In front of Zeebrugge, in spite of the infernal artillery and machine-gun fire, sweeping the mole, H. M. S. _Vindictive_, under captain A. F. B. Carpenter, helped by the _Daffodil_ and _Iris_ managed to land his men. That diversion brought the whole fire and the enemy’s attention up to the mole, thus clearing the way to the blockships. Machine-gun nests and a part of the enemy’s organizations were destroyed or set on fire. Little damage was done, which after all was merely accessory. During that time, H. M. S. _Thetis_ was nearing the channel. She succeeded to cross the mine-barrage but unluckily her propeller got entangled in the nets of the defences, rendering all manœuvres impossible whatever. The commander was then forced to blow her up after that the crew had been taken on board of the trawlers. Her position after all greatly helped the rapid sanding up of the harbour. H. M. S. _Intrepid_ and _Iphigenia_ which followed H. M. S. _Thetis_ up, overran all the obstacles and managed to enter the canal. They placed themselves athwart in order to block entirely the entrance up. It is then, when freed from their crews that were embarked on board of the trawlers, that their captains exploded charges. It was while these manœuvres were on, that Lieutenant Richard D. Sandford drove his submarine,—the C_{3}—, below the bays of the pier and there blew her up, making a breach thirty meters long, thus isolating the jetty from the coast. This last deed was to be the master piece of the gallant expedition. The explosion had been tremendous. As soon as the three cruisers loaded with concrete had been sunk, H. M. S. _Vindictive_ re-embarked her crew and the whole little “British Main” turned back “Homeward-Bound”. The men of the _Vindictive_ were then taken on board of the admiral’s boat, the _Warwick_. There is one point which must be kept in mind, that is that during the whole of these operations, the powerful defences, switched on Zeebrugge, were thundering death from every gun, from every rifle and machine-gun, and, under that tornado of fire the battle area was no else but real hell! The next day, the aerial photographs proved the wonderful results attained by the expedition, results which were far beyond the most optimistical previsions. In regard to this wonderful achievement and the temerity needed to carry it through, the casualties have shown relatively light. From out of the 1780 officers and other ranks who took part in the raid, 176 were killed, 412 wounded and 49 missing. [Illustration: The Blocking of Zeebrugge by the British Navy during the night of April 22^d to 23^d 1918. ]