True Stories of the Great War, Volume 6 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
History
True Stories of the Great War, Volume 6 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
The impact was not so great or so terrible as I should have thought,
indeed it was a dull thud, and did not even throw me off my feet.
Previous to this the order to close watertight doors had been given, an
order which prevented this torpedo doing so much serious damage.
We listed to starboard about 40 degrees, and after a time the ship
righted herself to about 30 degrees. Everyone was on the look-out for
submarines, and guns were fired at every suspicious-looking object that
looked like like a periscope. I am not going to make any assertions,
as I am much too inexperienced. I was standing by when three guns were
fired.
The first was fired at what I thought to be a man's head. At any rate
the shell hit something, for it exploded.
Unfortunately, I was called down from the boat deck then, so did not
see what ensued, but the gunner says he saw two men pop up from the
spot after he fired a second shot, and the torpedo lieutenant supports
his assertion of having hit the submarine.
The second shot I saw (of course, other guns were fired) was at what I
feel sure was a submarine. She came up, and it was a plucky thing to
do, amid a mass of struggling men. I do not know if she was hit, but
I admit I felt a spasm of horror at the damage to our own men in the
water.
The third shot went right home, and did its work, and I cheered
heartily with the rest. The Germans evidently attacked us under cover
of a sailing trawler carrying the Dutch flag. This trawler, after we
had all been hit, made no attempt at rescue work, a heartless act that
roused our anger, and the captain of the after 9.2 gun trained his gun
on her and fired. The shell hit her in the stern and she at once took
fire.
II--"I SAW THE TORPEDO APPROACH"
While this was going on the Germans had fired another torpedo at
us, but it missed and went astern. Meanwhile several men had swum
alongside, and we helped them aboard, rubbed them down, pumped water
out of them, and wrapping them in blankets gave them hot tea. One of
those rescued was a midshipman. He was taken to the sick bay and after
drinking his tea, he turned to his commander and said:
"Why shouldn't we get into these cots, sir?"
"Quite right, sonny, jump in." He hadn't been there long when we were
struck again. The plucky boy jumped out and said, "Look here, sir, I'm
off," and away he went and jumped over the ship's side, and was picked
up by a boat some half-an-hour later.
It was this torpedo that settled our fate.
I saw her approaching about 400 yards distant, and she entered the
ship's side just abaft of the fore-bridge and entered No. 5 boiler
room. No doubt many poor fellows were killed outright. The ship seemed
to rise out of the water, settled back and at once listed badly and
began to turn turtle.
There was no panic whatever. The officers supervised the collecting
of all woodwork, etc., and the order was then given, "Every man for
himself."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account