h her off, and while thus engaged
was screened by the 1st Destroyer Division of the Harwich force. The
_Arethusa_ gave the _coup de grace_ to the _Bluecher_ with a torpedo
and sank her. The _Arethusa_ and the destroyers were picking up the
survivors of the _Bluecher_ when a Taube flew overhead and attacked
the boats with bombs, killing Germans struggling in the water as well
as some of our own men. So the _Arethusa_ recalled the boats.
Otherwise more of the _Bluecher's_ crew might have been saved. The
final duty of the Harwich Force on this occasion was to screen the
_Indomitable_ while she towed the disabled _Lion_ back to the Grand
Fleet base in the Firth of Forth.

During the Lowestoft raid of April 25, 1916, while the German battle
cruisers were bombarding our coast, the Harwich Force did good work.
The _Conquest_, flying the Commodore's pennant, the _Cleopatra_, and
sixteen destroyers were sent out to distract the attention of the
enemy and, if possible, torpedo some of his ships. While carrying out
this duty they suffered severely. They sighted four enemy battle
cruisers screened by light cruisers and destroyers. They made a
vigorous attack upon this screening force, and this compelled the
German battle cruisers, which at the time were bombarding Lowestoft,
to cover their own light craft by turning their attention on the
Harwich Force. The latter, now exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy
big ships as well as from the light cruisers and destroyers, had to
turn and retire.

It was while our ships were thus turning, and were, so to speak,
bunched up in the loop formed by the turning operation, that they
suffered severely from the enemy salvoes. The _Conquest_ was hit by
four or five twelve-inch shells, and lost forty-seven of her crew
killed and wounded. Later, the _Penelope_ was torpedoed by an enemy
submarine. The explosion carried away her stern-post and rudder; the
whole after part of her had practically been blown off. But she
managed to steam back to Harwich at twenty-two knots, steering with
her engines. Other ships also were hit. But the Harwich Force, at any
rate, had drawn the fire of the Germans from Lowestoft, and so saved
that town from a heavier bombardment than it received. The Huns, as
was their wont in these raids, carried on the bombardment for half an
hour or so, and then turned and hurried homewards as fast as they
could steam, for they had no desire to encounter the ships from the
Grand Flee