had previously crawled inside and had died where they lay. Three or four other wounded men had crawled in later on and had collapsed. One of the telegraphs to the engine-room had been shot away, but the telephone was intact. All the other compasses having been destroyed, we had to depend upon the conning-tower compass. The magnetic directive force on a compass needle is necessarily very weak in a conning tower of such small dimensions. The ship had received so many hard knocks that the magnetism on board was pretty certain to have undergone considerable change. Thus, whereas this particular compass was somewhat independable before, it was now exceedingly unreliable. In spite of the many hundreds of times that I must previously have instructed young officers that no iron should be placed within five feet of the compass, I have Daffodil was ordered to tow Vindictive's bow away from the wall. Lieutenant Campbell obeyed at once; our anchor cable was slipped overboard. Directly after the strain came on the Daffodil's hawser the latter broke, but it had served its purpose. "Full speed ahead" was ordered and the ship moved forward almost immediately. This was at 1.11 A.M. A large steel boom—the original mainmast of the ship—had been rigged over the port side of the quarter-deck, jutting out rather further than the port propeller with the object of saving the latter from hitting the wall. When Vindictive's helm was put over to port, her stern swung towards the Mole, but the boom saved the situation as a result of a heavy blow against the wall. As soon as Vindictive had moved a few feet the gangways slipped off the wall and fell overboard with a resounding crash. For a few moments the wreckage fouled and stopped the port propeller, but quickly cleared again without having done any serious damage. The German's Last Straw It is not difficult to gauge the feelings of the enemy when they first noticed the ship moving off. We had taken them more or less by surprise on arrival and had managed to storm the Mole in spite of every effort to prevent us. The enemy could not have been over-pleased about that. The ship had been able to remain at the Mole for one hour and ten minutes without sustaining any vital damage. That fact was not calculated to engender a pleasant frame of mind We steamed away to the northwestward at utmost speed. The flames were pouring through the holes in the funnels; the ship had the appearance of being heavily on fire. The wind being now offshore brought the fog along with us; fortunately for the navigation we had a clear lookout ahead. The enemy cannot have seen much more than the vivid glare of our funnel flames illuminating the upper part of the fog. From all accounts their batteries were far from idle. As the ship sped seaward we had the sensation of the ship jumping at irregular but frequent intervals. This may have been due to the concussion of heavy shell striking the water near the ship. Whether any shell hit us or not during the retirement is unlikely to be known. One could hardly see one's own feet. The ship had already been hit so often that any further damage of the same description would hardly have been noticed. Suffice it to say that no vital damage to the hull was received. After steaming for twenty minutes the first lieutenant reported a light off the starboard bow. It was the Blankenberghe buoy, which we had passed during the approach. We altered course to pass close to the buoy and then for our line of retirement. Homeward Bound Presently the dark form of a vessel was sighted ahead. Our guns' crews were ready for any emergency, but the vessel proved to be H.M.S. Moorsom, one of the patrolling destroyers. All the bridge signalling lamps had been destroyed. With an ordinary pocket torch we flashed a signal requesting Moorsom to lead us as our compass was hopeless. On the way across to Zeebrugge my anxiety with regard to accuracy of compass course had led me to criticise the steering of one of the quartermasters. Now, on the return voyage, I had become quartermaster, in the absence of Petty Officer Youlton, and am afraid the steering was execrable. That fact was officially recorded by the Commanding Officer of Moorsom who, knowing nothing about our amateur steersmanship, reported, "... Vindictive appeared ... steering a very erratic course!" Fortunately the services of another petty officer, as steersman, were obtained later on. Lieutenant-Commander Rosoman combined the duties of lookout and navigator; his advice was most helpful. A visit from the stretcher parties relieved the congestion in the conning tower. Another memorable incident was the arrival of the Paymaster with a jug full of a certain stimulating beverage which put new life into us; I shall not complete the testimonial. Several signals