SEA THRILLS

Evening Star, Issue 20986, 28 December 1931, Page 9

SEA THRILLS

EXPLOITS OF THE WAR A DUMMY FLEET The best history is not that based on official records, but that _ which is compiled from private diaries, letters, personal narratives, and correspondence. It is difficult in any one event to get the plain, uncoloured facts, for no observer can see all that takes place at all points at_ the same moment, but when one pieces together what has been gleaned from all sources we get as near the truth as is possible. The details of a great military or naval engagement are notoriously complicated, but isolated incidents help to illumine the record and lend to the adventure the impression of a veritable galaxy of gallantry, says a writer in the ‘ Melbourne Age.’

Many heroes of the Great War are happily still with us, and it was well before death had closed _ unboastful lips to have their experiences enshrined in a permanent record. Mr E. Kehle Chatterton has rendered this service as far as naval history in the Great War is concerned. He entitles his volume ‘ Gallant Gentlemen,' sprinkles it lavishly with photographs, and puts into our hands most vivid accounts of smaller ships’ duels which read like fairy tales. Admirals, commanders, and all kinds of authorities, British and foreign, have given the author their assistance, with the result that we have a collection of records which seems incredible. Every chapter throbs with thrills. Quite appropriately Mr Chatterton begins with the story of how the Goeben got away. How was it that two German ships, the battle cruiser Goeben and the small cruiser Breslau, went west and east and up and down the Mediterranean, and _ finally got away to the Bosphorus, in spite of a British fleet of three battle cruisers, four armoured cruisers, four light cruisers, as well as destroyers and submarines, and a French fleet which included twelve battleships, six armoured cruisers, four older ships, destroyers, and submarines? There is a poser! Something was wrong somewhere, _ or rather everywhere, in the Allied policy, strategy, or methods. For ten years this question has been considered from many angles, hut the author has had placed at his disposal the story as seen from the bridge of the senior British battle cruiser, Indomitable. FASTER SHIT. The Goeben was two knots superior to the fastest battle cruiser in the Mediterranean, and had an immense advantage in that respect as well as in size, range, and weight of shell. A greater to the Allies was the official British idea that the Goeben would either attack the French transport line, Algiers-Marseillcs,_ and escape through the Gibraltar Strait, or run up the Adriatic to unite with the Austrians. It appears, also, that the Foreign Office intelligence system did not report that a secret treaty had been signed on August 2 between Turkey and Germany. On this account the strategy was _ not kept up to date. Powerful British warships watched Gibraltar Strait, but the Austrian admiral turned north-east, and a dingdong chase began after the Goeben and Breslau.

The Germans coaled at Messina, left there, and_ made off eastward, followed by the British ship Gloucester, a light cruiser whoso duty it was to be a gatherer of intelligence for the main fleet. The two German ships engaged in a duel with her at a distance of 12.000 to 14.000yds, but nothing happened, and in fifteen minutes it was over, and the Gloucester had to turn back to get coal. The Germans hurried on to Constantinople, and completed the task of bringing Turkey on their side. The Germans had made excellent pre-war arrangements for coaling and for taking refuge among lonely islands.

There is a strong element of humour in the account of the dummy fleet, its organisation and usefulness. Commissioned ships of war were disguised as innocent merchantmen for the purpose of enticing enemy submarines, but the special service squadron consisted of merchant steamers disguised so as to resemble battleships or battle cruisers. THE DUMMY FLEET.

Submarine attacks were becoming serious, and 2,000 of Harland and Wolff’s men were set to work upon the dummy fleet. Wood and canvas were used to represent guns and turrets, funnels, masts, and bridges. The merchant service stern was converted into a cruiser stern, and the bows were also modified. Fire balls were burned in dummy funnels, and clouds of smoke emitted freely. Ten steamers were transformed in this way, and the cost to the nation was £1,000,000. The men on them knew that if they were sighted by the enemy it was all up with them, but the idea was to give the Grand Fleet a chance to step in and deal a smashing defeat. The Germans learned all about them, and took them quite seriously, connecting them with a plan to block Tip some of their ports on the Elbe, Weser, and Jade. Some of them were actually sent to the entrance of the Dardanelles to mislead the Germans as to the margin of British strength in Home waters. One of them, the harmless Tiger, was torpedoed in the HCgean, the crew landing safely in Mudros. Another, the dummy Queen Mary, was sent to New York, and let herself be seen only enough to let the news reach the interned ships that a British btatle cruiser was outside in readiness. After a year of experiment the squadron was disbanded. _ Lord Jellicoe was never enthusiastic about it. WILD CHASE.

Mr Chatterton devotes three chapters to the Coronel disaster and its avenging, and manages to invest the affairs with unusual interest. German inen-o’-war carried enormous sums of money to purchase meat and other provisions for cash at any Pacific island. One cruiser had £160,000 in gold. The Kent’s hunt of the German cruiser Dresden after the battle of the Falklands is referred to in order to introduce the duel between the Kent and the Nurnberg in that _ historic fight. The Kent was superior in tonnage and armament, but practically the two ships were equal in speed. At 5 p.m. the Nurnberg opened fire, and it was a race against nightfall. The Kent was making 25 knots, and vibrating so much that the range finder could not be used. Next it was found that the Nurnberg’s 4.1-inch guns were outranging the British 6-inch. The German shells were falling over the Kent, but the British shots fell short even with the guns at extreme elevation. At 6 o’clock the range was down to 4,000 yards, and both ships were firing as fast as guns could be loaded and fired. At 6.36 the Nurnberg ceased firing, and was seen to bo burning furiously. An hour later she sank, and the Kent began to pick up survivors. Only twelve were saved, and five of them afterwards died. The Kent lost four men killed, and twelve were wounded. The work of “ The Gate Crashers,” invented by Italy, was an entirely noyel method of warfare. They were intended for harrying submarines and stealing into Austrian bomb-defended bases and torpedoing capital ships. These contraptions were known as M.A.S. (Motor boats, Anti-submarine). One eighteen-inch torpedo was placed on each side of the boat, and it carried three machine guns. The sixty units worked in pairs. An Italian officer called Pellegrini was provided with a boom crasher called “ Grille,” which means a cricket. It was in reality a tank constructed so as to climb over every obstacle. He leaped or crawled over three booms, but the fourth beat him, and he was taken prisoner. A BIG BAG. Rizzo was more successful, for he torpedoed from a M.A.S. the battleship Szent Istvan, the newest, biggest ship of the Austrian Navy. After that Austria never again permitted her navy to come out for battle. An officer called Rossetti and a surgeon named Paolucci conducted the last and most brilliant of all sea adventures. The invention was like a torpedo in shape, hut the forward part was two detachable mines, while the after part was a small engine driven by compressed air. When under way the two men would sit astride, head and shoulders lowered, and their arms free to paddle and turn iho boat. The steel fish was towed to within a quarter of a mile of the Pola mole, and was then mounted by its two riders. night was dark. They got over an obstruction

of empty metal cylinders. Heavy timbers and nglv spikes barred their way, but the last obstruction was crossed at 3 a.m, They fixed the mines under the Viribus Unitis, but were seen, picked up, and taken aboard the ship, which was timed to bo blown up at 6.30 a.m. They learned that the admiral had been sent ashore and the fleet handed over to the Jugo-Slav National Council. Rosstti told them their ship would sink in a short time. The crew leaped into the sea, so did the Italians, but they were taken by other seamen and sent aboard again. It was now 6.28 a.m., and the explosion took place at 6.44. Paolucci felt the deck tremble, and everybody had fled except the captain. All were saved, but the 2,000-ton battleship sank.