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[Page 62]
we increased to twenty one, and things began to hum. It was only occasionally I could get a glimpse of the "R", who was leading us, and what time I did see her she appeared as a black pebble in a setting of cotton wool, so immersed in foam was she. On board the "T", it seemed we were moving in a sort of travelling Niagara, and every moment I expected the bridge to be swept away. At 6.10, "Despatch is necessary" once more came through. People were drowning, break the ship, but save the people. Twenty three knots was ordered, and I held my breath to see what would happen. I did not wait long, for the next moment the bridge was smashed in, and the quarter master and myself knocked flat and wallowing in a torrent of water. Jumping up, I eased her down, repaired the damage as best we could, and went on again. Five minutes after this, she shipped a beauty, which swept away the forward gun shelters broke the anchors adrift from their securing chains, twisted a lot of shot racks out of all shape, and flung the shells over board, broke and twisted all the quarter deck awning stanchions, and last of all sent the youngest and smallest rating on board to his death, swept over the side in a torrent of foam which nothing human could resist, the poor little beggar was never seen again. By 7 a.m., we arrived at the scene of the disaster. A T.B.D. (not one of ours I am glad to say) had rammed another which had sunk, while the ramming ship stood by with her bows twisted out of all semblance. A French T.B.D. was also standing by, she had picked up thirty nine survivors, and was looking for more. Wreckage and dead bodies everywhere. Very horrible. We searched for over an hour without any success, when on the crest of a wave, we saw an arm feebly waving. On approaching closer, we made out the owner who was clinging to a raft together with what appeared to be two dead bodies. The weather being far too bad to lower a boat, the ship was manouvred at slow speed until we brought the raft alongside, when lines were thrown to the man. He was too weak to make it fast. Our Gunners, making a line fast