were interchanged with Moorsom on the subject of shoals; it was a great relief when Vindictive was steaming nearly seventeen knots until daylight—a great achievement on the part of Engineer Lieutenant-Commander Bury and his department. Soon after daylight a destroyer was observed to be racing up from astern at high speed. She quickly ranged up alongside and proved to be H.M.S. Warwick. The first signal from her, "Well done, Vindictive," cheered us up immensely, not because of its actual import, but because it looked very much as if the Vice-Admiral were alive. To make sure we enquired if that surmise was correct and, greatly to our relief, received a reply in the affirmative. H.M.S. Warwick had continued throughout the operation to patrol in a central position, namely, near the Mole lighthouse. She had come under a heavy fire and altogether experienced a couple of hectic hours. Soon after one o'clock she had moved towards Vindictive and suddenly came upon the latter leaving the Mole. Vindictive's smoke screen made it impossible to keep touch, so the Vice-Admiral decided to search for Iris and Daffodil in case they should require assistance. Shortly after this M.L. 282 was met and transferred her blockship survivors to Warwick, who was also informed that Iris and Daffodil had left the Mole. Warwick then escorted some motor launches out of the danger zone, and, after rallying several other craft at a prearranged rendezvous, she steered for Dover and overtook Vindictive as mentioned above. Admiral Keyes ordered Moorsom to lead Vindictive to Dover, to which place Warwick proceeded at The weather being misty, we did not sight Dover until within a mile or so. Our reception was wonderful, the result of the operation being already known at Dover. I think everybody cheered himself hoarse that morning. Presently we were ordered to proceed alongside the railway jetty. Within me there was some feeling of satisfaction at having berthed the ship at Zeebrugge, a place which I had never seen, in face of certain difficulties additional to the tide. Any feeling of pride, however, was quickly dispelled when, in accordance with the routine of the port, on my ship being ordered to proceed alongside Dover jetty in broad daylight, with no opposition from the enemy, and with every convenience in the way of hawsers and bollards, a pilot was sent on board to handle her! On arrival alongside the wounded were disembarked into a Red Cross train, which immediately took them off to hospital. Those who had laid down their lives were then carried ashore; this, indeed, was a sad parting. Finally we moved out to a buoy to make room for other vessels. A Souvenir from the Mole After our arrival at Dover it was discovered that a large block of concrete was jambed between a fender and a ledge on the port side of the ship. Apparently a German shell fired from one of the heavy land batteries had struck the upper part of the outer wall and had torn away this block, which fell into the position mentioned. This concrete block, weighing nearly half a ton, was hoisted on board. A few pieces were taken as souvenirs. The main portion was
Daffodil was exceedingly fortunate in having escaped serious damage. Her hull had been exposed to the fire of the German batteries throughout the whole hour and the odd minutes during which she had been keeping Vindictive alongside the Mole. On the retirement signal being made everything was prepared for towing the bows of Vindictive away from the wall. Immediately the order was received, Lieutenant Campbell turned his ship and commenced to tow. The hawser had parted almost at once, but that was of no consequence. Daffodil then steamed away to the northward under cover of her own artificial smoke and eventually spoke H.M.S. Trident. The latter took her in tow and brought her safely to Dover, which was reached at 1 P.M. The enthusiastic reception commenced all over again. It must be realised that the fate of each vessel was unknown to the majority of the remainder until some hours after the completion of the operation. It has already been described how Iris, after leaving Vindictive and suffering severe damage from hostile gun-fire, had been smoke-screened by a motor boat and had disappeared from view. This smoke screen, augmented by further smoke from their own apparatus, undoubtedly saved Iris from destruction. Under the directions of Lieutenant Oscar Henderson, R.N., who had assumed command after his captain At intervals throughout the forenoon and afternoon of the 23d the several vessels and craft arrived at Dover. We then had the opportunity of piecing together the information obtained from each unit and were thus able to gauge the probable results attained. The air force had been requested to obtain new photographs of Zeebrugge as