17 TIMES IN ACTION

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 522, 18 May 1915, Page 7

17 TIMES IN ACTION

2,000 ROUNDS FIR-ED BY H.M.S. TRIUMPH. One of the British battleships, H.M.S. Triumph, engaged m hammering at the defences of the Dardanelles, -seems to bear a charmed life. The Triumph has had mere fighting than, any other ship m the British fleet, and has more heavy shells than any 3hip m the whole history of the Navy. *She has been 17 times m action, bas fired over 2,000 rounds, was hit 14 ' times, " and came out none the worse, and with but few casualties among her crew. She took an active part m the reduction of the outer forts of the Dardanelles, and m one day's engagement she used as many shells as Avould serve her for peace practice purposes for five years. What the Triumph" now knows about bombarding forts and being shelled by them m return would fill a three-volume novel. "And you don't get any more used to it with habit," said one of the crew. It was on February 17 that the Triumph assisted at the opening of the operations against the Dardanelles. The destroyers made dashes to within a thousand yards of the batteries at the entrance to the strait, but the Turks did not fire,on them. Then the Albion bombarded Fort 1, on a point m the Gallipoli Peninsula, and destroyed a battery between Cape Helles and Point Texel, which the bluejackets, by the way, immediately rechristened " Tickle Point," while they soon became familiar with the forts . under such names as "Sandy Boy" and "Old Jim." The Triumph opened a slow, deliberate, indirect fire with her lOin gains at 7,700yd5. Queen Elizabeth was lying farther but; sending 15in shells. The enemy did not reply, and the Ark Royal, the waterplane parent ship, reported that Battery 50 was undiscoverable. Trenches and barbed wire to oppose a landing were seen, however, also troops at the top of the cliffs. At 2.30 Triumph reconnoitred the shore to the north of Cape Helles. At 3.15 she opened fire with her 7.5in guns on the trenches -and field works, doing much damage. When tlhe battleship returned m the evening to rejoin the fleet a vast spectacular scene could be witnessed. The French ships were firing furiously from ; the south, and Vengeance and Coynwallis were steaming up and down, firing salvos into No.' 3 Fort. At sunset the scene was awe-inspiring, and, m the words of the chaplain of the Triumph — " the only peaceloving man on board," as he himself remarked — a magnificent and glorious one. After an interruption owing to bad weather, Triumph succeeded m locating Battery No. 50, and pounded it to pieces. On that day three runs were made m the entrance, first by the Vengeance and Cornwallis, then by Gaulois and Bouvet, and lastly by Albion and Triumph, who steamed within 2,oooyds of No. 3 Fort and

— Obtained Direct Hits at the Guns — of the enemy. Gun after gun turned a somersault, and bricks and earth and heaps of old stone cannon-balls, which had been lying' m the forts for a hundred years, went rocketing into the air. That same night the Turks burnt their lighthouses. On February 26, when the operations were renewed, howitzers and field guns alone disputed the entrance, an-ql the minesweepers passed rapidly through, with the Triumph following to protect them. On March 1 the reduction of the defences, not including the Narrows, was proceeded with, and Triumph received orders to make a run with Albion to Fort Dardanos. They got quickly under fire from 6in howitzers, and here Triumph was hit three times. One shell went through her armorbelt over one of the 7-5 turrets, where one officer and 14 men were stationed. The chaplain said he thought 'the whole of them had been blown up, but fortunately the' shell' burst before it went through, and it killed only one man. The officer standing at the observation hole was covered with flying splinters, but got through with only . flesh wounds. Tho steel armor was torn and twisted, showing with what a terrible impact the shell must have sthuck. Another of the hits went right through to the commander's cabin, but fortunately hit no one. In the evening of the same day (March 1) the Triumph had to cover a demolishing party which went ashore to deal with the forts on the Asiatic side. The blowing up of the gates and other works sent whole pieces of them flying 100 ft high, and other wreckage was liurled three-quarters the distance across the strkit. All of the Triumph's crew were cheerful and merry, and one would think -these men were engaged on some sporting expedition, and not on the grim work of deadly war. Cheers are always raised by the crews when going into action. If further proof is required of the fine spirit of our sailors, it is to be found m the fact that a play entitled ' The Shades of Nelson' was recently performed on board Triumph. It was written, staged, rigged, and painted by a lower deck hand. When m action those below are constantly asking the fire-control people m the forefop by telephone Avhat they see. They call them the " Press Bureau," and scraps of description and joktes are constantly flashing over the wires about tlwv ship when there are no orders to be given or obeyed.