A little time after the action began to heat up between
our battle-cruisers and the enemy’s, eight or
ten of our destroyers opened the ball for their branch
of the service by breaking up the attack of an enemy
light cruiser and fifteen destroyers. Of these
they accounted for at least two destroyers—some
think more—and drove the others back on
their battle-cruisers. This scattered that fight
a good deal over the sea. Three of our destroyers
held on for the enemy’s battle-fleet, who came
down on them at ranges which eventually grew less
than 3000 yards. Our people ought to have been
lifted off the seas bodily, but they managed to fire
a couple of torpedoes apiece while the range was diminishing.
They had no illusions. Says one of the three,
speaking of her second shot, which she loosed at fairly
close range, “This torpedo was fired because
it was considered very unlikely that the ship would
escape disablement before another opportunity offered.”
But still they lived—three destroyers against
all a battle-cruiser fleet’s quick-firers, as
well as the fire of a batch of enemy destroyers at
600 yards. And they were thankful for small mercies.
“The position being favourable,” a third
torpedo was fired from each while they yet floated.
At 2500 yards, one destroyer was hit somewhere in
the vitals and swerved badly across her next astern,
who “was obliged to alter course to avoid a
collision, thereby failing to fire a fourth torpedo.”
Then that next astern “observed signal for destroyers’
recall,” and went back to report to her flotilla
captain—alone. Of her two companions,
one was “badly hit and remained stopped between
the lines.” The other “remained stopped,
but was afloat when last seen.” Ships that
“remain stopped” are liable to be rammed
or sunk by methodical gun-fire. That was, perhaps,
fifty minutes’ work put in before there was any
really vicious “edge” to the action, and
it did not steady the nerves of the enemy battle-cruisers
any more than another attack made by another detachment
of ours.
“What does one do when one passes a ship that
’remains stopped’?” I asked of a
youth who had had experience.
“Nothing special. They cheer, and you cheer
back. One doesn’t think about it till afterwards.
You see, it may be your luck in another minute.”
LUCK
There were many other torpedo attacks in all parts
of the battle that misty afternoon, including a quaint
episode of an enemy light cruiser who “looked
as if she were trying” to torpedo one of our
battle-cruisers while the latter was particularly engaged.
A destroyer of ours, returning from a special job
which required delicacy, was picking her way back
at 30 knots through batches of enemy battle-cruisers
and light cruisers with the idea of attaching herself
to the nearest destroyer-flotilla and making herself
useful. It occurred to her that as she “was
in a most advantageous position for repelling enemy’s
destroyers endeavouring to attack, she could not do
better than to remain on the ‘engaged bow’
of our battle-cruiser.” So she remained
and considered things.
Copyrights
Sea Warfare from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