early as practicable, but the sky was so clouded over that no absolutely indisputable evidence was obtained until 2 P.M., when a photograph was taken through a chink in the clouds. This photograph showed the positions of the inner blockships and the break in the railway viaduct. The operation had been an unqualified success. The Operation at Ostende The operation at Ostende had unfortunately failed. The difficulties of navigation had been accentuated by the change of wind which brought the artificial fog back to seaward. The consequent obscuration of the harbour entrance made it necessary to place some dependence on a buoy which had, unknown to us and by the merest coincidence, just been moved a mile or so to the eastward by the enemy. In spite of the most gallant attempt by Commander A. E. Godsal in H.M.S. Brilliant and Lieutenant-Commander H. N. M. Hardy in H.M.S. Sirius, ably assisted as they were by their officers and men and by a large number of other craft, the blocking attempt had not achieved success. The Vice-Admiral decided, therefore, to Just one other reference to the further use of Vindictive cannot be omitted. Immediately on their return, after the failure to block Ostende, both officers who have been mentioned above as commanding the blockships at that place, begged to be given ships for a further attempt. They had failed through no fault of their own and had gone through some terrible experiences. Nothing could curb their ardour, and I believe they gave the Vice-Admiral no peace until he consented to give them another chance. Poor Godsal. Nothing could have been finer than his handling of the old Vindictive on the night of May 9th-10th, but he was killed at the very moment when complete success seemed to be assured; Ostende was partially blocked. It was with considerable feelings of regret that, on April 25th, we made way in Vindictive for the new crew destined to take her to Ostende. It was a sad farewell. The behaviour of the wounded had been splendid; their cheerfulness was unbounded. One poor fellow who had suffered severe internal injuries as well as the loss of both legs was asked if he was sorry that he went over to Zeebrugge. He replied, "No, sir, The spirit of all the men in Vindictive was fine. Nevertheless, I do not deceive myself into imagining that these men were exceptional. They only represented one small contingent of many which fought at Zeebrugge and Ostende on St. George's Day; the combined crews of all the vessels in the operation only represented a trifling percentage of our total naval personnel; the behaviour of my men was merely typical of all those others. Those of our survivors who had not been sent to hospital with wounds proceeded on a few days' leave before rejoining their depots or their ships in the Grand Fleet. What a piratical appearance the crew presented on their departure! Many of them had lost all their clothes, except those in which they stood during the action. Those others whose clothes had survived the fight were not much better off. The souvenir hunters had raided my ship, had "picked up" some of the men's belongings, and had even been inconsiderate enough to break into my cabin and make a complete clearance of the officers' handbags placed there for safety.
One last story of a personal nature. On receipt of the news at Dover a young officer, in his desire to do me a kindness, decided to wire the good news to my wife. He forgot that she would know nothing of the enterprise or even of its preparation, and he worded the telegram: "Operation successful. Husband quite all right." The recipient's feelings may be easily imagined; she guessed it was appendicitis! CHAPTER IXTHE MATERIAL RESULTS The results of the operations on the night of April 22-23, 1918, were undoubtedly important. They can be classified under the two headings of "material" and "moral." The degree of moral effect cannot usually be assessed until long after an operation has been completed. Recognisable evidence comes to hand very gradually. The actual results of moral effect may be early experienced without being recognised, especially in the case of effect on the enemy's morale. Material results are more easily gauged. In this particular case photographic evidence was soon obtainable. I must recall to the reader's mind the description of the entrance channel of the canal. It was shown in Part I, Chapter II, how very narrow the navigable channel had become owing to the silting of the sand, and how rapidly the latter process would accentuate the obstructive quality of a sunken vessel. It was also shown why the channel at the shore end of the two curved piers was the ideal position at which to place the blockships. Intrepid and Iphigenia had been sunk by us exactly at their selected positions. Each vessel