A FAMOUS SHIP.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 22 February 1916, Page 6

A FAMOUS SHIP.

THE ARETHUSA

The Arethusa,- which recently struck a mine on the-.blast Coast of England, was a famous.ship in more ways than one. Bearer of a name made immortal by the exploits of one of her predecessors in the Royal Navy, the Arethusa was the "name-ship" of a class of cruisers which have rendered splendid service in the present war. The 1912----13 naval programme brought a new class of cruisers into being. Eight were' ordered under that programme and eight more in 1913-14, all being completed since the outbreak of war. [ The complete list is as follows, those, of the earlier programme being given first: Arethusa, Aurora, Galatea, Inconstant, Royalist, Penelope, Phaeton, ' Undaunted, Cordelia, Carysiort, Calliope, Conquest, Cleopatra, Caroline, Champion, and Comus. The Arethusa and her sister ships have a length of 410 feet and a beam of 39 feet, while at 13-£ feet draught they displace about 3750 tons. The eight of the C class have a slightly greater length and ton- [ nage. Their nominal speed is 29 knots, but they have exceeded this on active service. The Phaeton, in which Sir lan Hamilton travelled from Marseilles to the Dardanelles last March, put up an astonish, ng steaming performance. All sixteen snips are propelled by turhines and are solely "oil-fired." They are protected by 3in side armor, extending right fore and aft and of very considerable depth. They mount two 6in and eight 4in guns, with two twin-torpedo tubes for discharging the largest and most powerful torpedoes. The Arethusa was laid down at Chatham on October 28, 1912, and was constructed in a graving dock. She was. launched on October 25, 1913, by Mrs Macnamara, wife of Dr T. J. Macnamara, Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty. The first oil-fired cruiser in the British Navy, she was commissioned at Chatham on August 11, 1914, to relieve the Amethyst as the ship of Commodore Reginald Y. Tyxwhitt, C.8., in command of the Destroyer Flotillas of the First Fleet. On August 28 the Arethusa played an important part in the action in Heligoland Bight. Early in' the morning, with her attendant destroyers, she chased the enemy's destroyers, with whom she was engaged for over half an hour. Then two German cruisers, with four and two funnels respectively, were sighted and engaged. The Arethusa received a heavy fire from both cruisers and several destroyers, but one of her 6in shells wrecked the forebridge of the two ; funnelled ship, which retired. The Arethusa had been hit many times and was considerably damaged; only one Gin gun remained in action, all other guns and torpedo tubes having been temporarily disabled. Two hours later the Arethusa was again attacked by a large fourfunnelled cruiser, which failed to hit her, and which- was severely damaged by the Arethusa's 6in guns, and retired. Soon after the Arethusa and Fearless attacked the Mainz, which, twenty-five minutes later, was in a sinking condition, and was finished off by the Light Cruiser Squadron. When the Battle-cruiser Squadron appeared the four-funnelled cruiser was sunk. The Arethusa, whose speed was reduced to six knots owing to damage in the engine-rooms, w-as towed back to the Nore by the Rogue, and proceeded thence under her own steam to Chatham, where she was repaired. In his despatch, Commodore Tyrwhitt said: "I cannot adequately express my satisfaction and pride at the spirit and ardor of my officers and snip's company, who carried out their orders with the greatest alacrity under the most trying conditions, especially in view of the fact that the Arethusa, newly built, had not been 48 hours out of the dockyard before she was in action."

On December 25 the Arettmsa and Undaunted, with a destroyer flotilla, steamed in between Heligoland and the German coast to a position whence a squadron of aeroplanes made a successful raid on Cuxhaven. The ships waited over two hours for the return of the aeroplanes, and during that time successfully beat off attacks by submarines, Zeppelins, and seaplanes. After picking up the aviators, the Arethusa and the other ships steamed out under the very nose of the Germans at Heligoland. On January 24 the Arethusa, Undaunted, and Aurora picked up the German battle-cruiser squadron near the Dogger Bank, and led the pursuit. After the British battlecruisers had disabled the Blucher^ it was the Arethusa which gave her the final despatch with a torpedo.

The Arethusa was the fourth ship of the name in the Royal Navy, i\h.e third having takert part in the* bombardment of Sabastopol on October " 17, 1854. She bore on brass plates on her forecastle-head the battle-honors associated with the name—"Trinidad 1797," "St. Vincent 1798," "Curacao 1807," "Sevastopol 1854," and "Heligoland 1914."