NAVY ON THE TIGRIS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9788, 11 October 1917, Page 7

NAVY ON THE TIGRIS

~, = II F,IBST IN THE FIGHT BRILLIANT EXPLOITS BY BRITISH SHIPS. The splendid part played by the Navy in the Mesopotamia campaign is .graphically described by Mr Edmund Oapdlcr. He writes: ■Tit,- the undemonstrative, though .-none, the less triumphal entry of the fleet into Baghdad, on the afternoon of .March, 11th, thero were two vessels that had once been Turkish. One was -ikilfttlittle Tborncycroit patrol boat-, HALS. Flycatcher, originally built lor tho Turks, sunk by the Eispieglo in xhc Suatt cl Arab during the advance 'on"Basra (November, 1014), and afterwards salved by us. Tire other was ,tbo Firefly. ..a- When the Firefly entered Baghdad again as a. British ship, after her Hun...nisli incarceration of over a year, her original British commander was on board, though she still bore the Turkish S'ldr and Orescent and an inscription in Turkish -on her name plaio on the battery deck. Tho Firefly grounded at Umm-cl-Tubal, on Dcccmbw lab, 1315, during tho retirement from Ctcsiphon, and was j-eeaptured by us on. February 26th, T 917, in tho advance on Baghdad; -Both wo and tho Turks tried to •hum her; and her log, if ehe had a continuous and connected one, would boar witness to another important role our navy played—that of a rearguard retreat. In the retirement from ■ Otcsiphpn tho fleet played a- more difficult, and arduous part, if not so brilliant and dramatic, as in the ad- . raaoo -on Baghdad. ROUTING THE SNIPERS. On tho evening of November 28th, 1015, the Shaitan and the Comet were aground.' Both ships got ofi during the. night, but- tho heavy towing had . rtpained the Shaitan badly, causing a ■ leak which she could not keep under. and. she sank before, daylight in /shallow,water. The Comet anchored apd’engaged the snipers ashore, while -th’B Firefly and Shushan wore salving .the..Shaitan's guns. While'' this was in progress a wix'e- ' loss'message 'brought the cavalry on the- scene, and they shot or “stuck” nearly;2oo of the snipers on the bank. .-.But the, hull of the Shaitan could not .be salved. " It was during the battle of Unvm-el-Tnbal on December Ist . that the Fire- . ,'flyAvas crippled. ..She.received a direct ; . hit /.bn..,, ./her steam-drum,-., which exploded her boilers and loft her helpjoss. ... . The. Comet managed to get her in ’tow’, but could not tow her out of it. In Dying to extricate, her she also grounded. The Firefly., drifted clear, but before assistance could arrive she was swung round and swept on to n bank'bv-the current. . RAN THE GAUNTLET. .In the meanwhile the Sumana had come up, and was vainly endeavouring to. tow the Comet off.. The enemy bad ' brought their guns up to short ■ range, and their right wing ashore ; was within 50 yards of the Comet--1 There was now- no hop© of salving her; and-the- life of the Sumana, .if she L Vomained, ’■ was only a question of minutes., . . The order was given to abandon the vessel. The Oomot was completely destroyed by firo. The Firefly, being all iron, would not burn; neither would ~she, sink,, being already ashore. V The Sumana got away without vital hum, though pock-marked by bullets -all over. The Navy is always laconic. One • has.-tb drag a story from them bit by bit ... Glancing through the log of H.M.S. the other day, I looked. up the entry for February 26th, 1917, when the gunboats ran the gauntlet of the ..enemy’s batteries, machine-guns, and. rifle fire at almost point-blank Xaiige; passed through them, and playwith their gun teams and transport on the bank. , Here is a literal transcript of her record in this log after midday; .. . 12.4—1 n action with enemy at Nahr Kollak. 9 p.m.—Grave-digging party, landed. 9.45 p.m.—Supper. ■ The fleet were first into Nasioryah,. as into Basra, Amara, and Suk-esli-Sbeynkh.