spanned right across the dredged channel, and therefore blocked it effectually. For the first time in naval history a blocking operation had been carried out successfully in the face of up-to-date defence measures. Some of the photographs, taken at high tide, appear to show sufficient space through which vessels could pass on either side of the blockships. But the presence of water does not signify the presence of sufficient water to float such craft as submarines and destroyers even at high tide. Two other photographs show clearly that the ends of the vessels were practically on the edges of the sandbanks. The Work of Salvage The Germans, as prompt in propaganda as they were unenterprising in sea-fighting, at once published a communiquÉ to the effect that the operation had utterly failed, adding that the blockships had been sunk by the German batteries before reaching their goal. Curiously enough, their official statements were strangely silent on the subject of prisoners. They also averred that the attack on the Mole had been driven back. Not content with these "terminological inexactitudes," they went so far as to take a photograph to prove their contention. The photograph was taken with the camera pointed inland. The land was eliminated from the background in the original so as to give the impression that the camera was pointing out to sea. A line was drawn between, and parallel to, the blockships and marked "The line of the channel," whereas it was a line nearly at right angles to the channel. Words were added to the effect that the photograph proved clearly that the channel was not blocked, and copies of the photograph were circulated all over Germany and neutral countries. What wonderful liars!—but clumsy! The amusing part of it was that we knew the German naval authorities reported "Zeebrugge is blocked" to their craft stationed elsewhere, and, further, our airmen From the morning after the operation until the Germans finally evacuated Zeebrugge, our aerial bombers dropped, on the average, four tons of bombs daily on that place. Our special measures with regard to constructive work in each blockship, designed to hamper the work of salvage, must have presented the enemy with a formidable problem. The work of clearing the channel was certainly not assisted by the dropping of bombs upon the salvors. To what extent the Germans attempted to remove the vessels is unknown to me, but we do know well enough that none of the three was moved a foot nor were they cut away to allow vessels to pass over them. Thanks to our airmen, we knew, almost from hour to hour, what measures were being taken to dredge a new channel. I believe that no torpedo craft or submarines could use the exit for a considerable time, and that about five months elapsed before they could enter or leave the canal at any other period than the top of high tide. Having contrived that each blockship should embody all the main obstacles to salvage work, we were more or less confident that, if once placed in position, these ships could not be easily removed. Subsequently, at the earliest opportunity, our own salvage service commenced their endeavours to clear the canal. In January, 1921, two years and three months after Zeebrugge was again in the hands of the Allies, the last of the three blockships was moved sufficiently to enable the channel to be used with freedom. A Information reached us afterwards that the Kaiser personally visited Zeebrugge shortly after the operation so that he could discover the actual truth for himself. What his remarks were on arrival is not known to me, but a photograph in my possession, taken on that occasion, certainly does not give him an air of affability. The Reckoning The main material result, then, was that the canal was blocked and that the services of twelve submarines and twenty-three torpedo craft were unavailable for a considerable period. As long as the canal remained blocked, German submarines detailed for operating against Allied commerce in the English Channel and other waters outside the North Sea were, for the most part, compelled to do so from the Heligoland Bight. This increased the length of voyage to and from their areas of operation and consequently reduced the duration of their stay in such waters. But there were other material results. Firstly, the German High Command considered it necessary to send reËnforcements to Ostende in the shape of modern destroyers. Now vessels, like individuals, cannot be in two places at once. Those sent to Ostende had to be drawn away from the Heligoland Bight, consequently the forces in the latter area were weakened in strength pro rata. The loss of German lives and vessels and the Then again the efficiency of Bruges as a naval base was greatly lessened because the canal exit