The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1915-01-28
GERMAN FLEET HIT
| BRITISH FLAGSHIP;
| 4,.WERE KILLED
Destroyer Damaged in North Sea
Fight.
IAIRSHIPS ALSO TOOK PART
Bombs Reported Upon Disabled Eng
Iish Craft While It Was Being
lowed to Port-No Vessels
Lost, Says OFFICIAL Report.

water line and her forward compart,
ment flooded so that she had TO be
towed to port by the battle cruiser
Indomitable, one British destroyer
was struck and towed to port, one of,
ficer and Is men were killed, and
three officers and &c men wounded in
the Helgoland naval battle in the
North sea on Sunday, according TO ad'
ditional reports given out by the of
fetal press bureau.
The Lion is reported to have been
Admiral Beatty's flagship. All the
British ships and destroyers engaged
in Sundays action have returned to
port, says the admiralty. This contra.
diets the Berlin report that one of
the British ships was sunk.
Ten Killed on Board the Tiger.
According to an eyewitness story
told by a seaman on board the battle
cruiser Tiger, the Bluecher was the
German squadron's flagship. and she
was sunk by the Lion.
The disabled destroyer Is the Me.
teor, which was towed in by the de-
stroyer Liberty. Both vessels we're
conveyed by a strong escort of de
stroyers.
The heaviest casualties suffered in
the battle were aboard the battle
cruiser Tiger, where one officer and
nine men were killed and three Off
GERS and eight men were wounded.
On board the Lion, which led the
line, II men were wounded. There
were no casualties among the Lions
officers. Aboard the Meteor four men
were killed and one wounded.
When the Lion was hit it naturally
would slow up, and may have fallen
out of line This fact may have been
noted by the fleeing Germans and
probably gave rise to the report that
the battle cruiser had been sunk.
Three British Vessels Sunk.
The official statement from Berlin
reiterated that a British cruiser had
sunk and added the assertion that two
British torpedo boats were sunk. The
statement said:
The British cruiser, according to
reliable information, suffered heavily
from the fire of our heavy guns and
was then sunk by a German torpedo
boat with two welLaimed shots. A
German airship, which followed the
battle closely, says the cruiser sank
Two English torpedo boats also were
sunk Our airships reported that 9TH
er English ships were seriously dam
aged. Rear Admiral Hyper command
ed the German squadron"
A dispatch to the Exchange Tele-
gram company from Harwich says:
while one British destroyer was
towing another in the North sea bat
tie, an aeroplane dropped bombs upon
her and also on an English Whaler
which was engaged in rescuing some
of the crew OF the Bluecher"
Seaman Describes Fight.
Able Seaman Harper, who was
aboard the battle cruiser Tiger dur
ing the Sight, describes the battle as
follows:
''Ear.y on Sunday morning we were
steaming quietly along in the pitchy
darkness when the flagship signaled
the proximity of suspicious craft
I'VE sighted a feet of battleships
and destroyers six miles of. Our
move was to cut them of from shore.
and to achieve this purpose every
ounce of steam was put on Then the
searchlights began to play and we
saw with their aid a German flag
flying at the masthead of the nearest
ship, which we learned afterward was
the Bluecher, the flagship OF the
squadron.
German Guns Helpless.
"By this time the Lion had man
aged to get near enough to make
their flagship stand to. The Lions
powerful guns began to send shells
around the German ship. Their flag
ship replied, but their guas were help
less.
at would have been easy for the
Lion to keep out of range If she had
wanted to, but she kept getting
nearer in the hope of hitting some
of the other vessels.
Each shot sent at the German flag
ship did terrible work. At one OF the
classmates we saw the German gun
crew working their gun when there
was a binding flash and one of the
shells from the Lions guns exploded
and blotted them from sight. Smoke
and flames issued from the German
ship. She swayed about in the water
and two more shells from the Lion
crashed into her. She reeled, her
nose shot forward and plunged
through the sea. then part of her
bow showed once again. then disap-
peared. Our ship kept up the pur-
suit as long as It could. but was soon
recalled"
Only the speed OF the German
squadron saved all the ships from an
initiation. according TO BENJAMIN
IXIfI nrfo.rf. :. -. e......l