New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-19


d in their wake.
i. until afterwards; you see it may be
your luck in another minute"
There were many other torpedo at
tacks in all parts of the battle that
misty afternoon, including a quaint cpl
sode of an enemy light cruiser. which
looked as il she were trying to torpedo
one of our battle-cruisers, while the
latter was particularly engaged. A de-
stroyer of ours, returning from spe-
cial Job, which required delicacy. was
picking her way back at thirty knots
through patches of enemy battie-cruls-
ers and light cruisers. .,
She had the idea Of attaching herseii
TO the nearest destroyer fotllla ana
making herself useful. 1t occurred to
her that as she was in most advan-
tageous position for repelling the enc
my's destroyers, which were endeavor-
ing to attack, she could not do better
than TO remain on the engaged DOW OF
our battlecruiser. so she remalheu
and considered things.
There was an enemy le-cruiser
squadron in the offing, batch OF enemy
light cruisers ahead of that squadron
and the weather was thickish and de-
ceptive. She sighted an enemy iignt
cruiser. uncertain and only few thou
sand yards away, and decided 10 attacA
her in order to prevent her from hrihs
torpedoes at our battle fleet.
So She fell upon the light cruiser
With every gun she had at between two
and four thousand yards, and. obtained
n number of hits, Just as at target prac-
tice. il.
Then she sighted out Of mist a
SQUADRON of enemy battle-cruisers that
had worried her earlier in the after
noon. Leaving the light cruiser she
closed 20 within what she considered
reasonable distance of the newcomers,
and ready to fire both her torpedoes.
Had Active Sub-Lieutenant
She possessed an active acting sub
lieutenant who, though officers OF tnst
rank think otherwise, is not very far
removed from an ordinary mldshipman
of the type one sees in tow OF relatives
at army and navy stores. lie sat
astride Of one of the tubes TO make
quite sure things were IN order ana
fred when the sights came on. But at
that very moment big she'll HIT the
DESTROYER on the side and there was a
tremendous escape of steam.
II is believed since she had seen one
torpedo leave the tube before the
smash came, believing that both her
tubes had been fired. the destroyer
turned away at a greatly reduced speed
and passed quite reasonably close to
the light cruiser which she had been
hammering at so faithfully until the
larger game appeared. In the mean
time. the sub-lieutenant was exploring
what damage had been done by the big
she'll.
He discovered that only one of the
two torpedoes had left its tube and
observed that the enemy light cruiser
had gone on and apparently tempo
rarily stopped. so ne fired the provi-
Dental remaining torpedo at her. IL
hit her below the coming tower and
well and truly exploded. as was wit
messed BY the sub-lieutenant himself,
the commander, q leading signal man
and men of several other ratings.
But luck continued to hold.
The acting sub-lieutenant further re-
ported thaA 1--WE still had three tor
pedoes left and at the time ! drew my
attention to the enemy's line Of bat
tleships." They rather looked as ~
they we're coming down with the intent
TO assault, so the sub-lieutenant hred
the rest of the torpedoes, which at
least started of correctly from shell Of
the shaken tubes and must have
crossed the enemy's line. When tor
pedoes turn up among squadron they
upset the steering and distract the at
tention of all concerned. Then the de-
stroyer judged 1t was time to take
stock of her injuries. Among other
minor defects she could neither get up
steam, steer, nor signal.
Knocked Clean Out of Action
Mark how virtue is rewarded. An
other of our destroyers an hour or so
had been knocked clean out
Of action before she had done any
thing by big shell, which Quilted
boiler room and started an oil fire.
That is the drawback TO oil. She
,rawled out between the battleships
till she reached an area of compare
live calm and repaired her damages.
She says: The fire having been
dealt with, it was found that mat
Kept the stokehole dry. Ny only .
trouble now being lack OF speed,
looked round for useful employment
and saw a destroyer in great diihcul-
ties, so | ran close TO her" She proved .
70 be our paralytic friend OF the inter,
torpedo tubes, and grateful .
ship she was when her crippled sister .
although still good for few knots,
offered her "A tow under very trying
with large enemy ships ap~
:.
She could not make any headway IN
hat rising sea, and the cripple had to
low her once more. Once more the tow
parted. so they tied the paralytic up
rudely and effectively with cable
around her after bollards and hauled
her stern first through the heavy seas
AZ continually reduced speeds, doubt
full of their position, unable to sound
because of the seas and much pestered
by a wind which backed without warn.
Irg. until at last they made land
md turned into the hospital appointed
for brave wounded ships. Everybody .
,peaks we'll Of the cripple. Her name .
crops up in several reports with such. /