to Ostende proved to be too shallow for the larger craft. The fuel, dockyard, and stores at Bruges were also rendered comparatively useless as means of support for sea-going vessels. The Mole, as a seaplane base, must have lost much of its value owing to the severance of the railway communication, heavy stores having to be transported to the Mole by sea-carriers. Finally, the work of "locking the stable door after the horse had been stolen," as practised by the enemy on this occasion, entailed extra mining at sea, mounting additional guns on the outer wall, and covering the floor of the Mole with such an abundance of barbed wire as to make the place exceedingly uncomfortable for themselves. Our own losses consisted of one destroyer and two motor launches; no other vessel was rendered unfit for further services. Our casualties at Zeebrugge amounted to approximately one hundred and seventy killed, four hundred wounded, and forty-five missing; the majority of the latter were believed to have been killed. The casualties in Vindictive, including her storming parties, were sixty killed and one hundred and seventy-one wounded. With regard to the loss of material we had not paid a high price considering the results achieved. The loss of personnel was small in comparison with losses sustained in military fighting, but was none the less keenly felt by those of us who had been in personal CHAPTER XTHE MORAL EFFECT The moral effect on the enemy was shown, to a certain degree, almost at once. The fact that they thought it necessary to indulge in falsehood to appease their own countrymen, although they must have realised that the truth would inevitably become known, was clear enough proof that their morale was badly shaken. Their earliest report stated that the attack had failed and that three British cruisers had been sunk at Zeebrugge. The latter portion of the statement was correct. The ships had, indeed, been sunk—by ourselves. All reference to the destruction of the viaduct was withheld until later. The fact of no prisoners being captured from any of the three British cruisers was never mentioned. As soon as our own reports had been circulated, the German authorities apparently considered it necessary to account for our success by stating that some Belgian fishermen had been arrested for piloting our vessels into position! Imagine, for a moment, the effect on our own public if they heard that the enemy had attacked Dover, stormed the breakwater and remained in possession of it for over an hour, destroyed the railway jetty, and blocked the entrance. Even such a case as that would not be wholly analogous, for the blockships at Zeebrugge had sunk themselves nearly a mile inside the outer entrance. Imagine the outcry and the Some such effect as described above was inevitable amongst both the German civilian element and their fighting services. We know that the operation caused a great scare at Bruges. Many of the German officials there hurriedly collected their effects ready for evacuating the city; it had been reported that the allies were landing an immense force on the coast of Flanders. It is not generally known that friendship between the German Navy and Army was conspicuous by its absence. They had been at daggers drawn for some years; the Crown Prince himself was in the habit of being openly rude to naval officers of high rank. This antagonism was evidenced recently in a letter written by a certain German general to his brother-in-law, a young officer in our Navy. Apparently the general hated the German Navy to such an extent that his letter remarked that there were two British officers with whom he particularly desired to shake hands—one was the officer in charge of our siege guns on the Flanders coast and the other was the officer commanding the attack on Zeebrugge; his friendly feelings arose from the fact that these two officers had "put it across" that section The German Information Bureau had never ceased to sing the praises of their Navy; that fact was conducive to increasing the shock received by the enemy when they learned the truth. Many excuses have been invented in Germany to account for the fact that the final breakdown of morale which immediately preceded the ignominious flight of their War Lord emanated from the so-called High Seas Fleet, and that this breakdown coincided with the receipt of orders to try conclusions with our fleet. It can hardly be styled far-fetched if one suggests that the loss of morale was intimately connected with the situation at sea. It is also not outside the bounds of possibility that, in some measure, the events of St. George's Day, 1918, assisted towards the dÉbÂcle. A certain highly placed German official at Bruges certainly exaggerated when he averred that "the hopes of the Fatherland