H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 55, 31 October 1914, Page 2

H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND.

IN FIRST NAVAL BATTLE.

STIRRING ACCOUNT BY ONE OF HER OFFICERS. H.M.S. New Zealand, in tlie first battle cruiser squadron, book a prominent part in the naval action in Heligoland Bight on August 28th, when the German cruisers Mainz, Sola, and Ariadne and two destroyers were sunk and several others seriously damaged. The first account of the part played by the New Zealand in the first naval action of the war has been received in a. letter from an officer in the battle cruiser, written to friends in Christchurch. The story of the fight is simply told as follows, states a-special correspondent to the New-Zealand Times:— THE GENERAL SCHEME.

“Yon will have seen all about the action of August 28th in the papers, but I will try to give you my views on it. In brief the general scheme was that the destroyers should go into Heligoland at daylight and try to draw Hie enemy’s cruisers out so that they could be engaged by us and the’first light’cruiser squadron. It was successful, and at 8.15 a.m. on the 28th we got a signal saying the destroyers off Heligoland were m heavy action with the enemy. They drew them (the enemy’s destroyers) out and small cruisers cam e with them. . “At about 10.40 a.m. the Invincible, which was Just ahead of us, opened fire with her 4-inch guns on a submarine. We sighted it on our port bow and fired (ne shot, when it dived, and came up again on our quarter. I just managed to get my turret trained on it when once moie it dived and didn’t appear again. The destroyers spent some time looking for it, without result. Why it didn t hit us goodness knows. FULL SPEED INTO ACTION.

“At 11 o’clock the weather, got thick, aud we heard heavy -firing ahead lor which we went off at full speed. 1 lie squadron was then in the following order:— Lion (flagship), Queen Mary, Princess Royal, Now Zealand, and Invincible. The light cruiser squadron was soon sighted on the starboard bow, heavily engaging the enemy, who were out of sight from us in the fog. There were four ships in the • line ahead; on the port bow there was a flotilla of destroyevs .chasing a submarine, with . shells falling amongst them. “We were now going about -0 knots, dashing towards where the fighting was coming from. We soon sighted the Mainz, a small cruiser, on the starboard bow, put out of action by the light cruiser squadron, who had then stopped firing at her. She looked like a coal hulk—no masts, only one funnel standing, and burning amidships. On we dashed past her, about 'a mile or less away. Soon we heard the Lion open fire at something on tire port bow. Shortly afterwards the Queen Mary opened fire and a few minutes later the Princess Royal.

"NEW ZEALAND OPEN FIRE!”

"Another live minutes, and the order came, Zealand, open fire! Off went the fore turret,- Mine being in the stern couldn’t train on the enemy, who was well on the bow. ihe second turret fired, and then the third. I felt my guns ought to be firing, but owing to the smoke of the foremost guns I couldn’t see anything of tlie enemy. One of my gunlayers, a hot-headed Irishman named couldn’t, whereupon flung his cap, amidst frightful oaths, at him, and all the gun crew burst into peals of laughter. Eventually the smoke cleared, land we started; but after firing four’teen shells at her, ‘Cease fire!’ was sounded.

"I could see that the enemy’s ship was burning, and that two of her funnels had gone, as well as both masts. Destroyers then started to close in to see ijy they could pick up any of the wounded, but as they got near a flash was seen to come from her, and it was thought that she had fired again. Tho destroyers then retired, and the Lion opened fire again, and after a very few shots the enemy suddenly sank by the bows, her stern coming well out of the water as she went down.

"The range during the whole action was only about 4000 yards. I saw the whole thing from my periscope in the turret. Although I could see the German cruisers’ guns going off I didn’t know till afterwards that she had been firing at this ship. They tell me a good many shells fell over us; and a. feu fell short, but none hit us. If they bad I don’t think they would have done a great deal of damage, as she only carried 4-inch guns. A GENEROUS TRIBUTE. "I don’t think We can judge tlie German gunnery at all by this snow, as we bad some twenty-four 13.5-inch and sixteen 12-inch guns firing at her five 4-inch guns, which must have absolutely demoralised lifer during the first few minutes. It was not at all a glorious victory. In fact, I should call it sheer butchery. Not one of ‘their 400 men is now alivo. In my opinion they were very stout fellows to stick it to the end and not haul down when they saw they hadn’t a chance of doing us any damage.

v: ‘/The Princess Iloyal had one man wounded ; otherwise I don’t think there were any casualties in our squadron at all. The light cruiser squadron had a few, and tho destroyers several,

including Lieutenant Westmacott, a good fellow. The extraordinary luck of the thing was that during the action we were missed by a submarine and passed a very few feet from a mine. I think the whole' thing vyas frightfully lucky, but still, ‘nothing venture, nothing have.’ Our men beuaved splendidly during the whole thing, and the cheer that went up in rny turret when they heard the enemy’s cruiser was sinking was a revelation.”