Seeing
that one of the Germans might escape in the dark, the _Broke_ (named
after Captain Broke of the _Shannon_ in the War of 1812) turned and
rammed her amidships. The Germans fought well, swarming aboard the
_Broke_ and fighting hand to hand, as in the days of boarding. But
Midshipman Giles stood up to the first of them, who was soon killed by
a bluejacket's cutlass; and then, after a tremendous tussle with swords
and pistols and anything else that was handy, every German was either
driven overboard or killed on the spot, except two that surrendered.
A year later (on St. George's Day) the _Vindictive_ led the famous raid
on Zeebrugge under Captain Carpenter, V.C. The idea was to destroy the
principal German base in Belgium from which aircraft and submarines
were always starting. For weeks beforehand the crews that had
volunteered to go on this desperate adventure were carefully trained in
secret. The plan was to block the mouth of the Bruges Canal, by
sinking three vessels filled with concrete, while the _Vindictive_
smashed up the batteries on the mole (long solid wharf) guarding the
entrance, and an old submarine, loaded like a gigantic torpedo, blew up
the supports for the bridge that connected the mole with the land.
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