On the Sea

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 284, 28 November 1914, Page 5

On the Sea

BRITISH NAVAL DISASTER.

EYE-WITNESSES' NARRATIVES.

United Press Asscoiation.

London, Xovemebr 27

The Daily Chronicle says most of the Bulwark's crew were breakfasting below.

Eye-witnesses state that a long, muffled roar was heard for fourteen miles, and the terrifice flash was seen for miles, the ship momentarily resembling a fireworks display. A great white cloud arose, similar to that oi a cordite explosion. Apparently the forward magazine blew , up. When the smoke cleared, not a vestige of the vessel remained.

At the time of the explosion the signalling officer watched the smoke clear, and was astonished to see nothing. Workmen on shore counted the vessels at their moorings, not crediting that one had entirely gone from the harbor.

Instantly commissioned officers and men on the ships rushed on deck, half stunned. Rescue boats put off in all directions.

Tho vessel is visible in three sections at low water, with masts and funnels gone. A chest of drawers was found in a marsh iaahaehllflfm etaoin shrdlu marsh half a mile av/ay. All tne glass and crockery in the vessels nearby was shattered.

The general opinion at Chatham is that the bottom of the vessel was blown out.

A number of men were drilling on deck at the moment of the disaster. A sailor on a vessel near by states that there were two heavy reports, followed by a flash of fire. The whole ship seemed to heave and then drop into fragments.

Another eye-witness affirms that two explosions occurred, one fore and the other aft. He believes they were simultaneous explosions. The concussion shook the Southend pier, and was felt by hundreds of civilians and by Germans intei-ned on ships in Southend roads.

It was first thought by people ashore that it was & Zeppelin raid. Then came the suspicion that an aeroplane had bombed the gasworks, until it was found that the aeroplane was British.

Three minutes after the explosion only whirling sea, white foam, specked with caps, wreckage and kitbags marked the spot. Fourteen of the crew are in hospital at Gillingham, suffering from concussion and fractured limbs. Four are in a critical condition. No officers were saved. Very few were aboard. Few other craft were moving in the Medway at the time. One boat, protected from the direct effects of the concussion by the river-bank and a headlaltd, was yet flung out of the water. When she was righted she picked up a bluejacket. The latter stated that he was sitting on a grating, when the explosion threw him high in the air. He turned somersault after somersault, and landed in the river, little hurt. He was able to swim until he was picked up. It is suggested at Sheerness that the disaster was due to the fall of a 12-inch lyddite shell into the Bulwark's magazine. Lord Charles Beresford, who once commanded the Bulwark, states that the magazines were in a very safe position, and protected by every modern device to keep the ammunition at the right temperature. Even a shell might be dropped in the shell room without exploding the magazine. Sir Hiram Maxim says that faulty manufacture of guncotton is impossible under modern conditions of manufacture, but there might have been that some accidental fulminating of the powder present set the cordite off. Hundreds of the crew were Portsmouth men. Pathetic scenes occurred at the barracks among grief-stricken women. GERMAN METHOD OF NAVAL WARFARE. SINKING OF MERCHANTMEN. TWO MORE SUNK. '(Received 11.50 a.m.) Lodnon, November 27. A German submarine sunk the British steamer Malachite near Havre, the crew being landed at Southampton, and the steamer Prime, off Cape Antifer, the crew being landed at Fecamp.

THE EMDEN.

THE CAPTAIN'S STORY. (Received 8.55 a.m.) Amsterdam, November 27. Captain von Muller, of the JGmden, has cabled to Berlin: Our marksmanship at first was good but soon the Sydney's heavy guns gained the upper hand, inflicting, heavy losses. We were short of ammunition and were obliged to cease firing. Though the stearing gear was damaged we tried to get within torpedo range but faired. Our funnels were destroyed, greatly influencing our speed. Therefore we went full speed on to the reef. Six officers, four warrant officers, and ninety-three men were killed and one non-commissioned officer and seven men were seriously wounded.

THE LESSON OF ZEEBRUCGE. London, November 26. The Times' naval correspondent says: "The news of the destruction of Zeehrugge is very comforting. If the Germans were contemplating making Zeehrugge a base for torpedo attack, or a jumping-off place for a raid, the bombardment of the British warships has shown the futility of the scheme.