were buried at Zeebrugge," but such a statement as that clearly indicates the weakening of confidence. The other aspect of the effect on morale may be worthy of mention. I refer to the effect on our own public, on our fighting services, and on neutral and Allied countries. The great German military offensive, which everybody realised indicated the supreme effort on the part of the enemy, was in full swing in the month of April. The Allied troops were stubbornly contesting every inch of ground, but were being steadily pushed back on important sections of the main battle front. The British Fifth Army had suffered appalling losses. There is very little doubt that the success attained had a marked effect on the public; the latter fairly jumped at the opportunity to show enthusiasm. In addition to that, the public palate was tickled by the unusual and apparently spectacular nature of the attack. This sudden rise of the "moralometer" served a good purpose. The pessimist changed his tune, the optimist earned the qualification "cheery." To those ignorant of naval matters the operation seemed to have bordered on the accomplishment of the impossible. "We always knew," they declared, "that our fighting men were invincible." Their old certainty of ultimate victory was re-born. That was all to the good. Modern war is national war. War is not merely a struggle between fighting forces, but between the opposing "crowds." The destruction of an enemy's Army or Navy is of primary importance as a means to an end, but the ultimate end and aim of each belligerent is to exert influence on the "crowd," to nourish the will to win amongst their own public and to bring about a feeling of hopeless despair, a complete loss of morale, throughout the enemy's country. The receipt of the news on the western front is reported to have been beneficial. Every fighting force must occasionally have its dark days; they are never so dark that news of success on another front will fail to bring a ray of light. Those of us in the fleet itself had often experienced such feelings of elation when our military brothers had brought off a "coup." The Navy and Army, and the Air Force with them, are one at heart. The fighting services are interdependent. Our Navy cannot win a war unaided any more than our Army can prevent Great Britain from being defeated by starvation. The waging of war, in the case of a maritime country which is unselfsupporting, cannot rightly be divided into naval warfare, military warfare, and combined naval and military operations, though the three types are commonly referred to and in that order. All war in which the British Empire is involved is in the nature of combined naval and military warfare. The actions of one arm are inevitably reflected in the other. The Grand Fleet, from which so many of our officers and men were drawn for the operation on St. George's Day, was naturally elated at the result. Certainly the morale in the fleet had always been of a high order, but an extra touch of enthusiasm was not without value. Of the effect in neutral countries I am not competent to speak, but I have some personal knowledge of the manner in which the news was received in the United States. The enthusiasm in that part of the CHAPTER XISOME REMARKS ON THE ENTERPRISE This book would be incomplete if I omitted to append some general remarks on the operation and on the factors which led to success. First and foremost, it is necessary to indulge in comparisons. The enterprise described in this book attracted attention owing to its somewhat unusual type as far as the Navy was concerned. Nevertheless, there are many points of similarity between the attack on Zeebrugge and the military trench raids which took place night after night on the Allied fronts. The preliminary bombardment, the advance under cover of darkness and smoke, the wild firing of star shell, the rush across No Man's Land, the encounter with barbed wire and other defence material, the leap down into the enemy's trench, the hand-to-hand fighting, the holding of the position whilst demolition work was in progress, and the final withdrawal when the object had been attained; such was a trench raid as carried out again and again by our brothers in the Army. In their case the following day brought a two-line communiquÉ, e.g., "Last night in the Ypres salient our troops carried out a trench raid; they captured seven prisoners." In our case the communiquÉ and unofficial reports filled many pages. I would warn the reader not to be misled into thinking that the military raids were any less hazardous than our own. The story provides just one more illustration of the fact that, however large may loom the difficulties with which one is confronted, the means to overcome them can usually be found if one