The Great War in England in 1897 Part 17

Notwithstanding the addition of three new battles.h.i.+ps and two new cruisers to our force in the Mediterranean, the utter inadequacy of our Navy was still very apparent. For years the British public had demanded that a dozen more new battles.h.i.+ps should be constructed in case of casualties, but these demands were unheeded, and during the three years that had pa.s.sed we had lost our naval supremacy, for France and Russia combined were now considerably stronger. France alone had 150 fighting pennants available along her southern sh.o.r.es, against our 59; and the Tsar's s.h.i.+ps were all strong, well-equipped, and armed with guns of the latest type.

As was feared from the outset, the Russian Black Sea Fleet had struck for the Suez Ca.n.a.l, England's highway to the East. Egypt, the Bosphorus, Gibraltar, and Tripoli in the grasp of the enemy, meant supremacy in the East, and a situation that would not be tolerated by either Italy or Austria. Therefore the British Admiral, recognising the seriousness of the situation, and having received instructions to return home and a.s.sist in the defence of Britain, mustered his forces and cleared for action. The events that occurred immediately afterwards are best related in the graphic and interesting narrative which was subsequently written to a friend by Captain Neville Reed of the great steel battles.h.i.+p _Ramillies_, and afterwards published, together with the accompanying sketch, in the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, as follows:--

"After leaving Malta, we rounded the Adventure Bank off the Sicilian coast, and headed due north past Elba and on to the Gulf of Genoa.

From Spezia we received despatches, and after anchoring for twelve hours,--during which time we were busy completing our preparations,--sailed at midnight westward. Off St. Tropez, near the Hyeres Islands, in obedience to signals from the flags.h.i.+p, the _Empress of India_, the ironclads _Jupiter_, _Sans Pareil_, _Repulse_, with the cruisers _Edgar_, _Dido_, _Diana_, _Orlando_, _Undaunted_, and _Scout_, the sloop _Gannet_, and five torpedo boats, detached themselves from the Squadron, and after exchanging further signals, bore away due south.

Giving the sh.o.r.e a wide offing, we steamed along throughout the afternoon. The Mediterranean had not yet been the scene of any b.l.o.o.d.y or fatal conflict, but as we cut our way through the calm sunlit waters with a brilliant cerulean sky above, the contrast between our bright and lovely surroundings and the terrible realities of the situation during those breathless hours of suspense still dwells distinctly in my memory.

"It was our duty to fight the enemy, to beat him, and to pa.s.s through the Straits of Gibraltar and help our comrades at home. Every man, although totally unaware of his present destination, felt that at last the moment had come when the supreme ambition of his life was to be realised, and he was to strike a blow for his country's honour.

"Apparently our Admiral was in no hurry. He no doubt was awaiting events, for at sunset we lay-to about thirty miles south of La Ciotat, and spent the calm bright night restlessly anxious and keeping a sharp lookout for the enemy. There was a hush of expectation over the s.h.i.+p, and scarcely a sound broke the quiet save the lapping of the water against the smooth sides of the ironclad, and no sign of force except the swish of the waves falling on either side of the formidable and deadly ram.

"Just after seven bells in the morning watch, however, we resumed our voyage, and turning, went north again. Then, for the first time, we knew the Admiral's intentions. An ultimatum had already been given. _We were to bombard Ma.r.s.eilles!_

"Three hours later we came within view of the city. Seen from the sea it has a certain amount of picturesqueness. In the foreground there is the harbour, with a barren group of islands at its entrance, and behind ma.s.ses of yellow houses covering an extensive valley, and white villas dotted over a semicircle of green hills stretching in the rear.

Prominent in the landscape is the church of Notre Dame de la Garde, perched on the eminence on the right; while on the left there stands on an island the Chateau d'If, rendered immortal by the adventures of Monte Cristo; and behind, on the broad Quai de la Joliette, rises the fine Cathedral, built in alternate courses of black and white stone. It is a handsome and wealthy city, with its fine shady boulevard, the Cannebiere running through its centre from the Arc de Triomphe right down to the old port whence the mail steamers depart. This city, teeming with life, it was our duty to lay in ruins!

