Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-07
Impressive Spectacle When
British Ships Sail for Un-
known Destination.
SOME OF VESSELS SHOW
SCARS OF ENEMY SHELLS
Sailors Impatient at Inaction, But
Confident of Victory When
Battle Day Comes.

| LONDON. Sunday, September 5.-(De-
layed in transmission. )-During his visit
| to the British battle feet in the last
| week the correspondent, after boarding
all Of the more important ships, wit
messed magnificent spectacle-that Of
the whole force putting to sea.
| Officers on Vice Admiral Sir David
Beatty's flagship, the Lion, which has
received the toughest handling in battle
Of any major British ship now ahoat
told Of the difficulty they had to persuade
the young commander to descend at the
opening Of the action in January from
the bridge. whore he had an unhampered
vision. to the armored protection Of the
coming tower.
Destroyers Fooled Submarines.
They gave an exciting account of the
| success Of destroyers in foiling all efforts
Of submarines to reach the crippled
Lion as she was being towed home at
| five knots an hour after sinking the
German cruiser Bluecher.
| The places in which the Lion was hit
| during the North sea battle were not
discernible in some instances. owing to
| reconstruction Of the section where the
shells burst. In other cases the location
was evident. patches having been placed
over the injured plates. A very small
percentage Of the German shells hit. at
the 1s,000-yard range Of the early stage
Of the battle. officers say. but the
screams OF passing salvos and the crack
OF their own guns caused an inconceiv-
able tumult to sound in the ears Of
| those stationed on the bridge.
The Tiger. sister battle cruiser Of the
Lion. had fewer scars to show as a re-
suit Of the North sea battle.
Damage to Queen Elizabeth.
On the Queen Elizabeth the only
| signs of her experiences at the OAR
| dane1les which were visible were a
section Of new planks on deck, where
she'll penetrated, and a dent from
glancing shot on one of her ffteen-inch
guns.
The Innexible. the flagship in the
Falkland Islands battle, suffered less
injury there than at the Dardanelles.
where she was struck by a mine and
was under heavy FIRE from shore. A
piece of the mine is kept in the ward
room as a souvenir. and all the ships
which have been in action had frag
ments of German shells set in mount
ings as mementos. Officers referred to
the manner in which the necessity had
| been foreseen In British naval prepara-
lions for taking care Of damages from
battle, thus tnsuring prompt repairs
whom any ship returned injured in ac-
ton.
But we had few repairs to make, and
| our energy and resources were given to
| the rapid construction Of new fighting
| units, which continues to increase our
preponderance over the German fleet"
| one officer remarked.
Sympathy for the Army.
The correspondent heard repeated and
| sympathetic references to the sacrifices
and hardships Of the army during the
! grilling year of war, while the battle
ships marked time in their long wait.
But II battle comes for us. it will not
| last long" an oncer said. Every days
waiting only sharpens our eagerness."
| The only color visible in that vast
| assembly Of fighting ships. stretching
| into the misty horizon or standing out
| harbor, was the blue uniforms of the
| crews and an occasional signal nag
| huttering from the halyard.
While on board the flagship of Ad-
| miral Sir John Jellicoe message was
brought to the chief.
who called a secretary and spoke briefly
| to him. Word was passed around that
the whole feet had been ordered to
weigh anchor and proceed to sea.
'Guests on board a destroyer at the
precedented procession of naval power
make Its exit, led by graceful light
cruisers and hotillas of destroyers.
But are not German submarines
mo doubt. two or three are always
there" an odcer replied. but the de-
stroyers know how to keep them off,
Destroyers Always on Move.
Cutting through choppy waves and
leaving foaming wakes the destroy
ers. attendant satellites OF the great
lighting ships, ran in and out at their
superior speed as busy as bees. The
destroyers were always on the move,
hotilla blinking its signals to hotilla
| It seemed that II a line had been
drawn between the stern and bow of
any two battleships 1t would measure
any other two. so steadily were the in
tervals kept. The crews were out and
the sight added impression TO the fleet
gray armored might. There was the
classes since her evolution Of naval
warfare, up to the latest type, the
Queen Elizabeth.
Endless Line Of Ships.
| The head of tho column was lost in
the mist OF approaching nightfall and
black clouds from the tunnels. Eight
sixteen. twenty dreadnaughts were
counted as they went past with clock
smoke clouds in the harbor more
dreadnaughts were coming. before the
King Edward VII and other pre-dread-
naught classes had their turn.
The commander OF the destroyer
which the correspondent was aboard
looked at his watch and said 1t was
time to go. as he must take his ap-
pointed place in the fleet At thirty
knots an hour he cut across the bow OF
a battleship. taking his guests to the
landing place. AS the destroyer round
ed the headland the correspondent had
a last glimpse Of that seemingly end
less column Of ships still not free from
the harbor, on its way on an unknown
errand in the North sea Its numbers
and gun power were suggestive of ar
Armageddon which overwhelmed the
Imagination. should 1t ever engage the
German feet.
/ law