The Invasion of 1910.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13193, 2 June 1906, Page 3 (Supplement)

The Invasion of 1910.

Si: icpyright by William Le Queux, 1906

Published by Special Arrangement.

?: With a Full Account of the Siege of London.

By WILLIAM LE QUEUX. With Naval Chapters by H. W. Wilson.

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS INSTALMENTS.

On the afternoon of September 1, 1910, the .North Sea Fleet. under Admiral Lord Kbbflret, lav at. anchor off Rosytli, in the Firili of Forth. It mustered sixteen battleships, four of them of the Dreadnought clusS, .1 squadron of armoured cruisers, right ships strong, but. no destroyers. a* it* torpedo flotilla was taking pan in the torpedo mancruvrea in tliu Irish Sea. .Mi nightfall nix of the battleships' steam tor-pedo-boats were stationed outside the Forth Bridge, while further out to sea was the fast cruiser Leicestershire, with all lights out, in ntidChannel, just under the Island of luehkeith. Abreast, of her, and close inshore, were three small 'ships, torpedo-lioata. to the north, and another three to the south—in all, twelve torpedo* boats and one cruiser. Burly in the engagement tile Leicestershire was torpedoed. Warned by wireless telegraphy that destroyers bad been sighted, British crews were on the"qui THE NAVAL BATLE. The calamities of tho British fleet did not end with the torpedoing ot the Indefatigable. A few seconds later some object drifting in the water, prooably a. mine —though in the confusion it was impossible to say what exactly happened—struck the Resistance just forward of the fore barbette. It must have drifted down inside the torpedo nets, between the hull and the network. There was an explosion of terrific violence, which rent a great breach in the. side of the ship near the starboard fore torpedo tube, caused an irresistible inrush of water, and compelled her captain also to slip his anchors and beach his ship. Two of the British battle, squadron were out of action in the space of less than live minutes front the opening of fire. Already the shattered remnants of the German . torpedo flotilla were retiring; a single boat was steaming oil as fast as she had come, but astern of her four wrecks lay in the midst of the British fleet devoid of motive power, mere helpless targets for the gun's. As they floated in the glare of the searchlights with the water sputtering about them, in the hail of projectiles, first one and then another, and finally all four, raised the white flag. Four German boats had surrendered; four more had been seen to sink in the midst of the fleet; one was limping slowly off unties- a rain of shells from tho smaller guns of the Vanguard. The British cruiser Londonderry was ordered to slip and give chase to her, and fit earned off ill pursuit down the Forth. A caution to beware of mines was flashed by the admiral, and was needed. The German destroyers must have carried with them, and thrown overboard in their approach,- a large number of these deadly agents, which were floating iu all directions, greatly hampering the Londonderry in her chase. But with the help of her searchlights she picked her way past some half-dozen mines which were seen on the surface,; and she was so fortunate as not to strike any of those which had been anchored in the channel. Gathering speed, she. overhauled the damaged destroyed The crew could offer little resistance to ihe guns ci a powerful cruiser. A few shots from the three-pounders and a single shell from one of the Londonderry's 7.5 s did the work. The German torpedoboat began to sink by the, stern;, her engines stopped ; her rudder was driven 'by the explosion of the big projectile over to starboard, "and the impulse of the speed at- which , she was travelling brought her .head round towards the British vessel. The 1 boat- was almost flush with the water as '• one of her crew raised the white flag, and the fifth German boat surrendered. < The prisoners were rescued from the water ' with shaken nerves and quaking limbs, as 1 men who had passed .through the Valley 1 of the Shadow of Death, who had eudured 1 the. hail of . shells and faced the danger of " drowning. t So soon .as the survivors of that most t

