Prev | Current Page 329 | Next

Wood, William (William Charles Henry), 1864-1947

"Flag and Fleet How the British Navy Won the Freedom of the Seas"

The _Defender_, though herself half wrecked by several hits,
then limped up and took the _Onslow_ in tow till one o'clock the next
afternoon, when tugs had come to the rescue.
[Illustration: H.M.S. _Monmouth_, Armoured Cruiser. Sunk at Coronel,
November 1st, 1914.]
The strongest of all the lighter ships that cleared the way for
Jellicoe's battle fleet were the armoured cruisers, which are about
half way between the light and battle cruisers. Sir Robert Arbuthnot's
First Armoured Cruiser Squadron, speeding ahead of Jellicoe, swooped
down on the German light cruisers in grand style, sank one, lamed two,
and was driving the rest before it, helter-skelter, when, without a
moment's warning, the huge hulls of the German battle line loomed out
of the mist at almost point-blank range! In his eagerness to make
short work of all the German light craft in the way Sir Robert had lost
his bearings in the baffling mist and run right in between the two
great battle lines. Quick as a flash he fought the German giants with
every gun that he could bring to bear while turning back to take his
proper station on the flank.


Pages:
317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341