"Rodney Myrvaagnes" > wrote in message
...
> I am reading Castles of Steel, a splendid book about the British and
> German naval action in WW I. On page 410 I came on a passage that
> doubled me up. I will type in a quote below. This is in the middle of
> the Battle of the Dogger Bank, The first major fleet engagement of the
> two navies in the North Sea.
>
> Admiral David Beatty's flagship has been crippled by major hits below
> the watrerline and is slowly making way back to England. Beatty has
> moved onto a destroyer to catch up with the ongoing battle. Now he has
> returned.
>
> The food comes near the end of the paragraph.
>
> Now the quote:*********************
>
> Beatty foiund Lion, battered and listing, making for home at 10 knots
> on her starboard engine, surrounded by a screen of ligjht cruisers and
> destroyers. Sespite the appalling appearance of her decks and
> superstructure, casualties had been remarkably low: two men killed and
> eleven wounded. The critical damage to the ship was below the
> waterline. Here, work parties had placed collision mats and built wood
> cofferdams to stop the inflow of seawater, shored up bulkheads to
> prevent collapse, and started the pumps. Nevertheless, the injury to
> the ship's propulsion system was grave. Sal****er contamination of the
> boiler-feed-water systemalready had caused the failure of the port
> engine and now was also affecting the starboard engine. All dynamos
> were out of action and, except for the light provided by lanterns and
> candles, the ship was dark. No stoves were working, but Beatty's
> steward, left behind when the admiral departed the ship, managed to
> produce a cold lunch of champagne and foie gras sandwiches for the
> members of the staff. Young and his colleagues, their faces balckend
> by
> cordite smoke and their nerves jangled by hours under shellfire, sat
> down and cheered themselves at this unusual picnic
>
> ***************************************end of quote
>
>
> There'll always be an England, I guess. (But only as long as there is
> also a France)
>

And they say war is hell...

Jack Fiestarmy