The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-05-15

chine guns apparently firing over the eastern pier, there converged upon her ! a hail of lead.
 | After her control was demolished by 1 a shell, which killed all the occupants, | ipclubing Sublieut. Angus H. MacLachan, l who was in command of it. the up- per and lower bridges and the chart room swept by bullets, Commander Zodsal ordered the officers to go with l him to the coming tower. They ob- served through the observation slit in the ] steel wall of the coming tower that the | eastern pier was preached some 200 yards l from the seaward end as though at some | time ship had been in collision with it. | They saw the front of the town sil- | houetted again and again in the light of I the guns that blazed at them The night | was a patchwork of fire and darkness. Immediately after passing the breach 1 in the pier Commander Godsal left the l coming tower and went on deck tho | better to watch the ships movements. | He chose a position and called in through l the slit of the coming tower his order l to starboard the helm. The Vindictive responded and laid her battered nose to | the eastern pier and prepared to swing her 32o feet of length across the channel. Tt was at that moment that shell I from the shore batteries struck the coming tower. Lieut.. Sir John Alleyne and Lieut.. VI. A. c. .Crutchley were still within. Commander Godsal was close | to the tower outside. Lieutenant all lleyne was stunned by the shock. Lieu | tenant Srutchley shouted through the slit to the commander and receiving no answer, rang for the port engine full speed astern to help the swinging ship By this time she was lying at an angle of about 40 degrees to the pier and seemed to be hard fast; so, it was impossible to bring her further around.
 t,,r~ hA nnc inn
 minutes to no effect, Lieutenant lCrutchley gave the order to clear the engine room and abandon ship, accard- ling to the programme previously laid down. Engineer Lieutenant Commander William A. Bury who wAs the last to leave the engine room, blew the main charges by switch installed aft. Lieu tenant Crutchley blew the auxiliary charges in the forward six-inch mag
 azine from the coming tower.
 FELT OLD SHIP SPRING
 Those on board felt the old ship spring as the explosive tore the bot
 tom plates and bulkheads from her. She sank about six feet and lay upon the bottom of the channel. Her work was ldone.
 Tt is to be presumed that Comman der Godsal was killed by the shell which struck the coming tower. Lieu tenant Crutchley, searching the ship before he left her. failed to find his body or that of Sublientenant Mac Lachan in that wilderness of splintered wood and shattered steel. In the pre- vious attempt to block the port Com mander Godsal commanded the Bril- liant, and together with all the off, cers of that ship and of the Sirius had volunteered at once for the further op- ieration.
 1 uM,,+ of tba ca S,,o1ties were incurred while the ship was being abandoned lThe men behaved with just that cheery | discipline and courage which dis ltinguished them in the Zeebrugge raid. Petty Officer Reed found Lieutenant Alleyne in the coming tower still un- lconscious and carried him aft under a storm of fire from machine guns. Lieu tent Alleyne was badly hit before he could be gotton over the side and fell into the water. Here he managed to
 catch hold of boat and motor launch under LieutenanN Bourke suc- lceeded in rescuing him and two other lwounded men.
 PROGRAMME FOLLOWED
 "All was according to programme. Re- icall rockets for the small craft were fired from the flagship at 2:So a. m.
 Great red rockets whizzed up. to lose
 themselves in the fog. They could not nave been VlSlDle sHdll IHitS away, but the work was done and one by one
 the launches and motorboats com
 menced to appear from the fog and
 stopped their engines alongside. The de-
 stroyers exchanged news with them.
 There were wounded men to be trans
 gerred and dead men to be reported. But
 no one had seen a single enemy craft Nine German destroyers, which were out , free to fight, had chosen the discreetel ipart.
 Tt is not claimed by the officers whe i carried out the operations that Os
 tend harbor is completely blocked. Bu
 it's purpose to embarass the enemy an,
 make the harhor impracticable to an,
 but small craft and for dredging opera l tions difficult has cen fully accom- 2 plished The position of the vindictive i l with stem on to the eastern pier ant 2 not her stern. as shown in certain pub . lished illustrations.