Ii vivr. _ There was not time at.this eleventh hour t. to weigh and put out to sea, the -only possible ci coursc WiiA to meet the attack lit anchorage. About half-past two a.m. 18 tinman destroys* • and large. torpedo-boats were seen to be. approach- " ins at impetuous; speed. In a moment the air trembled with the concussion of heavy 2:11115; the quick-firers of the fleet opened a terrible tire, a.s straight at tin: British battleships came the , German destroyers. 1 '•'our destroyers went to the. bottom in that furious onrush; 10 entered the British lines; • the others turned back. . Fifth ship in the starboard British line lay the great battleship Indefatigable. Four torpedoes were tired at her by the German de- ? stroyers; three of (lit 1 four missed her, two of tlieni only by a hair's breadth, but the fourth cut through the steel net and caught her fairly ; abreast of the port engiucrooui, about the: level 1 of the platform deck. carded belore battle, and also to complete 1 the preparations for action. It was now almost certain that a German fleet would be encountered, but, as has been said, the risk of remaining in the : Forth was even greater than that of proceeding to sou., while the C'ommander-in- ; Chief realised the full gravity of the fact that upon his fleet and its activity would , depend the safety of England from inva- [ sion. ' He knew that the other main fleets were far distant; that the reserve ships were much too weak by themselves to meet the force of the German navy, and mat the best chance of averting a fresh disaster to them was to effect as speedily as possible a junction with them. Where exactly they were or whether they bad moved from the Xore he was not yet aware; the absence of information from the Admiralty left him in the dark as to these two important- points.. The armoured cruisers were ordered, if they encountered the German cruisers in approximately equal or inferior force, to drive them off and push through them, to ascertain the strength and-whereabouts of the German battle fleet; if, however, the Germans were in much superior force, the British squadron was to fall back on the battle fleet. One by one the armoured cruisers steamed off, first the Polyphemus, with the rear-admiral's flag, then the Olympia, Achates, Imperieuse, Aurora, and Londonderry, and last of all the Gloucester bringing up the rear. Upon these seven ships the duty of break: ing through the enemy's screen -was to devolve. As they went out they -jettisoued their woodwork and formed a line ahead, in which formation they were- to fight. Unfortunately, the shooting of the squadron was very uneven. Three of its. ships ; had done superbly at battle practice and in , the gun-layers' test: but two. others had 1 performed indifferently, and two could scarcely be trusted to hit the target. ' ] For yeans the uneven shooting of j the fleet had been noted as a source of weakness : but what was needed, to bring f [ the bad ships up to the mark was a lavish ] expenditure of ammunition, and ammunition cost money. Therefore ammunition had to ( be stinted. ' , ] In the German navy, on the other hand, £ a contrary course had been followed. . For < the two months before the war, as was i afterwards disclosed by the German Staff j History, the German ships had been kept ] constantly at practice, and if the best, ships t< did not shoot quite so well as the best units e in the British fleet, a far higher average e level of gunnery had been attained. 11 Increasing the number of revolutions till s the speed reached 18 knots, the cruiser f squadron sped seawards. The east was red with the glow of dawn as it passed Inch- t colni. ,but a grey mist lay upon the surface of the gently heaving sea and veiled the h horizon. Leaving Inchkeith and the King- h horn , Battery soon a;fter the Leith clocks li had struck the half-hour, and steaming on I; a generally easterly course, the look-out of r the Polyphemus saw right- ahead and some s ten or eleven miles away' to the north-east

daring and gallant attack had been recovered from the water, and possession had been taken of the battered hulls in which they had made their onset, the admiral ordered his torpedo launches to drag the channel for mines. And while the dragging was proceeding the prisoners were taken on.board the flagship and 'interrogated. 'They would disclose little other than the fact that, according to them, war had been already declared. The ship which had attacked the Leicestershire, they said, was a tramp fitted for. mine-laying and equipped with three torpedo tubes. Half of them were more or less seriously wounded: all admitted that the slaughter on board their boats caused by the British fire had been terrific. One lieutenant, suited that all the men at one of his torpedo tubes had been mown down twice by the hail of small shells from the pom-poms, while a 12in shell which had bit the stern of his boat had blown it completely away. Yet the remnant of the boat had still floated. AP.MOURED CRUISERS TUT TO SEA. Lord Ebbfleefc surveyed the scene with rueful eyes. The Indefatigable and Resistance. two of his powerful battleships, were out of action, and could take no more part in operations for weeks. , The Leicestershire was in the same plight. From sixteen battleships his force had fallen to fourteen; his- armoured cruiser squadron was reduced from eight ships to seven. To remain in the anchorage without destroyers arid torj>odo-boats to keep a. lookout would be to . court further torpedo I', t .4; -. and perhaps the even more insidious danger from, German submarines, and might well imperil the safety of the British reserve ships. Only one course remained—to weigh and proceed to sea. endeavouring to pass south to meet the reserve ships. Efforts to communicate his intention to the Admiralty failed. The roar of firing had awakened Leith and Edinburgh ; people were pouring into the streets to know what this strange and sudden commotion meant, and what was the cause of the storm. The windows at Queensferry had been shivered; the place was shaken as by a. great earthquake. The three heavy bursts of tiring, the continuous disquieting flashes of the searchlights, and the groat hull of the Leicestershire -ashore off Leith indicated that something untoward had cefalien the fleet. For a moment, if was thought that the admiral had fallen to manoeuvres at a most unseasonable hour, or that some accident had occurred on board the injured cruiser. Then suddenly the truth dawned npem the people. The crowd ashore, constantly increasing, as it gazed in alarm towards the anchorage, realised that war had begun, and that for the first time since the Dutch sailed up the Medwav, more than two hundred years before, the sanctity of a British anchorage had been invaded by an enemy. The coastguard'smen, who had Unit placed under the control of the civil authorities as the result of one of the numerous reforms effected; in the interests of economy* had for the most part forgotten the art of. quick signalling or quick reading of naval signals, else they might have intepreted to ..the crowd the history of that night, as it was flashed to the wireless station at Rosyth, for transmission to London. But, as has been sand, the attempt to despatch the news to headquarters failed. The private wire from the dockyard to Whitehall would not work, and though the | post office wires were. tried no answer could ■ he obtained It appeared that, as on the famous - night of the . North Sea outrage, ] there was no' one''at" the' Admiralty—not ■ even a • clerk. It was, therefore, impossible to obtain deJinite information. j .. Lord Ebbfleef had meantime received a ( • report from his torpedo launches that a ] f .precarious passage had been cleared ( through the mines in the channel, • and j about four o'clock on Sunday morning lie or- i dered the armoured cruiser squadron to put £ ; to' sc«a aud ascertain whether the coast t ■ was clear, preceding the battle squadron, a which, minus the two damaged battleships, j was to follow at six. . r j|y;r?*The interval of two hours was required j fete take on board ammunition from the v damaged ships, to land woodwork and all J 'jit he; impedimenta that could possibly .be dis- ; 1'" • ' ■* ■■ Wmm."

