South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-11-16

OF the Audacious' crew who was lost. 8"
Beams paused a moment for breath
and then. turning 20 his companion.
said with a smile
You tell il for o while Hugh"
Rescue Entire Crew.
by O'Clock" Grihiths went on.
ALI but 200 OF the AudaciOus crew
had been taken of in our boats. Two
hundred were brought TO the Olym
= pic and more than 800 others were
/ taken TO the Liverpool and two other
cruisers and destrOyers which came
rapidly up. These ships themselves
/ being stripped for action. carried no
/ life boats at all The Olympic's ID
boats rescued the entire Audacious
crew
THE sailors on the dreadnought
displayed the most superb discipline
Z Ihey were calmly lined up on their
/ quarter deck when we came up.
There was not even restless move
menP The officers walked calmly
back and forth. with their hands
( folded behind them. The seamen
seemed TO be on dress parade.
so low was the stern OF the Aud
acious in the water that the crew
leaped one by one from the rail into
the life boats. The life boats would
move astern and as the sea would
lift them lightly on the peak Of
1
Audacious would leap into them as
though they were jumping to a net.
Those men were the true hearts
of oak Of the British navy. They
knew how to face death; they would
have died without a murmur of pro-
test
In Need OF Clothing.
The sailors from the Audacious
who were landed on the Olympic
tn = q
scramble mp rope before they could
come aboard. Most OF them were
stripped to the skin and were cold
clothing was furnished them by our
own creaw and passengers
Grifiths and Beames then recited
how an attempt had been made to
carry a cable from the dreadnOught
10 the Olympic The destroyer Fury
assisted in this work. The heavy sea
made the strain too great and the
cable snapped
Then followed a most superb bit
of seamanship,' said Griffiths See
ing that cable could not be carried
that distance, Capt. HaddOck risked
a bold stroke. Handling his 90O-fOOt
ship as though she had been a childs
toy, he turned her about and ran di-
rectly alongside the dreadnOugh's
stem. We came so close to her that
il seemed almost possible to step from
our lower decks 10 her PROV. 1t was
attempted at this close distance, TO
connect the two ships with a six-inch
cable. But again and again they
failed.
Darkness was settling down and
the sea, still tossing like a sick man,
had become a dull grey. One by one
the cruisers and destrOyerS were blot
ted out in the dusk. But We could still
see plainly the valiant 200 men who
had remained on the Audacious. They
were standing by the forecastle.
Left to Her Fate.
AT o'clock Capt. Haddock got
the signal from the Audacious 10
leave her 10 her fate.
We are lost the message came. |
Nothing more can be done
THE sea was still too high for us
to recover our life boats. These were
left adrift on the restless waves. They
were gathered up by the destrOyers
and it was in them that the remnant
of the Audacious' crew was saved"
Beames told the rest of the story,
since the bandmaster had not wit
messed the sad close of that fateful
day.
1--WE dropped anchor off Tough
Swilly at s o'clock" he said. our
crew was so tired that they had near
ly all sunk into their hunks. At 9 !
o'clock / was on G deck. Students 1
a great flash caught my eye. 1t was
so bright that l imagined it to have
been in the stern Of the Olympic.
FASTENED to the promenade deck. /
Looking into the west | could see the /
heavens and sea were painted
cleaning yellow. The light tremble0 |
for a moment, grew more intense, !
hickered and thon quickly died away
like the CLEAN of giant candle when |
the wind rushes against it. Ten sec |
onds later came a deafening roar.
Last Of the AudaciOus.
I'VE were sure that the light meant /
the last of the majestic Audacious !
Later in Tough Swilly we met sailors /
who told Us that she had been de- !
strOyed by the cruiser Liverpool. IT |
is believed that the admiralty saw |
she was doomed and to seal the secret 1
of her disaster sent her to the sands /
beneath"
From an engine room artificer who !
was on the Audacious, Griffiths and 4
Beames got this narrative OF the dis
aster:
The Audacious was struck by a |
floating mine on the morning Of Oct /
27. We were cruising in squadron 4
and were of course deserted by all |
our sister ships when the explosion |
was heard and signalled.
Il was myself working in one of |
the lower engine rooms aft at the |
time. There was a sharp, deafeninS /
report as though one of our big guns /
had been fired; a trem bling from |
stem to stern; then / could hear the |
rush of water
AN instant later I heard the order |
come from above: Torpedo on the !
port stern. Close all water doors
This was done quickly Then |
second order came: Instruct every
man TO go to his quarters and await /
further commands
There was no hurry and no ex-
element We all walked TO our quar-
ters and waited.
Ordered on Deck.
We were quickly ordered on deck
a silence so complete that il was
friShtful prevailed. our ship had |
commenced TO move and was making |
series Of circles. going IL the same
direction as the hands Of the clock
There was a purpose in this. We had \
been struck on the port side and by