MORE-NAVY SMASHES

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 April 1908, Page 7

MORE-NAVY SMASHES

NIGHT MANffiUYRIiS. DESTROYER CUT IN TWO AN OFFICER KILLED IN HIS BERTH. BY TELEGRArn —riIES3 ASSOCIATION' —COPYKIGIIT. London, April 28. Tho scout ship Attcntivo rammed the tor-podo-boat-destroyer Gala during night manoeuvres on tho Kentish Knock sandbank (off the mouth of tho Thames). Tho Gala was cut in halves, and. sank. Engineer-Lieutenant Drought was killed in his berth. At tho timo of the accident fifteen destroyers accompanied tho Attcntivo. Tho scout struck tlio destroyer abaft tlio ongineroom. Tho forepart'of tlio Gala sank; the afterpart, with tho jjrow, was towed into shallow water, a destroyer going there and rescuing them. Tho scout Adventuro also damaged the destroyer Riddle, which has returned to Sheerness. ■ ANOTHER ACCOUNT. DESTROYERS ATTACKING SCOUTS. (Rec. April 29, 11.30 p.m.) London, April 29. Tho Admiralty state that Lieutenant Fletcher, not Lieutenant Drought, is missing from tho Gala. Tho fifteen destroyers attacked tho scouts Attentiyo and Adventure, manoeuvring with masked lights in a very rough sea.' Following on the destroyer -Ettrick's. successful attack on tlio Adventure, the. destroyers Gala, Ripple, and Toviot, at a speed of 12 knots, attacked tho Attentive, which, seeing that a collision was inevitable, turned on her searchlight. Tho Attentive struck tho Gala on tho port side, cutting her completely in two. Tho fore-part soon sank, : Tho stern part Uoated away, and subsequently sank. • ; The Gala's crew; woro rescued, except Lieutenant Fletcher, ' who is supposed to have been killed while. asleep' in his cabin; ' Tho Attentive, after getting clear of the Gala, struck tho Ripple, knocking a large hole in her side, and flooding two compartments.

, GLADIATOR'S DEAD. THE VERDICT. (Eec. April 29, 11.50 p.m.) . London, April 29. . At tho inquest on tlie men who lost their lives on. tliq cruiser Gladiator, which was. run down by the American liner, St. Paul, tho Coroner directed tho jury that no criminal responsibility was disclosed. , A verdict :of aeeidontal death was returned. BOILER. TUBE BURSTS. : FIVE MEN KILLED ON A BATTLESHIP. (Roc. April 29, 11.30 p.m.) . , London, April 29. ; : A boiler tube burst on the first-class battleship Britannia, 16,350 tons, while sho was from Queensferry to. Ports : mouth. Five men wero seriously injured. The scout Attentivo, 2670 tons, Commander' Wilmot S. Nicholson,' is-a 25.8-knot bbitt, attached to tho Home Fleet.' She was completed at Chatham on March 5, 1807. Tho twin-screw torpedo Boat destroyer Gala, 570 tons, 25.5 knots, is attached to the Home Fleet as tender to the Blenheim. Her commander is Lieutenant Frank Powell; EngineerLieutenant, Arthur E. Drought.. Her complement was 72,.men. , ' Tho dimensions of the Gala were-.—Length, 222 ft., boam 23Jft., draught' 9ft. Gin., horse-i power 7500, arinamont one<l2-p6under ,'RnU five 6-pounder guns, torpedo tubes two. Tho Gala was built at Yarrow in 1905.