THE DEATHLESS STORY

Nelson Evening Mail, 14 May 1917, Page 3

THE DEATHLESS STORY

OF LOFTUS JONES. V.C. HOW THE SHARK FOUGHT A GERMAN SQUADRON. Of the many deeds of imperishable valour wrought during the Jutland fight —and there were many—it may be doubted if any transcended those accomplished by Commander Loft'us William Jones, of the destroyer Shark, who, with his gallant men, practically fought a whole German squadron. Jones sealed his devotion to the flag with his blood, and it is only now, when the coveted V.C. has been awarded posthumously, that the full story of his deathless gallantry has been learned. The V.C. was awarded to Commander Loft us Jones for "most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty," which is thus officially described : "n the afternoon of May 31, 1916, during the action. Commander Jones, in H.M.-S. Shark, torpedo-boat destroyer, led a division of destroyers to attack the enemy Battle Cruiser Squadron. In the course of this attack a shell hit the Shark's bridge, putting the steering gear out. of order, and very shortly afterwards another shell disabled *the main engines, leaving the vessel helpless. The commanding officer of another destroyer, seieng the Sharks plight, came between her and the enemy and offered assistance, but was warned by Commander Jones not to run the risk of being almost certainly sunk in trying to help him. Commander Jones, though wounded in the leg, went aft to help connect and man the after wheel. Meanwhile the forecastle gun, with its crew, had been blown away, and the same fate soon afterwards befell the aft gun and crew. Commander Jones then went to the midship and only remaining gun, and personally assisted in keeping it in action. All tlr's time the Shark was subjected to very heavy fire from enemy light cruisers and destroyers at short range. The gun's crew of the midship gun was reduced to three, of whom an able seaman was soon badly wounded in the leg. A few minutes afterwards Commander Jones was hit by a shell, which took off his leg above the knee, but he continued to give orders to hisgun's crew, while a. chief stoker improvised a tourniquet round his thigh. Noticing that the ensign was not properly hoisted he gave orders for another to be hoisted. Soon afterwards, seeing that the ship could not survive much longer, and as a German destroyer was closing, he gave orders for the surviving members of the crew to put on lifebelts. Almost immediately after this order had been given the Shark was struck by a torpedo and sank. Commander Jones was unfortunately not amongst the few survivors from the Shark, who were picked up by a neutral vessel in the night." The following awards have also been made to the survivors of H.M.S. Shark for. their services during the action: —- To receive the Distinguished Service Medal : ' Stoker P.O. Charles Filleul. A.B. Charles Cleeberg Hope. A.B. Charles Herbert Smith. A.B. Joseph Owen Glendower Howell. Stoker I.CI Thomas .Wilton Swan. P.O William Charles Richard Griffin. It is is now on information supplied, by Commander Loftus Jones's widow, to give fuller details of —The Extraordinary Gallantry;— displayed by the commander of the Shark" and his men. "It was about 5.30 p.m. that the Invincible gave orders to open fire. The captain of the Shark (Commander Loftus Jones, R ; N.) left the Invincible and took his division into action against the German battle-cruiser squadron. Directly he turned to attack a shell hit the engines, and another the bridge, which took'' the steering wheel out of the coxswain's hands and wounded him in the right hand. The destroyer Acasta (Commander J. Barron), seeing that the.Shark was badly hit, came between the enemv's fire and the Shark, and signalled: 'Can I give any help?' The captain of the Shark signalled back, 'No ; look after yourself.' Acasta, and her destrovers. obeyed orders. At the same time the coxswain, Griffin;, ..said : 'The wheel has gone, sir.' The captain replied : 'Man the other wheel.' The coxswain obeyed and left the bridge, followed by' the captain, who helped to connect and man the wheel. At the foot of the bridge the cixswain was wounded in the face and thrown down. He picked himself up. and as he was going aft he met the torpedo, instructor, who said he had fired two torpedoes and thought he had got a German cruiser; and Hammel, the chief stoker, who said that the engines and steering gear were qut of action. The pipe which connected up steam was blown away. The captain, on hearing this, gave orders for all to come up on deck, go to their stations, and put out the boats. The boats were blown awav as they tried to put them out. The Shark all the time was under very heavy fire. Three cruisers were firing at her at one time. She lay helples between our Fleet and that of the enemy, and so got as well the shots which fell short. A few minutes after the action started the fo'c'sle and fo'c'sle gun, with gun's crew, including the officer, Sub-Lieutenant Irving Vance, were all blown away, except one man, who was badly wounded. The captain ordered the rafts and the collision mats, assisting in everything as he gave the orders, and cheering his men all the time to —Drop the Confidential Books Overboard. — He had been wounded badly in the leg when leaving the bridge, and his leg was bound up by Hammel, and later on by Filleul. The captain noticed that Griffin was badly wounded in the eye and cheek, and said to him : 'Get your eve dressed.' Griffin said, 'There is no doctor.' The doctor must have been killed ; the last time he was seen he was binding up the arm of a seaman-torpe-do-man, who had been hurt by the ex- ~ CANT LEAVE- WHISKY ALONE. "My husband's business brings hirt in constant touch with drink, but thanks to 'Drinko' he can now leave it alor.e.' Thus writes a grateful wife from Dunedin. Drinko can be given secretly. Free booklet sent in plain sealed envelope. State if Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Write— Lady Manager, Drinko Proprietary, 21 ?E Lambton Chambers Wellingtdn.

