Comm. Henry Hardy), escorted by the Harwich destroyers " Tempest " and " Tetrarch," arrived off the coast. The motor launches under Comm. Hamilton Benn were busy laying a smoke screen, supported by the " Faulknor " (flying Commodore Hubert Lyne's broad pendant), " Lightfoot," " Mastiff," " Afridi," " Swift " and " Matchless." The wind was blowing lightly from the N.W., but about 11:50 shifted to the S.W. and blew back the smoke screen. The low clouds and drizzle made visibility difficult, and the Stroom Bank buoy could not be seen at first. Thinking that the ships were perhaps too far to the northward, Comm. Godsal continued on his course for two minutes, when he sighted the Stroom Bank buoy to the N.E. and turned to pass to northward of it. It was not, however, in its normal position (approximately i m. W.N.W. of the entrance), but had been shifted about a mile to the eastward. Commander Godsal steered from the buoy for the supposed direction of the harbour. As he looked anxiously out for the pierheads at Ostend, breakers suddenly loomed up on the starboard bow, and before the ship could turn she was ashore. The " Sirius " behind her grounded too. Fire had been opened from shore, and both ships were accordingly blown up where they stranded about a mile east of the piers. ML,2y6 (Lt. Roland Bourke) took off the " Brilliant's " crew, while ML23 (Lt. Keith Hoare) rescued the men from the " Sirius." A second attempt to close Ostend was made on the night of May o-io by Comm. Alfred Godsal in the " Vindictive " and Lt.-Comm. Hardy in the " Sappho," an old cruiser of the same class as the " Sirius." This time there was no preliminary bombardment but aircraft were cooperating. Conditions seemed favourable for the attempt. The sea was smooth, the night dark with wind from N.W., but hardly had the ships left Dunkirk when the " Sappho " blew out a manhole joint in her boiler and had to put back.
At 1 130 A.M. the small craft went in to lay the smoke screen. News had previously come in that the Stroom Bank buoy had been removed, and Lt. W. R. Slayter went in a coastal motor boat to place a calcium flare in its old position. By i -.35 the smoke cloud was beginning to come down, and at 1 143 the order was given for the monitors to open fire. A roar of batteries answered from the shore. Two coastal motor boats, CMB24 and 30, dashed ahead and torpedoed the piers. But once again misfortune was to attend the attempt. As the " Vindictive " approached, a thick sea fog rolled up the coast, making it impossible to see anything at over 300 yd. Uncertain as to his position, Comm. Godsal steered to westward and then to eastward, and finally gave orders to CMB23 (Lt. Hon. Cecil Spencer) to light a million-candle flare. Though dimmed by the fog and drizzle, its glare revealed the entrance 200 yd. off. The " Vindictive ". steered for it and the guns found her at once. The after control was demolished by a shell which killed everyone in it. The bridge was swept with bullets, and Comm. Godsal ordered everyone inside the conning tower. She was close to the eastern pier when a heavy shell burst close to the conning tower, which must have killed the commander for he was never seen again. Lt. Victor Crutchley took command and tried to turn her up the channel, but she grounded at an angle of about 25 to the pier and lay hard and fast. Engineer Lieutenant Wm. C. Bury blew the charges and she sank. The captain could not be found. ML- 254 (Lt. Geoff. Drummond, awarded the V.C.) came alongside under a fierce fire. His lieutenant and deck-hand were killed and he himself wounded in three places, but he managed to embark 39 officers and men, and then backing out of the entrance got clear and just managed to reach the " Warwick." Day was breaking and as the boat was badly damaged she was sunk. ML276 (Lt. Roland Bourke, awarded the V.C.) now returned to the " Vindictive," and after searching and shouting found Lt. Sir John Alleyne and two men, all badly wounded, clinging to a skiff. With three of his own crew killed or wounded Lt. Bourke managed to get out and reach the monitor " Prince Eugene " in safety.
This was the end of an enterprise for which no fewer than nine V.C.s were awarded. Its casualties amounted to a total of 637 killed, wounded and missing.
| A table should appear at this position in the text. See Help:Table for formatting instructions. |
April 22-23
Killed or died of wounds
Wounded
Missing
Officers
19
29
2
Seamen
56
136
Marines . "North Star" .
93
21
205 13
H
189
383
16
May 910
Officers
2
5
2
Men ....
6
25
9
197
413
27 = 637
In judging what was achieved it is necessary to remember that at the end of 1917 and early in 1918 the whole efforts of the navy were directed toward one goal to counter the submarine. The greatest losses were in the Channel where the Flanders flotilla worked, and the blow they would have received by the blocking of Zeebrugge and Ostend was well worth the risk. It was, however, only partially successful. Ostend, though the width of the entrance was reduced probably to 300 ft., was not closed, and though the ships sunk in Zeebrugge must have caused great inconvenience and delay it may be doubted whether they actually stopped the passage of submarines for more than a month. The entrance was 300 ft. wide; there was still a space of some 60 ft. between the stern of the " Iphigenia " and the pier, and by dredging along the edge and fixing up warping bollards it was made possible to warp submarines in and out at high water. The enterprise had another aspect. The navy chafed at its inactivity and looked eagerly for some outlet where it could get at grips with its enemy. The blocking of Zeebrugge and Ostend offered a good prospect of success and was within a reasonable distance of it. And if it did not wholly succeed, the work of those who took part in it sent a breath of inspira- tion through the navy and gave all who took part in it a lasting name. (A. C. D.)
ZEPPELIN, COUNT FERDINAND VON (1838-1917), German
airship inventor, was born at Constance, Baden, July 8 1838. He was educated for the army and received a commission at the age of 20. He served, as a volunteer, in the Federal army during the American Civil War and whilst in America made his first balloon ascent. Returning to Germany, he saw active service in the Austrian war of 1866 and in the Franco-German War of 1870. In 1891 he retired from the army with the rank
of general and thenceforth devoted his energies to the study of aeronautics. In 1000 he built an airship, which rose from the ground and remained in the air for 20 minutes, but was wrecked in landing. In 1906 he made two successful flights at a speed of 30 m. an hour, and in 1907 attained a speed of 36
miles. From that time onwards his airship construction made
steady progress, and the success he had achieved was evidenced
by the exploits of the Zeppelin airships in the World War. He
died at Charlottenburg March 8 1917.
ZHILINSKY, YAKOV (1853-1918), Russian general, was
born in 1853. On finishing his course at the Cavalry school in St. Petersburg in 1876 he was given a commission in the Guards cavalry, and in 1883 he was appointed on the general staff. He became in 1899 commander of a dragoon regiment, and in 1000 was promoted to the rank of general. During the Spanish-American War he was one of the foreign military attaches at the American general headquarters. In the Japanese War (1904-5) he was appointed chief of staff of the Viceroy of the Far East, Adml. Alexeyev, and in 1909, when Sukhomlinov became War Minister, Zhilinsky became head of the general staff. At the beginning of 1914 he was appointed to command the troops of the Warsaw military district, and on the declaration of war in 1914 he became commander-in-chief of the north-western front. After the defeat of Aug. and Sept. in eastern Prussia inflicted on his armies (Samsonov's and Rennenkampf's) he was recalled. In 1915 and 1916 he was the military representative of the Russian supreme commander-in-chief at the French headquarters. Zhilinsky was reported killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