"Knowing how strongly fortified it was, that upon each of those hills were great batteries ready at a given signal to pour out their deadly hail, and that under the blue waters were mines which might be exploded from the sh.o.r.e at any moment, we made preparations for counter-mining, and then cautiously approached within range. Suddenly, however, having got into position and laid our guns, we received the anxiously expected order, and a few moments later opened a terrific and almost simultaneous fire.

"Through my gla.s.s I could clearly distinguish the terrible confusion being caused in the streets as our sh.e.l.ls fell and burst on the Quai de la Joliette, in the Cannebiere, and the Boulevard de l'Empereur.

"The first taste of our guns had produced a terrible panic, for a sh.e.l.l from the _Dreadnought_, lying next to us, had struck the tower of the Cathedral and brought down a great quant.i.ty of masonry, while another sh.e.l.l from one of our 67-ton guns, bursting in the Palais de Justice with terrible effect, had ignited it.

"It was our first shot, and the gun had been well sighted; but ere we fired again such a storm of sh.e.l.l burst upon us that I confess for a moment I stood in my conning-tower motionless in surprise. On all sides the French had apparently established batteries. From the great Fort St.

Jean at the entrance to the port, and from the Batterie du Phare on the opposite side, flame and smoke belched from heavy guns continuously.

From a small battery in the Chateau d'If, from another on the rocky promontory on the right known as the Edoume, from a number of smaller ones established on the hills of l'Oriol and the Citadel, as well as from the great fortress of Notre Dame de la Garde on the highest hill, a little to the right of the city, there came an incessant thunder, and dozens of shots ricochetted over the placid water towards us.

"In a few moments, however, my 67-tonners were again adding to the deafening roar, my ten 6-inch quick-firing guns were sending out their messengers of death, and my smaller arms, consisting of 3 and 16-pounders, were acting their part in the sudden outburst. We had attacked the town without intention of investment, but simply to destroy it, and as the minutes slipped by, and I peered through my gla.s.s, I could see how devastating were our enormous modern sh.e.l.ls.

"All our guns were now trained upon the forts, and the bombardment was most vigorous. The six coast-defence s.h.i.+ps, which endeavoured to drive us off, we quickly put out of action, capturing one, torpedoing two, and disabling the three others; while up to the present, although a number of shots from the land batteries had struck us, we sustained no serious damage.

"We were avenging Hull and Newcastle. Into the panic-stricken town we were pouring an unceasing storm of sh.e.l.l, which swept away whole streets of handsome buildings, and killed hundreds of those flying for safety into the country. Watching, I saw one shot from one of my bow barbette guns crash into the roof of the fine new Hotel du Louvre, in the Cannebiere. The French Tricolor on the flagstaff toppled over into the street, and a second later the clouds of smoke and the debris which shot up showed plainly the awful results of the bursting sh.e.l.l.

"Time after time my 67-tonners crashed and roared, time after time I pressed my fingers upon the little k.n.o.bs in the conning-tower, and huge projectiles were discharged right into the forts. In conjunction with the never-ceasing fire of companion s.h.i.+ps, we rained iron in a continuous stream that wrought havoc in the defences and destroyed all the buildings that offered targets. In an hour the a.r.s.enal behind the Palais de Justice was laid in ruins, the fine Hotel de Ville was a mere heap of smouldering debris, the Bourse, and the great Library in the Boulevard du Musee were half wrecked by sh.e.l.ls, and the Custom House, the Gendarmerie, and the Prefecture were burning furiously. The Chateau du Phare on the headland at the entrance to the fort was suffering frightfully, and the sh.e.l.ls that had struck the Citadel and the fort of Notre Dame had been terribly effective. Every part of the city from the Promenade du Prado to the Botanical Gardens was being swept continuously by our fire, and from the black smoke curling upward in the sunlight we knew that many broad handsome streets were in flames. Excited over their work of revenge, my guns' crews worked on with a contemptuous disregard for the withering fire being poured upon us from the land. They meant, they said, to teach the Frenchmen a lesson, and they certainly did.

