Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1918-04-26
GERMANS'L LOSS HEAVY
IN RAID ON PORTS
CONTINUED From Page ~


capped injury continued to navigate tn
vessel.
GERMANS ARE oUTWlTTED
Great praise is voiced for the crew
of the submarines which were blow
up under a viaduct. There were 81:
men aboard each Of these boats. One
interviewed, stated his submarine wa
stored right up to the beach where
was spotted by the Germans VIII
turned searchlight on it. The crew
had little dinghy into which the!
! tumbled under the fire of machine
guns and rifles. They got away abou
200 yards when the submarine, which
was filled with explosives to wrecl
the viaduct under which it had beef
placed, blew up. Soon a motor boa
picked up the crew.
"The officer commanding the boa
said that the submarine had been tel
minutes beside the viaduct before i
was discovered. The German fire wa!
passing over 1t and in the meanwhile
the submarine was attacking the ia
nous mole from the outside. The Ger
mans apparently thought1t had merely
lost It's way in an endeavor to get In
side the harbor TO torpedo something
They consequently sent up a shower o.
star shells which greatly assisted the
submarine to reach its objective.
+. DESTROYER COURTS RUIN
1--WE could see,' said one of the sub
marine crew, about 200 Germans jump
ing and dancing on the bridge connect.
ing the mole with the shore. They
thought they were going to trap the
submarine but when it was blown uI
beneath the bridge you can imagine
the damage that occurred. For some
time after the debris of both bridge
and the Germans who had been on it.
fell around us.
." "A destroyer at one time suddenly
turned It's searchAght on us, so we
promptly torpedoed and sank her,
"This apparently refers to the de-
stroyer which was also reported to
have been set afire by grenades.
"Th1s apparently refers to the de-
stroyer which was also reported to
have ben set afire by grenades.
THREE DEsTRoYERs ATTACKED
Another motor boat officer stated
that his boat had torpedoed German
destroyer lying alongside the mole,
that second destroyer had been tor
pedoed by another boat and a third
rommed and sunk by his own vessel.
"Ha1f way down the mole were wire
amendments with machine guns
sweeping the entire width. This posi-
ton was captured and number of
black eyes and minor injuries testified
that hand to hand fighting did the
trick.
"The crews of the blockships, obso-
Iete cruisers filled with concrete,
stayed aboard until the boats had sunk
almost down to the water line. They
then scrambled aboard motor boat
and returned to the ships just in time.
Tor the blockships went down almost
rs soon as the men jumped away from
them.
GERMANS ABANDON GUNS
among the ships torpedoed was the
old Great Eastern steamer Brussels,
The famous Captain Fyatt's ship which
the Germans had been using as tor
pedo training school.
An officer of the vindictive said that
six big German guns on top Of the
mole were abandoned. The British
landing party then advanced along the
mole which Is about mile long and 80
Yards wide. Some of the officers car
ried only heavy sticks.
"The men of the lost British destroy
Or state that when they entered the
narbor they emerged from darkness
into the most dazzling light for all the
enemy searchlights were focused on
hem.
BRITISH WARsHIP RIDDLED
Enemy guns, big and little. riddled
he destroyer from end to end. The
knockout blow was dealt by torpedo
n the engine room. The captain or
Tered the crew into the forecastle and
hey dived and swan to safety.
"The landing party, which Is salts.
led that it effected great damage, de.
;cribes the German firing as Of the
heaviest, but remarkably wild.
"Naval authorities emphasize the
act that the raid was not an adven.
ure, but deliberately planned action.
t was built on strategy of the highest
,rder."
MORE BERLIN DENIAL
Berlin. April 25.-German naval
operations off the Flanders coast, says
Il q