possesses the "will to win through." The fundamental principles of war demand the Offensive and Concentration. The all-important element of strategy to be utilised against a strongly entrenched enemy is that of Surprise. From the latter spring Diversion and Mystification. An attempt has been made to describe the manner in which the seemingly impossible was accomplished without very great difficulty. The plan was built up on the foundation of surprise—not surprise in the sense that something would suddenly occur where all had been quiet up to that moment, but surprise in that the real object of the enterprise would be concealed up to the latest possible moment, the concealment to be brought about by mystifying the enemy and diverting his attention. Whilst concentrating all available powers of offence against the enemy, and allowing nothing to divert us from our main object, we took every step to bewilder the defence and to shift the weight of the difficulties upon the shoulders of our opponents. But that was only the foundation. The material brought into use was the best available at the moment; it is not suggested that, given further time, it would have been incapable of improvement. Earlier in this book a few remarks were offered on the importance of the personnel. Many further remarks could now be added after the story has been told. I only propose, however, to deal with certain It has already been mentioned that a considerable percentage of the vessels and craft engaged in the attack were commanded and manned by officers and men of the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The majority of the smoke-screening craft and rescue craft came under that heading. Without the smoke the operation must have failed. Without the rescue work the price paid for success would have been excessive. These representatives of the auxiliary naval services earned a full measure of admiration. Their daring in the face of danger, their coolness in situations which lacked nothing in excitement, their initiative when confronted with the unexpected, and their perfect co-operation with the remaining forces engaged in the enterprise, were worthy of the best traditions of the Navy. The more that one considers the dependence upon seamanship, the practical use of technical knowledge, the mental and physical strain, the value of perfect discipline, and the initiative called for on such an occasion, the greater is one's admiration for these fine fellows of whom the majority had seen comparatively little of sea life and had lacked that severity of training which is inseparable from the naval profession. The reports of all Commanding Officers contained one particular similarity—I refer to the behaviour of the men. The cynic who might be inclined to discount such unqualified praise, on the plea that the men were specially chosen, could easily be silenced. The specially selected personnel were certainly picked But co-operation between units, and efficiency of individuals, are not alone sufficient to ensure success. Absolute confidence and perfect co-operation between officers and men, founded on true discipline, is of vital importance. Without these, little or nothing can be achieved in war. The seeds of these vital requirements were sown by our forefathers. Those of our predecessors who, although too old to serve in the Great War, were still in the land of the living had reason to feel proud at the success attained by their pupils. There is one other human aspect which cannot be omitted without leaving a serious blank in these pages. That aspect is the one of Leadership. Leadership has been defined as that power in a man which causes others to follow him irrespective of the direction in which he leads. It would be a presumption, almost amounting to an impertinence, for me to endeavour to measure out the praise which is due to the Vice-Admiral in command of the enterprise, now Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. A few more words and I shall have finished. I venture to suggest that this particular exploit provides just one more example, such as are recorded again and again in the histories of most civilised countries, of what can be accomplished in the face of difficulty. Unfortunately, when hostilities cease, we are prone to forget, not only the sacrifices by which successes were achieved, but also the principles which guided us in the achievement. We are all ready enough to admit that confidence and co-operation are of prime necessity for the preservation of our lives and our interests when danger threatens us in war, but, somehow, when the welfare of communities is threatened in days of so-called peace, by international suspicions, by revolutionary doctrines, by economic difficulties, by unemployment, and by political