Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-05-15
EXPLOIT AT OSTEND is
ONE OF MOST STRIKING
IN HISTORY OF THE WAR

and over 1t at the monitors and ma
rines. The monitors replied.
Meanwhile the airplanes were
bombing methodically and anti-tir-
craft guns yer searching the skies
and floated down., lighting the smoke
banks with spreading green fires and
those strings of luminous green balls,
which the airmen call flaming on
Iion.' scared up, to lose themselves in
the clouds. gt,- 4-.
Ships Keep on Undauntcd.
The vindfctive. still unhurrying.
entrance. 1t was then that those on
the d~estroyers became aware that
what seemed to be merely smoke was
wet and cold: that the irifg ng was
beginning to drip and that thereswere
no longer any stars. A sea fog had
come on. VI"
The destroyers had to turn on
their lights and use heir sirens to
keep in touch with each other. The
air attack was suspended and the
Vtndictive, with some distance yet
to go, found herself in gross dark
ness. There were motor boats on
either side Of her, supplied with
ating suqare miles of sea. At once
every pistol was fired as a signal to
light these. but the fog and smoke
together we're too dense for even the
flares.
THE vindictive then put her helm
over and started to cruise to find the
entrance. Twice she must have
upon reaching. the position at which
she first lost her way. there came a
rift in the mist and she saw an open
ing dead ahead.
"A motor boat raced onto the.
opening under heavy fire and planted
a flare on the water between the
piers. The Vindictive steamed over
it n on. h was in.
Was Hit Continually.
THE guns found her at once. She
was hit every few seconds after. she
entered. her SCARED. hull broken
afresh in a score Of places. her decks
and upper works swept by machine
guns.
After her control was demolished
pants, the upper and lower bridges
and the chart room, Commander
Godsal ordered the officers to go with
him to the coming tower. They OBJ
served through the observation slit
in the steel wall that the eastern
pier was preached some two hundred
yards from the seward end as
kA1Vu6h a. OOlllO A1IlC a u lo0 UCCl
in collision with it.
Immediately after passing the
breach in the. pier Commander Cod
sal left the tower and went on deck.
He chose a position and called in
through the slit Of the coming tower
his order to starboard the helm.
The Vindictive responded, laid her
prepared to swing her $50 feet of
length across the channel.
Coming Tower. Struck.
'It was at that moment that a
shell from the shore batteries struck
the coming tower. Lieutenant
Crutchley shouted through the slit to
the commander, and, receiving no
speed 'astern to help the swinging
ship. BY this time she was lying at
an angle Of about forty degrees to
the pier and seemed to be hard fast;
so it was impossible to bring her
further around. r;t
After working the engines time
to no effect, Lieutenant c%rutchley
gineer Lieutenant Commander VIM.
A., Bury. who was the last to leave
the engine ROOM. blew. the main
charges by a switch installed aft.
Lieutenant Crutchley blew the auxil-
larry charges in the forward maya
zine from the coming tower.
Those on board fell h old ship
tom plates and bulkheads from her.
She sank about six feet and lay upon
the bottom Of the control.
Commander is Killed.
"It is to be presumed that Com
mander Godsal was killed by the
shell which struck the coming tower.
Most Of the casualties were in
4,,.~@a ~vhS14 tAA ehfN ryo 1As~~
abandoned. The men behaved with
just that cheerful discipline and
courage which distinguished them in
the Zeebrugge raid.
1.-THE crew were taken of by a
motor launch under a fierce fire.
When finally it reached the Warwick.
the launch was practically in a sink
pieces. The launch vas found too
damaged to tow. AS soon a. her
crew and the Vindictive survivors
we're tranferred a demolition charge
was placed in her engine room and
she was sunk.
"All was according to program.
fRecall rockets for the small craft
were fired from the flagship at 1880
a. m. Great red rockets whizzed up,
to lose themselves in the fog. One
by n the launches and motor boats
commenced to appear from the fog
and stopped their engines alongside.
There were wounded men to be
transferred and dead men to be re-
ported. But no one had seen a
single enemy craft. Nine German
destroyers which were out. free to
fight. had chosen the d%iscreeter part.
1T is not claimed by the officers
who carried out the operations. that
Ostend harbor is completely blocked.
But its purpose to embarrass the
enemy and make the harbor imprac-
ticable to any but email craft and
difficult for dredging operations has
been fully accomplished. The posi-
ton Of the .Vindictive is with stem
to the eastern pier, M not her stern,
as shown in certain published illus
trations."