The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-07-16
OLD GERMAN .i@tll
sVESSELSSHOTI> I
TO PIECES.BY
AIR BOMBERS
Six Former War Ships
Sunk In Atlantic AS
Result of Maneuvres
Off Newport News,
Which Are Said to
Have Been Exceeding
ly Successful : More
Tests Next Week.

! Norfolk. Va. July Six former
/ enemy warcratt now have found
last resting place on the floor Of the
! Atlantic IS miles off the virginia
capes. They will be joined ncst week
/ by the cruiser Frankfurt and dread
naugnt Os!rreshland. the last Of the
former German warshipss allotted to
! the United States for experimental
purposes. Destroyers and balllcshiDs
yesterday sent down witt! shell fire
| two destroyerS the v 43 aud S.l32 in
operations which consumed the en-
tire day.
The army aircraft will undertake
| To destroy the Frankfurt Monday and
! the Ostrresland Wednesday. II they
| fail the two will fall victim to the
| 14-inCh rifles OF the Pennsylvania me
| flagship of the Atlantic fleet
While lacking much of the spcc-
! tacular that marked the destruction
of the old dstroyer G.102 Monday by
army aircraft. yesterdays operations
were impressive. ard were conduct
ed under weather conditions which
naval officers said were far from
ideal. heavy seas kicked up by Is
knot wind pitching and tossing the
/ targets as we'll as the attacking de-
! stroyers.
/ Under orders to fire at . speed of
80 knots. the seth destroyer division
bore down on the target from the dis
tant horizon just before noon, only
to find, srs; they dashed past that at
! that speed they were making the
maximum of roll in a choppy sea.
They withheld their fire and set out
over a wide arc for another run by
ut Is knots, with the Dickerason lead
, ing, followed by the Sicard, Leary,
Schneck and Herbert. When the
chips were Coco yards o. the marks.
which were anchored in an approHi-
mate column 400 yards apart. the
Leary let go with three of her four
four-inch rifles. Each gun was dis
charged ten times One Of the thirty
shells went through the bridge of the
V-43 and another passeu through the
starboard bow and the stern. Naval
officers said that had the V43 been
in action with guns gong and steam
up that shot would have done for her, |
causing either a magazine or a boiler
| explosion.
rhe Sicard dropped ont as a dis
patch boat. The destroyers made Il
wide circle TO come up on the o,her
side led by the Herbert.
AS the vessels stood down on the
firing line three masted schooner
sailed leisurely across the firing line
despite warnings from the Pennsyl-
vania and she was within a few hun
dred yards of the Herbert when that
opened fire. Thirty shots were dis
charged by the Herbert. six taking
tffect and placing the target in a sink
| ing condition.
! Now came the more spectacular
part Of the attack. Led by the Florida,
! flagship of Vice Admiral Scales, the
| North Dakota and Pennsylvania
which had been observing the de-
/ Stroyer's fire, bore away for a run
ming start past the targets. After
steaming seven miles in single file.
they circled and came down TO 1900
yard range where the Florida opened
up on the V43, firing 40 shells in
salvos from her starboard siX-inch
battery. The first shots were over,
but the pointeras soon had the range
and shell after shell crashed into the
rusty hulk as it pitched and tossed at
| its anchorage.
Within Il few minutes after the fir
ing ceased, the V-43 was settling by
the head. She filled gradually until
her forward deck was awash. Her
end then was only matter of min
utes. The stern hoisted higher and
| higher out of the water until it was
ut right angles and as it clipped down
there was an explosion. caused by the
pressure of running water against the
air in the after compartments.
Meantime, the big battleships. aug
mented by the Delaware. which fell
into line behind the Florida. started
away on a wide circular course which
would bring them back on a,7,500 yard
range from which the Delaware op-
ened fire on the S-132. Three shells
in the first salvos of seven found the
mark and before the full 140 shots
allotted the ship had been fired the
old German destroyer had been swept
from stem to stern, explosion follow
! ing explosion as each shell found the
mark. An early shot carried away
,he mainmast and another set fire to
| the afterhouse. Others exploded be-
liowof the decks, causing columns of
| Smoke TO come from the ships fun
Despite this punishment the Sd22
4 remained satloat until after the naval
\ ofi1terso foreign naval attaches and
other Observers, who came down from.
| Washington on the naval transport