Around us shots from the batteries fell thickly, sending up huge columns of water. Suddenly a sh.e.l.l struck the _Ramillies_ forward in front of the barbette, and burst like the rending of a thundercloud. The deck was torn up, a dozen men were maimed or killed, poor fellows! but the solid face of the barbette held its own, and the muzzles of our two great guns remained untouched.

"Several shots from the Notre Dame Fort and the Endoume Battery then struck us in quick succession. One was particularly disastrous, for, cras.h.i.+ng into the battery on the port side, it burst, disabling one of the 6-inch guns, and killing the whole gun's crew in an instant. The effect was frightful, for the whole s.p.a.ce around was wrecked, and not a man escaped.

"Such are the fortunes of war! A few moments later we turned our heavy guns upon the Endoume Battery, perched up upon the rocky headland, and together with the _Empress of India_ and the _Victorious_ thundered forth our great projectiles upon it in a manner which must have been terribly disconcerting. The battery replied vigorously at first, but the _Nile_, noticing the direction in which we had turned our attention, trained her guns upon the same fort, and let loose a perfect hail of devastating sh.e.l.l. Without ceasing for a second, we played upon it, and could distinguish even with the naked eye how completely we were destroying it, until half an hour later we found that the Frenchmen had ceased to reply. We had silenced their guns, and, in fact, totally wrecked the fort.

"Several of our vessels were, however, severely feeling the fire from the Notre Dame Fortress and that of St. Jean. Nearly one hundred men on board the _Trafalgar_ had been killed; while two shots, entering one of the broadside batteries of the flags.h.i.+p, had caused frightful havoc, and had blown to atoms over forty men and three officers. A torpedo boat that had approached the French coast-defence s.h.i.+p just before she was captured had been sunk by a shot, but the crew were fortunately all rescued, after much difficulty, by the sloop _Dolphin_, which had severely suffered herself from the vigorous fire from the Batterie du Phare. The funnel of the _Nile_ had been carried away by a shot from the Citadel, while among the more conspicuous British losses was a serious catastrophe which had occurred on board the _Hood_ by the premature explosion of a torpedo, by which a sub-lieutenant and thirty-three men were launched into eternity, and sixteen men very severely wounded. The engines of the _Arethusa_ were also broken.

"The smoke rising from the bombarded city increased every moment in density, and even in the daylight we could distinguish the flames. The centre of Ma.r.s.eilles was burning furiously, and the fire was now spreading unchecked. One of our objects had been to destroy the immense quant.i.ty of war stores, and in this we were entirely successful. We had turned our united efforts upon the Fort St. Jean down at the harbour entrance and that of Notre Dame high on the hill. Pounding away at these, time slipped by until the sun sank in a blaze of crimson and gold. Both forts made a gallant defence, but each of our shots went home, and through my gla.s.ses I watched the awful result. Suddenly a terrific report caused the whole city to tremble. One of our shots had apparently entered the powder magazine in the Fort St. Jean, and it had blown up, producing an appalling catastrophe from which the fortress could never recover.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOMBARDMENT OF Ma.r.s.eILLES BY THE BRITISH: "ONE OF OUR Sh.e.l.lS HAD ENTERED THE POWDER MAGAZINE OF FORT ST. JEAN."]

"By this time the whole of the s.h.i.+pping in the docks was burning furiously, and the congested part of the city lying between the port and the Lyons Railway Station was like a huge furnace. The sight was one of terrible grandeur.

"Presently, just as the sun sank behind the grey night clouds, we ceased fire, and then gazed with calm satisfaction upon the result of our bombardment. We had treated a French city in the same manner as the French and Russians had treated our own homes, and we could look upon this scene of destruction and death without a pang of remorse. But that was not all. When our guns were silent we could distinctly hear vigorous rifle firing at the back of the city. Then we knew the truth.

"While we had been attacking Ma.r.s.eilles from the sea, the Italians, who a week before had crossed the frontier, and with the Germans occupied Lyons, had co-operated with us on land, and the terror-stricken Ma.r.s.eillais, hemmed in by fire and bullets on either side, had been swept away in thousands.

