As soon as _Iphigenia_ was clear Captain Sneyd in _Thetis_ ordered the artificial smoke to be turned on, and had almost decided to abandon ship when Engineer Lieutenant-Commander Boddie succeeded in getting the starboard engine to go ahead. The ship moved slowly forward for a short distance, but was apparently dragging her stern along the bottom. As far as could be seen she was not only in the dredged channel leading to the canal, but was lying across it. The ship was undoubtedly in a sinking condition, so her captain decided to blow the bottom out of her in accordance with the Plan. [Sidenote: Sinking the Blockships] The blockships had each been fitted with explosive {229} charges inside the bottom of the ship. These charges had been connected electrically to a firing arrangement which could be operated from alternative positions in the ship. The petty officer in charge of the foremost firing keys had been killed and they could not be found owing to the fumes from bursting shell and those from the artificial smoke. The firing keys at the other end of the ship were, therefore, pressed after the crew had been ordered on deck. The charges immediately exploded. The bottom of the ship was blown out; in a few moments the vessel had sunk. The upper deck was now just under water. The ship's company abandoned the ship, which was still under incessant fire, in the only remaining boat and pulled away to the northward, where M.L. 526, which had followed the blockships, picked them up. The _Thetis'_ boat was the cutter. It had been badly holed by shell fire and was crowded to its full capacity. Some of the crew were wounded; Sneyd and his second-in-command had been wounded and gassed. The proceedings of M.L. 526, which also rescued some of the crew from another blockship, will be described later.