NAVIES IN WAR TIME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21598, 19 March 1932, Page 4

NAVIES IN WAR TIME

THE STORY OF THE DESTROYERS " Endless Story: Being an Account of tho Work of the Destroyers, Flotilla-Leaders, Tor-pedo-Boats, and Patrol Boats in the Great War.” By “ Taffrall" (Captain Taprall Dorling, D. 5.0., Royal Navy. Illustrated: London: Hodder and Stoughton (£1 Is net.) “Before Jutland: Admiral von Spec’s Last Voyage." By Captain Hans Pochhammer. Translated by H. J. Stennlng. Illustrated. London: Jarrolds (12s Cd net.) Captain Dorling, otherwise “Taffrail,” provides in “Endless Story" an excellent account of the work of the destroyers during the Great War—an account which takes us into practically every zone, since the destroyer, the maid-of-all-work of the naval arm, was übiquitous. In fleet engagements destroyers formed a protective fringe and threw out smoke screens to conceal manoeuvres; on occasion they fought actions on their own, as in the episodes of the Broke and the Swift;-they hunted submarines; they acted as escorts; they went out as scouts when_ it was impossible to send a seaplane into the air; they rescued thousands from drowning when the submarine wae taking its toll of they brought many a disabled vessel safely to port; they played an essential part ,in landing troops and sometimes an even more important as evacuation transports. This, it may be recalled, was one of their duties at The Dardanelles. Captain Dorling describes the last act as follows: , . . Shortly before 5 a.m. the destroyers Fury and Staunch, laden with men, at last got clear, leaving a few lighters waiting inshore for stragglers. A heavy sea was breaking over the hulks as the unwieldy “ beetles ” clawed their way seaward in the light of the blazing store and ammunition dumps. One of the latter exploded prematurely; but by 5.30 the last man was off the Peninsula. Not until then did the Turks realise that the evacuation wae complete. . . • Many had been left behind; but those who remained treasured their memory —treasured also the memory of an unforgettable nine months during which the men of the navy and army, men from every walk of life and from every part of the British Empire, had fought and laboured together as blood brothers.

He quotes an interesting letter from a major in the Otago Mounted Rifle Regiment, which sums up the debt that New Zealanders owe to the destroyers at the Dardanelles: “It was entirely due to the Chelmer, Colne, and Rattlesnake that Nos. 2 and 3 posts were held, and that any of the O.M.R. are alive to tell the tale to-day. By day it- was purgatory, heat, flies, and one pint of water a man for twenty-four hours, not to_ mention everlasting sniping from all sides. At night it was the nearest imitation of hell that I want to meet, only mitigated by the fact that ‘ Mamma ’ Chelmer and ’ Nursie Colne —always rolled up when Abdul got busy. . . . If I have one record because I —a soldier —commanded a 4in gun in action in one of H.M. ships, the officers and men of the Chelmer have another by sending their soft bread rations and tomatoes ashore to our peopje. The Chelmer, Colne, Racoon, and Rattlesnake will never be forgotten by one survivor of the 0.M.R.” “Endless 'Story” is a worthy history of the destroyers in wartime. Captain Dorling tells a straightforward narrative which is fully supported by documentary evidence. The book has as its frontispiece a colour reproduction of a naval painting by Charles Pears, numerous other illustrations by Captain Amedroz, and many maps. Von Spec’s Last Voyage

Captain Pochhammer gives a spirited account in “ Before Jutland ” of the adventures of the German East_ Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Admiral Yon Spee. In 1014 when the war began the six cruisers were at the German colony of Tsingtao. They immediately commenced a harzardous career which cost the Allies thousands of tons of shipping. In November Admiral Craddock’s squadron was engaged at Coronel and destroyed. Retribution came swiftly seven weeks later when Sturdee overpowered Von Spee at the battle of Falkland Islands. Captain Pochhammer, as first officer of the Oneisenan, was senior officer among the survivors of the squadron. His reminiscences were written when he was a prisoner in England. On the whole his book is a fair-minded account of the events in which he took part, though at times it naturally is painful reading for the Briton. The author makes some strange allegations regarding his treatment by Admiral Sturdee, which seem to reveal his own arrogance at the turn events took, rather than any failing in courtesy on the part of the victor. The book is fully illustrated. J. M,