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 conning-tower. Lieutenant Crutchley, searching the ship
before he left her, failed to find his body, or that of Sub-Lieutenant
MacLachlan, in that wilderness of splintered wood and shattered steel.
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