_Thetis_ increased to full speed and, passing round {227} the end of the Mole, steered for the extremity of the barge boom. A fairly heavy fire was being directed at her by such guns of the Mole-extension battery as were still in action; as far as could be seen, nothing was fired by the three-gun heavy battery at the end of the broad part of the Mole. The ship's guns opened fire at the lighthouse, which was believed to be used as a signalling and observation station, and at the southernmost barge; the latter was sunk. At this stage _Thetis_ was caught by the strong east-going tidal stream and was set towards the boom of entanglement nets. The ship passed over the latter between the two northern buoys and tore the nets away with her momentum. The piers at the entrance to the canal were then sighted, but the propellers were so badly fouled by the nets that the engines were brought to a stop. [Illustration: AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN THROUGH THE CLOUDS A FEW HOURS AFTER THE ENTERPRISE. Note the blockships sunk in the entrance, the break in the viaduct, and the southern barge missing from the boom.] It must have been at about this moment that the enemy first realised the true nature of the enterprise. The attacks on the Mole, the blowing up of the viaduct, the explosions of torpedoes on the inside of the Mole, the smoke, the rapid changes of visibility, and the terrific noise on all sides had combined to leave the enemy in a hopeless state of stupefaction as to our real intentions. We heard afterwards that they believed a forced landing on the coast was in progress. The impossibility of using one's defensive measures to the best advantage when the initiative lies in the hands of the attackers has already been referred to. Suffice it to say that the enemy do not appear to have discovered the real purpose of our operations until too late to make the best use of their defensive measures. {228} _Thetis_ now came under extremely heavy fire both from the direction of the Mole and from shore batteries near the canal. Her six-inch gun on the forecastle was replying to the shore batteries. She appeared to have grounded about three hundred yards from the canal entrance. _Thetis_ now appeared to be settling down. All chances of struggling into the canal entrance appeared to be hopeless. She had been hit again and again and was on fire in several places. She had taken the brunt of the firing whilst her two consorts were following comparatively undamaged. She could do little more now than assist _Intrepid_ and _Iphigenia_ to reach their objectives. Prearranged signals, therefore, were made to these other two ships guiding them to the canal. It must be remembered that it was now half an hour after midnight. _Intrepid_ and _Iphigenia_, in that order, passed close to _Thetis_. Thanks to the latter's signals they were able to locate the entrance piers; the further movements of those two vessels will be described in a moment.