plosion of the third torpedo. All the men at this torpedo-tube, except Smith, had been killed or wounded by the explosion. The captain now went to the midship gun the other guns and everything else on the deck having been blown away, and he remained there, till the end with Midshipman -Smith, Petty Officor Griffin, and Able .Seamen Hope and Howell. The First Lieutenant Donnell. Smith, A.8., Stoker Swan, and Petty Officer Filleul were passing ■ ammunition, of which there was plenty. Hone wf> 3 at the midship gun from the beginning to the end of the action, and distinguished himself by his coolness and efficiency. There were more than a hundred rounds of ammunition from this gun. The captain Was so pleased with Hope that he .at one time patted him on the back. and said:- 'Go on, Hope, yon are doing splendidly.' Ten German destroyers and light ' cruisers came up out of the mist at close range, about 600 yards, and all fired on the Shark. Hwocll was badly wounded in the leg, and a few minutes afterwards the captain had his left leg shot away above the knee. Hope rushed to him with a piece of wood, and Griffin with rope. He asked them to leave him, but Hope said : "We must do it for your good sir." hoping they might stop the bleeding and save his life. As the captain was sitting on the deck he said : 'What's wrong with the ensign V Hope answered: 'lt's shot down, sir.' The captain gave the order: 'Hoist another!' The midshipman cleared the way, and Hope hoisted another. (There were always spare flags kept for any emergencv.) The captain then said, , 'That's good,' and appeared content; i Seeing th<> ship was 'beginning to sink very quickly and a German destroyer was coming quite close, the captain gave the order, 'Save yourselves.' The German destroyer came near, fired a torpedo into her. there was an explosion, and —She -Sank With Her Flag Flying.— The action lasted for about an hour and a half. There was no rpanic whatever, and all obeyed order* pi'omptly and calmly. Filleul, Griffin, . Smith, and Howell saw tho captain in the water. He had his life-saving waistcoat on, which kept him afloat. Filleul saw the lifebelts floating away. He gathered them up and gave them to the survivors. The captain asked Him what he was. doing. Filleul told him and put a lifebelt round him and put him on one of the rafts. There were two other men with him. The other .-survivors, with the fh'st lieutenant, who had not been wounded, got on another raft. The capain said. 'Let's have a song, lads.' The first lieutenant started 'Nearer, My God, to Thee,' and they all sang until they were exhausted. Some ships came into sight, and the captain asked Filleul if i.hev were English or-German. Filleul told him they were English,- and he said, 'That's good.' These were his last words. I'lie ships passed o>. and shortly afterwards Smith saw him succumb : to ex-, haustion. The temperature of the . wa-" ter was 46 at noon on May 31. The survivors remained in the water for several hours, and were picked irp hardly conscious by a Danish' steamer, the Vida'r. ■ When the Shark sank, her oil tanks burst, and covered the. sea-'■ with oil." The narrative, is best .concluded with the following Admiralty letter : —-. "Admiralty,;. Oct. 23. 1916. "Madam,—l am commanded by my Lords Commissioners "of the Admiralty to acquaint you thaf a report has now been received that the body of your husband, Captain-'Loftus., W.' * Jones. R.N., was recovered off 'the coast ofSweden, and buried' . at- Eiskebakskil Churchyard on June 24,\1916, the funeral service being conducted by the Swedish Incumbent of Shafta. The funeral service was choral, and was largely attended, and a great quantity of wreaths and other floral" tributes were.' sent by residents in the vicinity,,.. the whole proceedings being marked by 'jvery sign of sympathy and reverence.' The fishermen of Fiskeb'akskil are making themselves responsible . for the erection of a monument over the grave, and have already received a sufficient sum c f money for this purpose."