NAVAL DISASTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 165, 6 April 1908, Page 7

NAVAL DISASTER.

DESTROYER RIPPED IN HALF. PENALTY OF NIGHT MANCEUVRES. THIRTY-SIX DEATHS. BY TELEGRAPH —MESS ASSOCIATION —COPYIUGM. London, April 3. While the armoured cruisers Berwick (9SOO tons) and' Argonaut (11,000 tons), the battleship Prince Georgo (14,900 tons), the armoured cruiser Essex (9800 tons), and the cruiser Forto (43G0 tons), with the torpedo llotilla, wero manoeuvring of Saint Catherine's Point, with lights out, the destroyer Tiger collided bow to bow with the cruiser Berwick, and was ripped ill halves from keel to gunwale. Thirty-six persons perished. Those below had no chance of. escape. Several wero killed by the impact. Lieut. Middleton, the commander of tlio Tiger, perished. Tw.enty-two ; were saved. AN UNEXPLAINED SWERVE. DID THE HELM JAM? ENGINE STAFF ORDERED TO QUIT. ; WATER POURING IN. (Rec. April 5, 4.4 p.m.) ' London, April 4. The night was dark, tho sea was choppy, and a drizzling rain was falling. The Berwick was steaming past the Tiger at a speed of 25 knots an hour at the time of the collision. \ Tho Tiger's' fore end tilted up almost perpendicularly, and carried' Commander Middleton. and most of tho deck hands straight away to the bottom.' But the aft half remained afloat for three minutes, enabling several men to grasp spars and bits of wreckage. . Tho Recruit and tho Tiger were hunting togother. The Tiger launched a torpedo against tho St. George, and then steamed abeam of tho Berwick to launch another. In doing s6, she mysteriously swerved across tho Berwick's bows. Experts suggest that tho Tiger's helm jammed, causing tho collision. Engineer - Lieutenant Cecil E. Yinning : jumped aside to cscapo the Berwick's prow as it crashed into the, Tiger. Ho shouted down tho speaking tube to the engine-room: "Shut off stoam. All handsjesoapo." ■ v Water was then already pouring in upon the ; eiiginq plates, the ,Tigor having been cut through like an egg-shell. Fifteen of those who were rescued belonged to the engine-room department. Splendid discipline. was maintained. ..j En-gineer-Lieutenant Vinning was among those who escaped., The. .twin-screw torpedo-boat destroyer Tiger, 400 tons, Lieutenant and Commander Will; E.' Middleton, was attached to the Hecla, which is tho depot ship for torpedo-boat destroyers in connection with theMlomo fleet. The other ships named all belong to tho Portsmouth division of the ■Home fleet. St. Catherine's Point is the most southerly point of tho Isle of Wight. ( 1 The 'twin-screw torpedo-boat destroyer Recruit, Lieutenant and, Commander C. 11. Woodward. 385 tons, is also , a tender to the Hecla. The Recruit ,and the Tiger wero both built in 1001 by Messrs. Brown aiid Co., the speed in each case toeing 30 knots.