The Dermott news., 1918-11-07
CHAPTER X.
He'll at GallipoIi.

He'll at Gallipoi.
After | was discharged from the hos
ptal. WAS ordered to report to my
ship ut Brest for sea duty.
The boys aboard the Cassard gave
me Il hearty welcome. especially Muir
ray. who had come back after two
weeks in the trenches at Dixmude.
was glad TO see them. too. for after all.
they were garbies, and | always feel
more At home with them than with sol
dIers. Then. it was pretty rough stuff
ut niXmude, and after resting up at
the hospital. l was keen on going to
sea again.
The Cassard was in dry dock for re-
pairs after her last voyage to the bar
daaeieS rs convoy to the troopShip
Duplex. Everything was being rus i
to get her out As soon rs possible. and
crews were working day aud night
There were other ships there too--su-
perdreadnaughts, aud dreadnaughts
and hattIeships and armored cruisers.
nh being overhauled.
We received and placed guns Of
newer design. filled the magazines with
the highest explosives known to naval
use, and generally made ready for Il
hard job. Our magazines We're filled
with shells fer our big l. and l4-ineh
guns. A l4-inch shell cuu tear Il hole
through the heaviest armor plate at
10000 yards, and VIII do more damage
than you would think.
When We had eoaled and had got
our stores aboard, we dressed for ne
tion-or rather, undrcsscd The decks
/ We're clear; hatch covers bottled and
davIts folded down; furniture. chests
tables. chairs We're sent ashore, and In
/ tlammahle gear, like our rope ham
moekS, went overheard. You could
not find n single wooden chair or table
in the ward room.
When the ship is cleared for action,
shell bursting inside cannot tna
much TO set atire, and If one bursts on
deck, there Is nothing to burn but the
wooden deck, and TINT is covered with
steel plate.
Finally. We had roll call-all men
present. Then We set sail for the
/ Hardaprlles ms escort to the Duplex.
which had on board territorial ami
provincial French troops Gaseous
4 parisians NormanS, Indo-Chinese,
/ Spahis. Turcos-au kinds. When We
messed, We had TO squat down on the
+ steel mess deck and eat from metal
plates.
There had been notice posted be
fore we lett that the Zeppelins had be
4 gun sea raids, and We kept live eye
out for them. The news proved TO be
a fake, though. and We did not see ii
single cigar while We wSre out
We made the trip to the pardanelles
without sighting an enemy craft, keep
ing in close touch with the Duplex
and busy every minute preparing fol
action.
was made gun captain and given
charge of the Starboard bow turret.
mounting two 1f-ineh guns. had my
men at gun practice daily, and by the
time We nearcd the Dardanelles, after
five days, they were in pretty fair
shape.
II was about n. m. when we drew
near Cape Helles and took stations
for action. The Duplex was in front
of us. The batteries on the cape
! opened up on us, and in few min
utes later those at Kun Kaleh joined
| in.
As the Duplex made for "V" beach
and prepared to land her troops, we
swung broadside ON, raking their bat
tcrles as we did so, and received n
shell, which entered through gun
port in the after turret and exploded.
Some bags of powder stored there
/ (where they should never have BEEN
were fired and the roof of the turret
was Just lifted Off. 1t landed on deck,
tilted up against the side of the tur-
ret.
On deck the rain of fire was simply
terrific. Steel flew in all directions.
1t was smash, crash. Aam-bang all
the time, and do not mind saying /
never thought we would come out
of it,
Some of the heavy armor plate UP
forward was shot away and after that
the old Cassard looked more like a
monitor than anything else to me. As