THE GALLANT LAUREL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15748, 24 October 1914, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE GALLANT LAUREL.

FIGHT OFF HELIGOLAND.

HEROIC NAVAL COMMANDER.

WOULD NOT LEAVE BRIDGE. The part played by the destroyer Laurel in the Heligoland fight makes good reading for British eyes. It is told by Mr. H. F. Prevost Battersby in the London Morning Post.

Despite the thick mist of the early morning the approach of the British flotilla appeared to have been discovered before the enemy was sighted, some say by a waterplane- However that may be, the German destroyers, on obtaining word of their approach, issued out, and the flotilla turned about and made at a leisurely pace for safety, sending word ahead by their wireless to the ambushed cruisers. There may have been some miscalculations as to the distance of these, or tho fog may have rendered their arrival later than expected, for when the division, led by the Laurel, turned about to face the oncoming destroyers, it not only found itself unsupported by its own cruisers, but san- looming out of the haze ahead of it shapes that resolved themselves into the light cruisers of the enemy. Nothing daunted, tho division opened out and opened fire, the Laurel, which was in the inside berth, having for 6ome time to face the fire of one cruiser and two destroyers.

Tho men engaged make light of the German marksmanship, but the hull bears witness to the fact that, despite the speed of the contest, the German gunners managed to get a certain proportion of their shots home. The first shell to hit the Laurel, unfortunately, found its way to the engine-room, killing four men, and doing a very serious amount of damage. The second struck the forward gun, jamming the charge which was just about to be fired, disabling the mounting and killing tliree mon. The third shell to strike her wounded the commander, Frank Rose, seriously in the left leg; but, though urged by his men to go below, he shifted his weight on to the other leg, and continued to issue his orders as if nothing had happened, for all this time the Laurel was making it desperately uncomfortable for the two destroyers with which she was engaged— of which shortly afterwards went to the bottomand giving as good as she was getting 'from the cruiser as well.

! A piece of a fourth shell struck the i commander again, this time on his sound | leg and brought him down to the bridge, but ho still declined to give way, though his signalman insisted on tearing off his trousers to prevent his wounds from being poisoned, an act of thoughtful devotion Ito which he may have .owed his life. He • continued to fight his ship until ho lost j consciousness, just after he had learned j from his gunner that they had managed i to extract the charge from the damaged I gun- As he lay unconscious on tho bridge I one of his petty-officers fastened tenderly J a lifebelt round him, for by this lime only j three rounds of ammunition remained, i and though the British cruisers had ap- ; peared on the scene, it appeared imposI sible that the Laurel could live much longer in the fire to which she was then exposed.

A final shell struck her amidships, enveloping her in a dense cloud of dust and smoke, and all'on board were certain that she was going to the bottom. That last shell, however, was to prove her salvation, for the dense and inexplicable cloud clung to her as she lay helpless on tho water, and though it was split in ail directions by the enemy's projectiles not one of them succeeded in finding her in the heart of it. At that moment nob a man expected any better fate than to be sunk or taken, but there was not the slightest sign of flurry, though even the satisfaction of fighting had been taken from them. Good-bye, old man," said a bluejacket bleeding to death on the forecastle to his mate stretched on the deck beside him. "My time's up, too," replied the other calmly, reaching out a hand to him, and with that hand-clasp they died. Twenty-two men were killed or wounded, and many were the hairbreadth escapes that "left men whole, the wireless operator having his helmet carried away by a shell, which left not a scratch on him. But admirable as was the fighting behaviour of tho men, most touching was their concern for their officers, and the sense of brotherhood by which all seemed bound together is visible still in the tears they are unable to restrain when speaking of their dead.