VINDICTIVE'S EXPLOIT.

Northern Advocate, 20 October 1920, Page 6

VINDICTIVE'S EXPLOIT.

A STORY THAT LIVES.

EPIC VALOUR DEMONSTRATED.

OSTEND, Aug. 16

The Vindictive was refloated this afternoon, and was taken to the berth assigned her by Commodore Young who has been able to overcome all the difficulties which stood in the way,of success yesterday.

■At 2 o'clock to-day the great vessel was shifted towards the axis of the channel, and then hauled towards the Leopold dock almost without a pause. The famous cruiser, amid the cheers of a large crowd, continued its way, and at a quarter past 3 she was safely berthed. Sirens were sounded and the crowd cheered enthusiastically as the British flag was run up.

M. Van Gansberghe, Director-Gen-eral of Communications, went on board th>; Reindeer, together with a number of high officials of State, to congratulate, in the name of the Government, Commodore Young on his achievement. Laurel crown» were placed on the masts of the Vindictive in memory of the sailors who died for their country on board the glorious ship. ♦ The Port of Ostend. has been completely cleared.

All British people will hear with interest of the raising of the Vindictive, The event crowns with success an arduous and difficult undertaking; it also removes an obstruction to the navigational facilities at Ostend; but, at the sam e time, it recalls the daring and heroic achievements of the British seamen in their raids of two years ago. '

After service in various , capacities during the war the Vindictive was selected and specially prepared for the ra *d which was planneed in 1917 to. check the enemy's activity in the Belgian coast ports. Certain other cruisers were used merely as blockships, but tfl e Vindictive was chosen to carry a storming party to land on the Mole at Zeebmgge, it being especially necessary to put the battery at the sea end of th e Mole out of action . before the block-ships Thetis, Intrepid, and Iphigenia entered the harbour.

The command of the Vindictive had been entrusted to Commander Alfred F. B. Carpenter, a navigating expert, who at the beginning of the war, had been appointed on the staff of Admiral JelHcoe in the Iron Duke, and who had been promoted to commander on June 30, 1915.

The conditions being favourable on the afternoon and evening of April 22, 1918—the eve of St. George's Day—th e expedition started, numbering over 140 vessels of all kinds. -It converged upon the'scene of action from four points—Harwich, the Nore, Dover and Dunkirk —and the Vindictive, from the West Swin, the main channel from the Nore to the north, towed across the ferry-boats Daffodil and Iris 11. ViceAdmiral Sir Roger Keyes was in supreme command in the destroyer Warwick. RUSHING THE MOLE. Four minutes before midnight the Vindictive, having cast off the boats in tow and left them to follow her in, emerged from the fog and found the end of th e Mole, and at 12.1 a.m., a minute beyond her programme time, she was alongside, but thre 6 minutes elapsed before the Daffodil arrived, and pushed her in so 'as to enable the special anchors to hook the parapet. This was the worst time for the Vindictive, exposed to the searchlights and fire of the Mole batteries. Most of the landing-brows wer c destroyed or damaged, and among the casualties suffered were the loss of Captain H. C. Halahan and Colonel B. N. Elliot, in command of the naval and marine landing parties respectively. Her own guns, however, kept up a hot fire, although the loss among th e crews was heavy.

When the brows were run out, Captain Carpenter has said that the way th e men, heavily laden as they were, got over tb em was almost super-human. Some three or four hundred wer c on the mole within a few minutes. The demolition parties, well instructed as to their duties, went about them in perfect order, and one after another the sheds and buildings burst into flame as the exploding charges went. off. After an hour the order came to recall the landing parties, and at 1.10 a.m. the Daffodil began to tow the Vindictive's bow from the Mole. She arrived at Dover seven hours later with a' story which sent & responsive thrill throughout the land.

THE SECOND EXPEDITION. It was the second expedition which resulted in the vessel beingsunk at Ostend in the position from which she has now been raised. There was a great eagerness to go in the Vindictive on this occasion, but as Commander A. E. Godsal, of the Brilliant, had led the attempt on April 23, he and his officers were chosen. H e was unfortunately killed in the expedition, when, having placed his vessel bteween th c piers of Ostend Harbour, he left the shelter of the conning tower for the forecastle in o r der to get a better view for manoeuvring her into the required position.

The command devolved upon Lieutenant Victor Crutchley, who, after the vessel had grounded forward on the eastern pier and had stopped swinging, gave the order to abandon her. When the cruiser had been cleai-ed, her officers and men being taken off by the motor launches, Lieutenant CrutcMey fired the forward auxiliary charges and Engineer Lieut enant-Commandor Bury the after auxiliary charges and the main charges, which blew her up. The old ship had no easy task in finding th-> pierheads, and, after a fruitless search in the darkness, was obliged to give the "last resort ,, signal to the coastal motor-boats, which promptly lit a candle-power flare close inshore. • _

Much has been written on these two' , undertakings, but nothing can adequately ;;c;-,:-:s3 the skill and resource, coolness and courage, and patient heroism of all who took partAs , , the Admiralty said in their General Order .to the Fleet, "the disci-' plined daring and singular contempt of death places this exploit high in the annals of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and will be a proud memory for th e relatives of those who fe11. ,. It will for ever fill a glorious page in our history.