schisms, we weaken ourselves as a result of deconcentrating into numberless camps, one against the other, in direct opposition to those fundamental principles which are the root cause of our existence. It is all very strange, and, I suppose, very human, for nothing is stranger than humanity. How many of us realise that our superiority over the rest of the The Great War is over; is a Great Peace to follow? What is our object? Surely it is the welfare of civilised communities and the progress of those who are less enlightened. There will always be secondary objects calculated to divert us from our purpose. There will always be individuals who, for their own ends, will endeavour to sow discord and confuse the issue. It is of paramount importance that we keep our object in view, and that we cultivate intensity of purpose and wholeheartedness, without which our object is unattainable. We know that the right spirit exists, but it is of little value if we keep it locked away within us until disaster is imminent; the mere fact of its existence cannot keep us free from danger any more than the existence of medicine stored at the apothecary's can protect us from infection and illness. Let each one of us, each class, each sect, each nation, each group of nations, do all that is humanly possible to foster that spirit, to further mutual Without such confidence and co-operation success is impossible; with them, our well-being is assured. THE END APPENDIXThe following vessels and craft took part in the simultaneous blocking operations at Zeebrugge and Ostende. THE ZEEBRUGGE ENTERPRISE (a) Special services during the oversea voyage Aerial Escort— (b) Off shore forces Outer Patrol— (c) Inshore forces Flagship— Motor Launches—Nos. 79, 110, 121, 128, 223, 239, THE OSTENDE ENTERPRISE (a) Bombarding forces Monitors— (b) Inshore forces Blockships— COVERING SQUADRON FOR BOTH ENTERPRISES Forces from Harwich— INDEXt@g@html@files@45718@45718-h@45718-h-3.htm.html#P128" class="pginternal">128, 182Endurance of German submarines, 4, 5 Erebus, H.M.S., 174; App. Faulknor, H.M.S.; App. Finch, Sergeant, R.M.L.I., 192 Flame-throwers in Vindictive, 115, 186, 187 Flanders Coast— description of, 6, 7, 8, 22, 24, 25 value to Germany, 5-7, 10-12 Fog, effect on attackers, 60, 175 effect on defence, 59, 175 Fogs, artificial, 59, 60 Franks, Lieut. Ivor B., R.N., 110 French motor launches Nos. 1, 2, 33, 34; App. French Torpedo Boats Nos. 1, 2, 3, 34; App. Fuel, 4 Function of the Navy, 3 Gas, poison, 60 Geddes, Sir Eric, 157 General Craufurd, H.M.S.; App. Geographical situation, 6, 7 German bases in Flanders, 6, 10, 29 German craft based on Flanders, 6 German High Seas Fleet, 3, 4, 19, 21, 94, 95 German morale before the attack, 96, 97, 104 German morale after the attack, 255-257 German reports of the attack, 250, 251 German submarines, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 Gibbs, Commander Valentine F., R.N., 185, 207, 208 Godsal, Commander A. E., R.N., 42, 246, 247 Goeben battery, 204 Gore-Langton, Lieut-Commander Hubert E., R.N., 220, 223 Grand Fleet— duties of, 94, 95 work of, 102, 103 Groynes, 97 Morris, H.M.S., 224; App. Motor launches, 144, 225, 240 Motor launches:— No. 110, 225; App. No. 128, 224; App. No. 282, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234; App. No. 308, 225; App. No. 424, 224; App. No. 526, 229, 232, 233; App. No. 558, 224, 226; App. Nos. 11, 16, 17, 22, 23, 30, 60, 79, 105, 121, 223, 239, 241, 249, 252, 254, 258, 262, 272, 274, 276, 279, 280, 283, 314, 345, 397, 416, 420, 422, 429, 448, 512, 513, 525, 532, 533, 538, 549, 551, 552, 555, 556, 557, 560, 561, 562; App. Myngs, H.M.S., 224; App. Napoleon's maxim, 95 Navigation, coastal, 56, 57 difficulties and dangers, 7, 8, 40, 41 importance of accuracy, 90 ff., 178 open sea, 56 Nelson, Lord, 55, 147, 148 Newbold, Lieut. Aubrey C., R.N., 210, 214 Nieuport, 6, 7, 8 North Star, H.M.S., 220, Tide, rise and fall, 8, 48, 49 Tigris River, blocking of, 58 Time factor, 137-139 Time table, 138, 156 Tomkinson, Captain Wilfred, R.N., 220 Towing— necessity for, 142 of Iris and Daffodil, 142, 143, 173 Trench raid, analogy, 112, 113, 265 Trident, H.M.S., 224, 245; App. Truculent, H.M.S.; App. Ulleswater, H.M.S.; App. United States— battle squadron, 107 personnel, 107, 108 Velox, H.M.S., 224; App. Viaduct— attack on, 194, 195, 210-215 description, 23, 25, 82, 83 Vindictive, H.M.S.— anchoring, 184 attack on Ostende, 247 choice of, 76, 126 command of, 114 damage, 181, 182, 198, 238, 239, 241, 255, 256 fitting out of, 77-79, 100, 110 position at Mole, 128, 129, 202, 203 proceedings of, 143, 148, 150, 170, 173, 176, 179 ff., 200 ff. retirement of, 230 ff. Visibility, 136, 165 Volunteering— for danger, 89, 122-125, 189, 202 how arranged, 104
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