IN TWO SEA FIGHTS

Hokitika Guardian, 22 November 1932, Page 8

IN TWO SEA FIGHTS

COMMANDER OF CRUISER GLASGOW. ADMIRAL LUCE DEAD. The sudden .eath on September 29, at the age c. 62, cf Admiral John Luce, C. 8., R.N. (retired), recalls the navdl operat.ons in the South Atlantic in 1914, when lie commaded H.M.S. Glasgo\V, which lie not only saved from the reverse at Coronel when Admiral Cradock. was lost, but afterward commanded in the Fa lR lands Under' Admirrfl Sturdte, .£\nji !r 4n the destruction of the German cruiser Dresden at Juail Fernandez.

Born on February 4, 1870, Admiral Luce entered the. Britannia as a cadet in 1883, and served on tile Royal Navy for 43 rears. Promoted to captain in Jfrne, 1909, he took command of H.M. 3: Glasgow in September, 1912. His appointment of the Glasgow was as senior naval officer, South-East Coast'of America. On the outbreak of the war Rear-Admiral Sii* Christopher Cradock, who was in Mexican waters, proceeded south to. take over the command of a newly-formed squadron, for the protection of trade, and with this force Captain Luce joined up. After rounding Cape Horn the squadron searched inlets and harbours on the Pasifio' side for the German Asiatic Squadron under Admiral von > Spee, which bad affected a' concentration. FOUGHT AT CORONEL. Reinforcements for Admiral Cradock had been dispatched by the Admiralty, but had not reached him when, on November 1, 1914, lie fell in. with the German squadron off Coronel and joined action, hoping at least to disable it sufficiently to thwart the enemy’s plans. His weaker force, however, was defeated, the flagship Good Hope and the Monmouth being sunk with all on hoard.'’ After the loss of the former Captain Luce became the senior officer, and when it was no longer possible for him to assist the stricken Monmouth his only course was to save his ship so as not to make a needless sacrifice of his men. The Official Naval History says.— , “The Glasgow therefore warned the Monmouth to keep as much as possible to the north-westward. She was unable to do anything to help her—her own escape* had, -indeed, been almost, mir■aculOus. Throughout the action, unarmiiv.red as she was, she had been fighting in the line, and she calculated that (some 60(1 shells had been fired at her j ;ct' these five had hit on the waterline, but not fatally, as the coal had saved her, and though the captain’s cabin had been wrecked she had not been 1 on fite.” FALKLAND ISLANDS ACTION. Tlie Glasgpyv reached Port Stanley in sßfetyJ"ancTa month later"joinfed up with- Admiral Sturdee’s squadron from England. l In. the, action of December 8, 1914, when .Admiral von Spee’s squadron' was annihilated, except for the ‘Dresden*, the Glasgow engaged herformer antagonist, the Leipzig, : and' sank her. For three months afterward' she was engaged in the search for the Dresden, which had escaped, arid on March 14, 1915, this last ship of' the Gerriian Asiatic Squadron was sunk at Juan Fernandez by the Glasgow and' Kent.

After these operations Captain Luce remained on the South-east Coast • of America, as commodore of a squadron which included the Glasgow, Vindictive, Macedonia, and Orama. On his return home in 1915 he- succeeded -Sir Godfrey Paine as commodore of the R.N.A.S. «ay Cranwell. In February, 1919, lie resumed sea service in command of. the battleship Ramilles, a n( l in March, 1920,, was promoted to rearadmiral. He was A.D.C. to the King in 1919-20. His last appointment was as Rear-Adviral in Charge and Admiral Superintendent, Malta, from November, 1921, to March, 1924 He w r as promoted tb vice-admiral in August, 1925, and retired forthwith* being advariced to admiral on tlie retired list m April, 1930. During the time be \vafc in the Intelligence Department lie was joint author of the Official History of the Russo-Japanese War (Naval Section), and in recognition of his war service received the Order of the Rising Sun.