Republican farmer., 1918-04-26
DESERT BATTERY CRYING,
 ITS THE TANKS, THE AMERICANS
Thought British Raiders Were Americans and
 Panic Took Them. LANDING
 BLEW UP SHEDS
German Destroyer in Port Rammed Amid
 ships and Destroyed.

Sn1pS and Destroyed.
 London, April 24-Not only was the mouth of the canal in Zeebrugge blocked, but British sailors and marines who par ticipated in the raid on the Ger man submarine bases believe they destroyed every gun on the mole, demolished the sheds throughout its entire length, and blew up large stores of munitions contained in the sheds, according to stories given by the survivors.
 Until they were within half a mile Of the harbor of zeebrugge no ship in the attacking force had picked up ,the light on the mole. The attacking ship that started for the mole followed by muttered calls of Good luck'' from the ships of the escorting fleet outside the harbor, had scarcely got within sight of the light when it was discov-, cred by the Germans. Star shells in stantly pierced the thick haze, show ing up the cruiser as clearly as if it were daylight.
 In one second it seemed as if every battery in the neighborhood had con- centrated it's fire on the cruiser. How she was able to get ahead none of those watching her understood. Great IT inch shells and others of smaller calibre flew around her like hail. She apparently was hit by some of the smaller ones, but she plunged ahead and was seen to turn the corner of the mole and gain the inside of the harbor. The German fire apparently was def1ected from her vital parts by the intervening structure of the mole and most Of the damage done was above the water line.
 Disregarding all that had happen j. ed, the cruiser went up to the mole and landed a large party of blue jackets and marines. The German de- lenders conceived the idea that their assaifants were Americans and, ac- cording to some of the survivors, this cry was heard:
 Its the Americans! It's the Yan- kees!''
 Some of the Germans bolted en masses from the nearest batteries, leaving their guns to the British. These were destroyed one by one, while others in the landing party dealt with the sheds and munition stores with flame throwers.
 Apparently under cover of the op- eration, continues the account the ? concrete laden cruisers. with which it A was intended to block the channels, l
 accompanied, as far as it can be ascer- '. tained, by only one submarine. As '' they approached the entrance they ;, anchored, swung around on the cables r and according to the testimony of one
 the observers, were sunk within 23 o minutes.
 One of the destroyers or submarines M, exploded a charge at the gates of the ,+ lock of the Bruges canal and they are ", believed to have been destroyed n Meanwhile four destroyers entered 70 the harbor and cruised around, mak- ,7 ing observations, but were unable tc 70 take part in the battle.
 When the attacking ship and its
 landing party had completed thei1 ,- work the sailors and marines were s taken aboard again despite the dam. d aged condition of the cruiser, whict " then began to make it's way out o1 st the harbor.
 2, One of the 17-inch shells out of the Je hundreds of various sizes fired at the es cruiser got well home in her upper ly works. Her steering gear was iniur
 ed and she signalled an escort ship tC
 show her the way out, but before hell
 arrived she had found her way ou
 and had taken her place under hel
 own steam behind the lines of pro
 tecting cruisers.
 One man who watched the opera
 tion from an escorting ship said:
 'FWhen we saw the damage she hat m suffered it seemed scarcely possible u that she was. able to keep af1oat Tn, men below. must have worked likt
 Trojans for she was throwing flame.
 10 feet high from her tunnels and sh, ;a made the fastest time she probabl, ,a ever accomplished"
 o- The narrator described the com m bined noise of the German gunf1r, ,1+ and the explosions on the mole as ; - 'tenfold Hel1.'' He added:
 . We were only four or five hundred d yards away from the point of tn .t I mole, but were afraid to fire sho
 lest we reveal our exact whereabout o4 to the enemy. Apparently he nearl.
 judged it. for he threw any numbe
 of shells around us. At a moderat ~ estimate between 5000 and 4,00O shell le were fired at the attacking squad 7S' ron"
 The German destroyer which wa
 sunk was rammed amidships and tor
 pedoed. Those who returned to tn - Kentish coast also say boarder l. rushed on the German destroyers an
 chored in the harbor, taking then
 completely by surprise. Some of tn nS Germans hurried up the hatchways il GU their night clothes, but before the I'll could reach the decks the Britis 'e- sailors knocked them on the hea' 'r- with clubs and rifles and sent ther