The Story of the Great War, Volume 2: History of the European War from Official Sources
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 2: History of the European War from Official Sources
World War, 1914-1918
Four German destroyers were to be the next victims of the war in
European waters. On October 17,1914, the _S-115_, _S-117_, _S-118_, and
_S-119_ while doing patrol duty off the coast of the Netherlands, came
up with a British squadron consisting of the cruiser _Undaunted_ and the
destroyers _Legion_, _Lance_, and _Loyal_. An engagement followed, in
which damage was done to the British small boats and the four German
destroyers were sunk. Captain Fox, senior British officer, had been on
the _Amphion_ when she sank the _Koenigin Luise_ and had been rescued
after being knocked insensible by the explosion of the mine that sent
the _Amphion_ to the bottom.
The exploit of Lieutenant Commander Horton in the British submarine
_E-9_ when he sank the _Hela_ has already been narrated. The same
commander, with the same craft, during the first week of October, 1914,
proceeded to the harbor of the German port of Emden, whence had sailed
many dangerous German submarines and destroyers that preyed on British
ships. He lay submerged there for a long period, keeping his men amused
with a phonograph, and then carefully came to the surface. Through the
periscope he saw very near him a German destroyer, but he feared that
the explosion of a torpedo sent against her would damage his own craft,
so he allowed her to steam off, and when she was 600 yards away he let
go with two torpedoes. The second found its mark, and the _S-126_ was no
more. He immediately went beneath the surface and escaped the cordon of
destroyers which immediately searched for him. By October 7 the _E-9_
was back in Harwich, its home port.
On the 31st of October, 1914, the cross-channel steamer _Invicta_
received the S. O. S. signal and went to rescue the crew of the old
British cruiser _Hermes_, which had been struck by two torpedoes from a
German submarine near Dunkirk. All but forty-four of her men were saved.
The next victim of a German submarine was the gunboat _Niger_, which, in
the presence of thousands of persons on the shore at Deal, foundered
without loss of life on November 11, 1914. But one of the German
submarines was to go to the bottom in retaliation. On the 23d of
November the _U-18_ was seen and rammed off the Scotch coast, and some
hours later was again seen near by. This time she was floating on the
surface and carrying a white flag. The British destroyer _Garry_ brought
up alongside of her and took off her crew, just as she foundered.
Three days later the _Bulwark_, a British battleship of 15,000 tons and
carrying a crew of 750 officers and men, was blown up in the Thames
while at anchor at Sheerness. It was never discovered whether she was a
victim of a torpedo, a mine, or an internal explosion. It is possible
that a spy had placed a heavy charge of explosives within her hull. Only
fourteen men of her entire complement survived the disaster.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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