"The scenes in the streets were, we afterwards learnt, awful; and although the garrison offered a desperate resistance to the Italians along the valley near the Chateau des Fleurs, most of them were killed, and nearly three thousand of their number taken prisoners. But the Italians were unable to enter Ma.r.s.eilles themselves, as, long before they had succeeded in breaking up the land defences, we had set the place on fire, and now, as night fell, the great city was one ma.s.s of flames, the lurid light from which illuminated sky and sea with a bright red glare."

The blazing African sun was fading, flooding the calm sapphire Mediterranean with its blood-red afterglow. The air was oppressive, the wind blew hot from the desert, and shoals of tiny green birds were chattering before roosting in the oasis of tall date palms that cast long shadows over the sun-baked stones of the Place du Gouvernement at Algiers. Everything was of a dazzling whiteness, relieved only by the blue sky and sea. The broad, handsome Square was almost deserted, the jalousies of the European houses were still closed, and although a few people were sipping absinthe at the cafes, the siesta was not yet over.

At one corner of the Square the Mosque of Djama-el-Djedid, with its dome and minarets, stood out intensely white against the bright, cloudless sky, its spotless cleanliness causing the white-washed houses of Europeans to appear yellow and dingy; and as the _mueddin_ stood on one of the minarets with arms uplifted, calling the Faithful to prayer, idle Moors and Arabs, who had been lying asleep in the shadow during the afternoon, rose quickly, rearranged their burnouses, and entered the Mosque in order to render thanks to Allah.

Darkness crept on after a brief twilight. Moorish women, wrapped in their white _haicks_, wearing their ugly baggy trousers, and veiled to the eyes, waddled along slowly and noiselessly among the palms, and gradually a gay cosmopolitan crowd a.s.sembled in the Place to enjoy the _bel fresco_ after the terrible heat of the day, and to listen to the fine band of the 1st Zouaves, which had already taken up its stand in the centre of the Square, and was now playing one of Strauss's dreamy waltzes.

The night was bright and starlit, one of those calm, mystic evenings peculiar to North Africa. All was peaceful, but no moon had yet risen.

The city wore its gay air of carelessness. White-robed Moors and red-fezzed Arabs, negroes from the Soudan, and Biskris in their blue burnouses, lounged, chattered, and promenaded, while the cafes and bazaars around were full of life, and the warm, balmy air was laden with the scent of flowers.

Suddenly, without warning, the whole place was illuminated by a brilliant light from the sea. Slowly it swept the town, and a few seconds later other bright beams shot forth, lighting up the quays, the terraces of white, flat-roofed houses, and the Moorish city on the hill.

Then, before the promenaders could realise the cause, a loud booming was heard at sea, and almost at the same moment a sh.e.l.l fell, and, exploding in the midst of them, blew a dozen Moors and Arabs into atoms.

In a few seconds the cannonade increased, and the battery in the centre of the harbour replied. Then firing seemed to proceed from all quarters, and a storm of sh.e.l.l suddenly crashed upon the town with the most appalling effect.

British war-vessels had crept up within range, and were pouring the vials of Britain's wrath upon the ancient city of the Deys!

The detachment of vessels which, led by the new battles.h.i.+p _Jupiter_, went south from St. Tropez, had received instructions to destroy Algiers and return with all speed to Cagliari, in Sardinia, to await further instructions. The bombardment of the two cities simultaneously was in order to draw off the French Squadron from the position it had taken up near Gibraltar, so that the British could fight and then run past them into the Atlantic.

