E.F. KNIGHT
AUTHOR OF "WHERE THREE EMPIRES MEET,"
"THE CRUISE OF THE 'FALCON,'" "THE 'FALCON' ON THE BALTIC," ETC.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO
MCMXIX
PREFACE[ToC]
Recent visits that were made to Harwich for the purpose of writing a series of articles on the Harwich Naval Forces for the Morning Post suggested to me the amplification of these articles and their reproduction in the form of a little book. This does not profess to be anything more than a summary of the gallant doings of the Harwich Forces in the course of the war. The full history, no doubt, will be written some day. But this, I hope, may serve as a record that will enable many to realise better what Britain owes to the Navy, and what a great work was done by the light cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and auxiliary vessels that had Harwich as their base throughout the war.
For the purposes of this book I have referred to no official records. Conversations with those who were eye-witnesses of and participators in the events that I have here described have served as my sole source of information.
My thanks are due to the naval officers who so readily assisted me in my quest while I was in Harwich, and to the Morning Post for the kind permission which I have received to publish in book form my articles that appeared in that paper.
E.F.K.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
[Part I] | ||
| [CHAPTER I] | ||
| The Opening of the War | 5 | |
| The light cruisers and destroyers—Harwich in war time—The Harwich Force goes out—The first shots of the naval war—Sinking of the Königin Luise—Loss of the Amphion. | ||
| [CHAPTER II] | ||
| The Heligoland Bight Action | 23 | |
| The plan—The sweep by the Harwich Force—The destroyers in action—Arethusa's duel with the Frauenlob—Off Heligoland again—Action with German light cruisers—The Mainz sunk—End of the Arethusa. | ||
| [CHAPTER III] | ||
| Other Actions | 45 | |
| The battle of the Dogger Bank—The sinking of the Blücher—The Lowestoft raid—The action off Texel. | ||
| [CHAPTER IV] | ||
| The Convoys | 55 | |
| The Beef Trip—Escorting mine-layers—Encounters with enemy mine-sweepers—Sinking of the Meteor—The Centaur mined. | ||
| [CHAPTER V] | ||
| Escorting Seaplaness | 73 | |
| The Cuxhaven raid—The Sylt raid—Enemy patrol boats sunk—Loss of the Medusa—The flagship rams an enemy destroyer—Saving of the Landrail. | ||
| [CHAPTER VI] | ||
| The Patrols | 97 | |
| Raids on enemy trawler fleets—The unsleeping watch—Patrolling the Channel barrage—Patrolling the mine-net barrage—The patrols in action. | ||
[Part II] | ||
| [CHAPTER VII] | ||
| Composition of the Flotilla | 113 | |
| The shore establishment—Heavy losses of the flotilla—Humorous incidents—Drowning the mascot—Bluffing the Huns. | ||
| [CHAPTER VIII] | ||
| Reconnaissance and Mine-Laying | 127 | |
| The eyes of the Fleet—The Westphalen torpedoed—Mine-laying submarines—Destruction of U boats. | ||
| [CHAPTER IX] | ||
| Fine Submarine Records | 145 | |
| Some narrow escapes—Sinking a Zeppelin—The doings of the E9—Sinking of the Prince Adalbert—The decoy trawler. | ||
| [CHAPTER X] | ||
| German Crimes | 163 | |
| Loss of the E 13—Inhuman Hun methods—Stranding of the U.C. 5—German traps—Risky salvage work. | ||
[Part III] | ||
| [CHAPTER XI] | ||
| The Royal Naval Trawler Reserve | 181 | |
| Mine-sweeping trawlers—Captains courageous—Scotch drifters—The motor launches—Keeping open the swept channels. | ||
| [CHAPTER XII] | ||
| Work of the Auxiliaries | 207 | |
| Mine-sweeping methods—Indicator nets—Heavy losses—Brilliant rescues. | ||
| [CONCLUSION] | 231 | |