lO 
Land Sc Water 
May 2, 1 918 
value. But its indirect importance as setting free new 
forces for attacking the submarine cannot be exaggerated, 
for it will be a step — and a great step — forward in making 
sure of the sea communications on which all depends. It 
must be conceded, then, that the results Admiral Keyes had 
in view amply justify a very considerable expenditure' both 
of material and rnen. Let us next ask ourselves what kind 
of material he chose, and how he proposed to use his forces 
with utmost economy and maximum tactical effect. 
Sir Roger Keyes' Tactics 
™ The purposes of the expedition, as we have seen, was to 
block the exit of the canal at Zeebriigge and the entrance 
of the small, narrow harbour at Ostend with old cruisers 
filled with cement, the removal of which would be an opera- 
tion of a lengthy and tedious kind. Incidentally, the plan 
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was to effect the maximum destruction of war stores and 
equipment at ZeebrQgge and to sink as many as possible of 
any of the enemy vessels found in either port, and, finally, 
to inflict on the enemy the maximum possible losses of 
personnel. As there were two points of attack, the expedi- 
tion naturally resolved itself into two distinct, but simul- 
taneous, undertakings. The simpler, the less dangerous, the 
less ambitious but, as the event showed, the more difficult 
operation of the two, was the attempt to block Ostend. The 
larger, more complex, and infinitely more perilous under- 
taking, but because of its very complications, ultimately 
easier, was the attempt at Zeebriigge. In its broad outlines, 
the scheme was to get the ships as near as possible without 
detection, and then to trust to a final rush to gain the desired 
position. Concealment up to the last moment was to be 
secured by smoke screens. At Ostend the problem was 
simply to run two or three ships into the entrance — that is, 
to get them there before the enemy's artillery would sink 
them where their presence would do no harm. If the Ostend 
attempt failed, it was largely because a sudden change in 
the weather conditions robbed the smoke screens, which 
were to hide the ships, of their value, so that the operation 
of placing the block ships accurately was made almost 
impossible. It may be asked why, in these conditions, the 
attempt was hot postponed ? The answer is obvious. The 
enemy could not be surprised twice, and though the oppor- 
tunity was not as good as had been hoped, the best had to 
be made of it. The operation of blocking such entrances 
has, of course, long been familiar. The exploit of Lieutenant 
Hobson in the Spanish-American War is fresh in the memories 
of all sailors. This failed through the steering gear of the 
blocking-ship being destroyed by gunfire at the critical 
moment. The Japanese attempted the same thing on a 
large scale at Port Arthur, but with anj'thing but complete 
success. If the Ostend effort, then, falls short of finality, 
we have the experience of these earlier precedents to explain 
and account for it. 
I have dealt with Ostend first because, after the preliminary 
bombardment, nothing more could have been attempted 
than to force the ship^ into the harbour entrance and sink 
them .there. But at Zeebriigge, as a glance at the plan of 
the place shows, a far more intricate operation was possible. 
Zeebrugge is_not a town. It is just the sea exit of the Bruges 
Canal, with its railway connections, round which a few 
streets of houses have clustered. The actual entrance to the 
canal is flanked by two short sea-walls at the end of each of 
which are guide-lights. From these lights up the canal to 
the lock gates is about half a mile. A large mole protects 
tiie sea channel to the canal from being blocked by silted 
sand. The mole is connected to the mainland by five hundred 
yards of pile viaduct. The mole is nearly a mile long, built 
in a curve, a segment amounting to perhaps one-sixth of 
a circle, the centre of which would be a quarter of a mile 
east of the canal entrance, while its radius would be three- 
quarters of a mile. It is a large and substantial stone struc- 
ture, on which are railway lines and a railway station, and 
has been turned to capital military account by the enemy, 
who erected on it aircraft sheds and mihtary estabhshments 
of many kinds. 
The general plan was to bombard the place for an hour by 
monitors and, under cover of this fire, for the attacking 
squadron to advance to the harbour mouth. Then, when 
the bombardment ceased. Vindictive was to nm alongside 
the mole, disembark her own landing party, and those from 
Iris and Daffodil, who were to overpower the enemy pro- 
tecting the guns and stores, while the old submarines were 
run into the pile viaduct to cut the mole off from the main- 
land, thus isolating it. Meanwhile, other forces were to 
engage any enemy destroyers or submarines that might be 
in the port. Finally, the block-ships were to be pushed right 
up into the canal mouth, and there sunk. The success of 
the latter part of these operations turned upon the success of 
the attack on the mole, for it is seemingly on this that the main 
artillery defences commanding the inner harbour at short 
range, were placed ; so that if these could be put out of 
action, the attack on the lock-gates, the sinking of the enemy's 
ships, and the navigation of the block-sliips to their right 
positions, would be as little inteifered with as possible. 
To ensure success against the mole, several very ingenious 
devices were brought into play. The first, and, it must be 
presumed, the main landing parties were placed in Vindictive. 
This cniiser — which displaces about 5,600 tons, and has a 
broadside of six 6-inch guns — was fitted, on the port side, 
with "brows" or landing gangways, that could be lowered 
on the mole the moment she came alongside. All the vessels 
of the squadron were equipped with fog or smoke-making 
material, which would veil the force from the enemy until he 
sent up his star-shells and, in the artificial light, would 
conceal the character, numbers, and composition of the force 
as completely as possible. It seems that a shift of wind at 
the critical moment — here, as at Ostend — robbed this plan 
of some of its anticipated efficiency. At some point of the 
approach, then, apparently just before Vindictive rounded 
and got abreast of the lighthouse, the presence of the invaders 
was detected, and they were saluted first by salvoes of star 
shells and next by as hot a gunfire as can be conceived. 
Vindictive lost no time in replying. Her six 6-inch guns 
— and no doubt her 12-pounders as well — swept the mole 
as long as they could be fired, and once alongside the "brows " 
— only two out of eighteen seem to have survived the heavy 
gunfire — were lowered, and officers and men "boarded" the 
mole. 
The earlier accounts stated that this landing was effected 
in spite of the stoutest sort of hand-to-hand fighting, that the 
enemy was overcome and driven back, and that the landing- 
party then proceeded to the destruction of the sheds and 
stores. The plans had included the blowing up of the pile 
viaduct, which connects the stone mole with the mainland 
— by means of one or two old submarines charged with 
explosives, and so virtually converted into giant torpedoes. 