How far the manoeuvre succeeded is shown in the few interesting details of the bombardment given in the course of an interview which a reporter of the _Daily Telegraph_ had with Lieut. George Ingleton, of the first-cla.s.s cruiser _Edgar_. The officer said:--

"We arrived off Algiers two hours after sundown, and after an inspection with search-lights, began to let fly with our big guns. In a few minutes the Al-Djefna Battery in the centre of the harbour replied, and a moment later a very rigorous fire was poured forth from Fort Neuf on the right and Forts Bab-Azzoun and Conde on the left. All four were very strong, and in conjunction with coast-defence vessels offered a most vigorous resistance. So suddenly did we fire upon the town, that a frightful panic must have been caused. Before we had fired half a dozen times, a shot from one of our 22-tonners crashed into the dome of the Mosque and totally demolished it, while another particularly well-aimed sh.e.l.l struck the Mairie, a big handsome building on the Boulevard de la Republique, facing the sea, tearing out a portion of the front. Then, turning our guns upon the long row of shops, banks, and hotels which formed the Boulevard, we pounded away most effectively, while several of our other vessels attended to the forts.

"During the first half-hour the four wars.h.i.+ps of the enemy gave us considerable trouble, but very soon our torpedoes had sunk two of them, and the other two were quickly captured.

"Meanwhile, under the hot fire from the forts, the bombardment grew exciting. Sh.e.l.ls were ricochetting on the water all round us, but our search-lights being now shut off, we offered a very indistinct target to the enemy. On nearly all our s.h.i.+ps, however, there were some slight casualties. A sh.e.l.l severely damaged the superstructure of the _Jupiter_, while others rendered useless several of her machine guns. A sh.e.l.l penetrated the _Gannet_, unfortunately killing fourteen bluejackets; and had it not been that the deck of the _Edgar_ was protected throughout, the consequences to us would also have been very serious. Nevertheless, our two 22-ton guns rendered valuable service, and contributed in no small measure to the demolition of the town.

"From the outset we could see that Algiers was totally unprepared for attack, and, continuing our fire calmly and regularly, we watched the flames bursting forth in every part of the town and leaping skyward. On sh.o.r.e the guns kept up their roaring thunder, although by aid of gla.s.ses we could detect how effectual were our sh.e.l.ls in wrecking the fortifications and laying in ruins the European quarter. Every moment we were dealing terrible blows which shook the city to its foundations. The formidable city walls availed them nothing, for we could drop our sh.e.l.ls anywhere we pleased, either on the hill at Mustapha or upon the pretty Moorish villas that lined the sh.o.r.e at St. Eugene.

"Blazing away at long range upon the town, we spread destruction everywhere. Houses toppled like packs of cards, mosques were blown into the air, and public buildings swept away like grains of sand before the sirocco. Under such a fire thousands of natives and Europeans must have perished, for we were determined to carry out our intentions, and teach the invaders a lesson they were not likely to easily forget. Time after time our heavy guns crashed, while our 6-inch quick-firers kept up their roar, and our machine guns rattled continuously. As the hours went by, and we continued our work of merciless destruction, we were hit once or twice, but beyond the loss of two men and some unimportant damage we escaped further punishment.

"The roar of our guns was deafening, and the smoke hung over the calm sea like a storm-cloud. Still we kept on in the face of the galling fire from the sh.o.r.e, and before midnight had the satisfaction of witnessing a magnificent spectacle, for the isolated conflagrations gradually united and the whole town was in flames.

"We had accomplished our work, so with cheers for Old England we gave a parting shot, and turning were soon steaming away towards the Sicilian coast, leaving Algiers a ma.s.s of roaring flame.

"The journey was uneventful until just before noon on the following day.

I was at that time on duty, and suddenly, to my surprise, detected a number of s.h.i.+ps. By the aid of our gla.s.ses, the captain and I found to our dismay that a number of the most powerful vessels of the Russian Fleet were bearing down upon us! All our other vessels had made the same discovery, and I must confess that the meeting was somewhat disconcerting. The strength of the Russian ironclads was such as to cause our hearts to beat more quickly. To engage that great force meant certain defeat, while it was necessary that our Admiral off Ma.r.s.eilles should know of the whereabouts of this hostile squadron, therefore we resolved to get away. But although we altered our course and put on all speed, we were, alas! unsuccessful. At last we determined at all hazards to stick to our guns so long as we were afloat, and as the first of the Tsar's ironclads drew within range, one of our 22-tonners thundered. The white smoke, driven forward, tumbled over our bows. We had spoken the first word of battle!"

CHAPTER XXI.

A NAVAL FIGHT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.