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[Page 11]

1,500 GERMAN SHELLS.

The Germans are said to have fired no less than 1500 shells from first to last, and the curious assorment of them is probably due to the fact that she must have used almost every projectile she possessed. At least one shrapnel is said to have burst ove the "SYDNEY"; and one high-explosive shell which hit the armour and burst outside was curiously like lyddite. It did no harm to anyone; but a man in one of the gun's crews standing on the deck above had the whole of his clothes splashed with an ugly yellow substance or fluid.

The only shot which most people seem to have noticed except such as burst almost on top of them was one which struck the forecastle. Several men in other parts of the ship noticed a great wooden splinter which it sent flying into the air. For the most part the men were too busy either to make observations or to cheer when their own shots hit. The Officers' voices shouting orders down the speaking tubes were the only sounds that were heard above the din of the ship's own guns. The sound of the enemy's bursting shells was hardly ever noticed. Except for an occassional request to a mate to hurry up the men worked practically in silence. Only once did the men cheer during the whole fight. This was when the "EMDEN" became obliterated by the smoke of her own fire. Many of the men thought that she had sunk and were very excited. "She's gone! She's gone!" someone shouted. "Man the lifeboats!" said others. But the "EMDEN" gradually hove out of the smoke and the guns started again.

IN THE ENGINE-ROOM.

Neither ship during the fight was actually hit directly in the engine-room itself. A solitary splinter was the sole fragment which found its way into the "SYDNEY"s engine-room. A fair number of splinters and fragments entered the "EMDEN"s engine-room during the fight but no damage was done. The shots which completely wrecked her engines were those fired afterwards by the "SYDNEY" when the "EMDEN"s nose was high on the beach and the shot consequently went straight through the hull destroying the machinery right and left. The condition of the "SYDNEY"s engines is stated on all sides to have been a great factor in the battle. Her Chief Engineer struck to his work all through the day although he is said by some to have been exceedingly ill at the time. It was found that he was suffering from appendicitis - this was his last appearance and he has since been sent ashore to hospital much to the regret of everyone in the ship.

"SYDNEY" FIRED ONE TORPEDO.

The whole of the damage to both ships - the "SYDNEY"s is very slight - was done by gun-fire. The "EMDEN" fired no torpedoes; her torpedo flat was put out of action early in the fight and she was unable to use her submerged tubes. The "SYDNEY" once in about the middle of the fight fired one torpedo. But the range was long and it cleared missed. The damage done to the "EMDEN" by gun-fire was so great that one wonders she was kept afloat. Of her stern nothing remains except a few bent and tangled ribs. It is said that every gun layer in the "EMDEN" except one was killed and indeed scarcely any of the deck hands remained. Curiously enough the one part of the "EMDEN" which was scarcely injured at all was the forecastle. This is probably the reason why her Captain, Captain Karl von Muller, was uninjured as his place would have be in the fore part of the ship and probably Prince Franz Joseph of Hohenzollern, who was also uninjured was with him. Here it was that the remnants of the crew gathered when fires drove them out of the rest of the ship, and here and on the land the "SYDNEY" found them. They were dazed by the awful experiences they had gone through and looked on dumbly when the

  

  

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