the dark forms of ships upon, the horizon. The British line turned slightly and ■ headed towards these ships. All the telescopes on the Polyphemus' fore-bridge were directed upon the strangers, a.nd the fact that they were men-of-war painted a muddy grey was ascertained as they drew nearer and transmitted by wireless telegraph to Lord Ebbfleet. ' They were coming on at a speed which seemed to be about 17 knots, and were formed in line ahead, in a line perfectly maintained', so that., n.s they were approaching on almost exactly , the opposite course, their number could not be 'counted. In another minute or two, as the distance between the two squadrons rapidly diminished, it was clear from her curious girdermasts that the ship at the head of the line was either the large Germa.n armoured cruiser Waldersee, the first- of the large type built by Germany, or some other ship of her class." At six miles distance several squadrons of destroyers were made out, also formed 1 in line ahead, and steaming alongside the German line, abaft either beam. A battle was imminent; there was no time to issue elaborate orders or make fresh dispositions. The British admiral signalled that he would, turn to the starboard, to reconnoitre the strange fleet, and reserve fire, till closer quarters. Ho turned five points, which altered his course to an east-south-easterly. one. For a/ fractional period of time the Germans maintained their original course, steering for the rear of the British line. Then the' German flagship or leader of the line turned to port, steering- a course which would bring her directly across the bows of the British line. .Simultaneously the two divisions of lor-pedo-craft on the port beam of the Gorman squadron increased speed, and, cutting across the loop, neared the head of 'the German line. ! The German squadron opened fire as it began to turn, the Waldersee.beginning the duel with the two llin guns in her foreturret. A flash, a haze of smoke instantly dissipated, and a heavy shell passed screeching over the fore-turret of the Polyphemus. Another flash an instant later, a.nd a shell struck the British cruiser's third funnel, tearing a great, hole- in it. but failing to burst. Then every German gun followed, laid on the Polyphemus, which, blew her steam siren and fired a 12-pounder, the prearranged signal to the British ships for opening, and an instant la.ter, just after 5 a.m., both squadrons were exchanging Fhe most furious fire at a distance which did not exceed 5000 yards. As the two lines turned the British were able at last to make out the strength and numbers of their enemy. There were ten German armoured cruisers in lineat the head of the line the fast and new Waldersee, Capri vi. and Moltke, each of 16,000 tons, and armed with four 'iliu and ten 9.4 in. guns, with astern of them the Manteufi'el, York. Roon. Friedrjeb Karl, Prince Adalbert, Prince Heinrich, .and Bismarck. he last four did not follow ..the first six in the turn, but maintained ' their original course, and headed direct for the rear of the British line. Thus the position was this: One Genua, squadron was manoeuvring to pass across the head of the British line, and the other to cross -the rear of that line. Each German squadron •was attended bv two toroedo divisions. ■ Retreat for the British admiral was -already out of Hie question, even if lie had wished to retire. But art he stood in thr Polyphemus.' conning-tower and felt - his great cruiser reel beneath him under the concussion of her heavy guns—as lie saw the rush of splinters over her deck, and heard the officers-aA his side shouting down the telephones amid the deafening din caused by the crash of steel on steel, the violent explosion of the shells, the hoavv roar of the great guns, and the car-splitting crack ;i,nd rattle of the 12-pounders and pom-' poms—he realised that the German squadrons were perfectly, and were trying a most daring move—one which it would need all'his.nerve and foresight to de f ""t. ■ • v - (To be continued dsiily.^ - v