El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-01-27
GERMAN FLEET
SAVED BY MINES
When Nearly Out Of Action,
German Ships Fled Into
Mine Field, Escaped.

! London, Eng. Jan. 27-Only. by 1un-
! ming into the German mine field IN the
North sea did the German fleet engaged
/ in Sundays battle with the British 1leel
/ off Heligoland escape entire deSIfuC-
! ton, for the main units of the German
/ fleet were disabled, ablaze. ana WIN
guns out of action, according TO &C
I counts of the battle published by the
! Scotsman in Edinburgh, Scotland. me
/ narrative was gathered from many
/ sources.
J In the same Connection the admiralty
! has issued statement admitting that
the british battle cruiser Lion and the
1 torpedo boat destroyer Meteor were
/ disabled in the action and were toWed
! into port It is denied that any British
/ ships were sunk.
From the position of the German fleet
when il was first encountered, tde 5rlt-
/ ish seamen assumed that 1t was virtual
| lv certain its objective was Newcastle.
4 The strength of the raiding squadron
! was quickly ascertained and as the en-
tire raidinE force sheered off i'm
mediate after it was discovered, the
/ chase was long one before the guns
began their work.
Fleets Race 40 Miles.
For 40 miles the two fleets raced
along over the shortest route for Hell
goland before che guns did any real
/ damage. Then the Lion, which was lead
| ing, OverhOuled the slow Bluecher- and
| in passing gave her a brOadside, caus-
! ing frightfuI damage. The Lion, how
ever, continued in pursuit of the flee
I ing DerflingeT. Seydlitz and Moltke,
The Tiger, which came next also
poured a broadside into the Bluecher,
as did the Princess Royal, both of
! which were speeding on to join in the
chase of the others. It was already
evident at this time according to the
newspapers infOrmants, that the Blue
cher abandoned by her swifter con-
sorts, was doomed ship
The chase already had continued for
two hours The light German cruisers
pluckily did their best to cover the flee
ing battle cruisers which devoted their
entire powers to getting away.
Larger Ships Are Attacked.
The bigger ships were now being
steadily oVerhauled and pounded by the
British cruisers. The Lion, which had
overhauled and smashed second
/ cruiser in the German line, according
to the men interviewed, saw that the
fight was likely to be prolonged right
up to the mine fields The Tiger, PrIn-
cess Royal and the Indomitable We're
now within range Of the large vessels
and the men in their interviews are
credited with expressing the belief that
they wrought terrible havoc on the Ger
man battle cruisers
The fire OF the Derflinger and Seyd-
litz, it is asserted, grew weaker and
! weaker as the running fight proceeded.
DerflinEer on Fire.
within half an hours run of the
mined area" said one of the men. the
Derflinger was on fire. Masses of
flames were sweeping her forward deck,
, her decks were strewn with wreckage
Of shattered upper works and when she
reached the shelter of the mines she
had no answer to give to the hail of
prOjectiles which followed her home.
She must have serious loss of life.
Third ship Torn Up.
, THE third vessel in the line was be-
/ ieyed to be the Seydlitz, but possibly
( was the MOltke. It suffered even
worse. 1t came under the Lions fire
and besides received something from
the fire OF the Tiger, the Princess Royal
ande the Indomitable. She was in a
terrible plight. One after another her
guns were smashed and put out of ac-
ton and there was great execution
among her crew. She was a silent ship
steaming desperately for shelter with
the whole of her after deck ablaze.
Lion Attacks Light Cruisers
Meantime the Lion finished deVOt-
ing her attention to the struggle be-
tween the light cruisers. using her
speed and gun power with great eff
feet She worked in an endeavor to
head off the German light cruisers and
drive them down upon the British YES
sells which were in hot pursuit. 1t was
a difficult task Having regard for
the large number of ships engaged. the
Lion did great damage among them,
but they succeeded in escaping Some
Of them were seriously damaged. In
numerous cases guns had been swept
from their mOuntings and hulls were
battered! Many Of them viii be unfit
FOR action for long time to come.
Bluecher Made Gallant Fight.
THE Bluccher made a gallant fight
but as ship after ship turned their guns
upon her with deadly effect, her doom
vas sealed from the first. Her upper
works were smashed out of all recogni-
ton and virtually every gun was GU
1T TsI hra r-.le
all quarters, spreading devastation and
death among her crew.
Just at the close of the action the
Arethusia fired a torpedo at the Blue
cher which took effect. Her crew
leaped overheard as she suddenly heeled
over. She sank steadily with a slight !
keel until her decks were aWash and
then with n sudden roar, turned over
and sank with her flag still flying. As
her keel swung uppermOst, scores of !
swimmers made for it, but that support I
soon was denied them as the vessel I
went to the bottom.
The British vessels now turned their I
attention to rescue work and large
numbers of men were picked up. More /
might have been saved but for a new
factor
Air Fleet Drops Bombs.
From the direction of HeESoland I
came a huge Zeppelin and a number of [
aeroplanes, which began dropping |
bombs upon the destrOyers which were |
engaged in the work of rescue and |
which, therefore, had to abandon their /
task.
"ThereupOn the air craft followed the
disabled ships hOmeward
"A slight temporary arrangement in !
the running gear on one Of the British /
warships may have led the observers /
in the aircraft to the conclusion that /
serious damage had been inflicted and /
given the Germans a basis for their
CLAIMS that British battleship had
been destroyed
The vessels have come out of the
Tight bearing undoubted marks of the
conflict, but in no case has the damage
been other than slight
British GUnfire Terrible.