by a shell which killed all its occupants. Upper and lower
bridges and chart-room were swept by bullets, and Commander Godsal,
R.N., ordered his officers to go with him to the conning-tower.

[Sidenote: The _Vindictive_ prepares to turn.]

They observed through the observation slit in the steel wall of the
conning-tower that the eastern pier was breached some two hundred yards
from its seaward end, as though at some time a ship had been in
collision with it. They saw the front of the town silhouetted again and
again in the light of the guns that blazed at them; the night was a
patchwork of fire and darkness. Immediately after passing the breach in
the pier. Commander Godsal left the conning-tower and went out on deck,
the better to watch the ship's movements; he chose his position, and
called in through the slit of the conning-tower his order to starboard
the helm. The _Vindictive_ responded; she laid her battered nose to the
eastern pier and prepared to swing her 320 feet of length across the
channel.

[Sidenote: A shell strikes the conning-tower.]

It was at that moment that a shell from the shore batteries struck the
conning-tower. Lieutenant Sir John Alleyne and Lieutenant V.A.C.
Crutchley, R.N., were still within; Commander Godsal was close to the
tower outside. Lieutenant Alleyne was stunned by the shock; Lieutenant
Crutchley shouted through the slit to the Commander, and, receiving no
answer, rang the port engine full speed astern to help in swinging the
ship. By this time she was lying at an angle of about forty degrees to
the pier, and seemed to be hard and fast, so that it was impossible to
bring her further round.

[Sidenote: The order is given to abandon ship and the _Vindictive_ sinks
in the channel.]

After working the engines for some minutes to no effect, Lieutenant
Crutchley gave the order to clear the engine-room and abandon ship,
according to the programme previously laid down. Engineer
Lieutenant-Commander Wm. A. Bury, who was the last to leave the
engine-room, blew the main charges by the switch installed aft;
Lieutenant Crutchley blew the auxiliary charges in the forward six-inch
magazine from the conning-tower. Those on board felt the old ship shrug
as the explosive tore the bottom plates and the bulk-heads from her; she
sank about six feet and lay upon the bottom of the channel. Her work was
done.

It is to be presumed that Commander Godsal was killed by the shell which
struck the connin