Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-25
NAW'S Bic RAID
ON U-BOAT BASES
BRACES BRITISH
The Exploit Was an Entire Sue
cess Say Men of the
Victorious Fleet.
FIGHTING WAS TERRIFIC
ny AasocIaled Press % - EvenIng

ny Associated Press 10 Every Evening
Ottawa, Ont April p The naval
raid at Xechruggc continues the al en-
crossing topic IN England. almost 70 the
exclusion Of the battle IN France, says a
Reuters dispatch from London Special
leave has been granted to the men who
participated and there are columns of
interviews IN the DAILY press
All the men testify 10 the gaIlantry of
the commander Of the Nindictjvc the
dispatch saws Soon after the German
batteries opened fire on The ship its bridge
WIS blown awav bnf this officer who
mracuously osc1fed injury continued to
navigate the vessel
vftDUCr wRfcKEB
Great praise IS v0lccd for the crews of
the submarince whlch were blown up
under a vladict There were six men
aboard each One interviewed said his
submarine was efccrcd right np - tho
beach. where it vas spotted by tho Gcr-
mans who turned a scarchilRbt ~ t
The crew had little dinpy INTO whirh
they tumhcd under the FIRE of both ma
chime guns and rifles They bad got away
about 200 Yards when tho submarine
which was filled with explosives 10 ereck
the viadnct under which i had been
placed blew up
STAR SHOWER AIDS SUBMARINE
Soon d notorhoat picked Ip he crow
The officer commanding thc fnnforboat
SAID the submarine had becn ten minutes
beside the vladuct before It w4s discover
I'd The German fire was passing over 1t.
and in he meanwhile the submarine Ft5
attacking thc famous mole from the out
side The Germans apparently thought I
had merely lost Is way IN All rndeavor %
gct inside the harbor to torpedo some
thing They consequently sent up 4
shower Of star shells which greatly assisted
The Submarine 10 reach its objective
w could sec said one 0f the sub
marine crew, about two hundred Ger
mans jumping and dancing IN he bridge
connecting the mole with the shore They
thought they were gong - trap the sub
marine For sometime after the debris
81 both bridge and the German who aad
been on it fell around Is
DESTROYER roRPEDoED AND SUNK
"A destroyer suddenly turned It's
scarchlights on rs We t0rnedoed and
sank her
This apparently refers to the destroyer
which was also reported TO nave been
set on fire BY grenades.
Another un0torboat officer SAID ms
llIng alongside the mole tllat q second de-
stroyer had been torpedoed by another
boat. and third rammed and sunk by
his own vessel
Half wav down the mole were alre
entertainments with machine guns sweep
ing the entire width This position Was
captured IN hand-to-hand lighting
The crews Of the block ships stayed
aboard until the boats had sunk almost
70 the waterhne They then scrambled
aboard q motorboat and returned 70 The
ships
ARMED WITH BIG 6TlCK~-
Among the ships torpedoed vas the
old Great Eastern steamer Brussels the
famous Captain Fryatt ship which the
Germans had been using as a torpedo
training school, An officer OF tn Nlndlc-
tive said siN big German gums On top Of
the mole were abandoned The British
landing party then advanced along The
mole which IS about mile long and 50
yards wide Some Of the officers car
rcd only heavy sticks
The men OF the lost British destroyer
state that when they entered the haroor
they emerged from darkness into the most
dazzling light for all the enemy search
lights were focused on them Fneuly
guns big and little, rIddled the destroyer
from end TO end The knockout was a
torpedo n the engine room The captain
ordered the crew INTO the forecaot}e and
they dived and swan through water n
their own 3unkers.
The landing parry describes she
Germans firing IS Of the heaviest bur re
maTkabiy wild