"Pegasus" was at anchor in the roadstead, undergoing repairs, it was sunk by the German cruiser " Konigsberg," losing 25 killed and 80 wounded out of a crew of 240. The "Konigsberg" also sank the guard ships " Cupid " and " Khalifa "thus destroying the Zanzibar navy. About 5,000 Zanzibar! served as carriers in the E. African campaign and the inhabitants contributed 70,000 to war funds.
In 1917 Sayyid Khalid, who for a brief period in 1896 had usurped the throne and had then taken refuge in German E. Africa, where he had since remained, surrendered to a British force. He was deported to St. Helena, whence in 1921 he was transferred to the Seychelles.
See F. B. Pearce, Zanzibar, The Island Metropolis of Eastern Africa (1920); J. E. Craster, Pemba, The Spice Island of Zanzibar (1913); the annual reports to the British Colonial Office. (F. R. C.)
ZEEBRUGGE. Among the British naval operations in the World War none created more interest than the attack on the Germans at Zeebrugge and Ostend, on the Belgian coast, in 1918. Ever since the German occupation of the Belgian coast. Zeebrugge had been a source of anxiety to the Dover Patrol. There the
German torpedo craft and German submarines lay in a safe
base only some 60 m. from the Straits, a danger to the Downs
and a constant menace to British transports and trade in the
Channel. Vice-Adml. Sir Reginald Bacon had contemplated an
attack on it with monitors, but the Admiralty had disapproved,
and it was not till the appointment of Rear-Adml. Sir Roger Keyes
in Dec. 1917, that preparations were actually begun. The
main object of the enterprise was to block the harbours of
Zeebrugge and Ostend.
The actual harbour of Zeebrugge is small and is formed by a long curved mole on the western side, whose assault was an important part of the operation. This mole was ij m. long, connected with the shore by a viaduct built on steel pillars. On the outside the western wall rose 27 ft. 10 in. above high water, with a ledge 2 ft. 9 in. wide running along it about 12 ft. above high water. The parapet on top was some 3 ft. wide with a drop of 4 ft. to a ledge 12 ft. wide which ran i6j ft. above the quay. The quay on the harbour side was 2 7 ft. wide, equipped in the usual way with cranes and three large sheds and shelters. At the outer end was a battery of 3 5'9-in. guns, and a narrower portion ran on to the lighthouse where 6 4-in. guns, were mounted.
The general plan of operations was simple. Three old cruisers, " Iphigenia," " Thetis " and " Intrepid " (all built about 1891), filled with cement, were to enter the harbour and be sunk at the entrance to the ship canal to Bruges. The " Vindictive," supported by two auxiliary vessels " Iris II." and " Daffodil," was to assault the mole on its outer and western side and by creating an impression that this was the main operation, divert the enemy's fire from the blocking ships. As Bruges was acces- sible by canal from Ostend, Ostend was to be blocked at the same time by the old cruisers " Brilliant " and " Sirius." The main obstacle to the enterprise lay in the powerful batteries. On the 40 m. of coast-line there were mounted 153 guns, includ- ing 6 is-in., 4 i2-in., 33 n-in., I 9'4-in., 23 8-2-in., 73 5'9-in., 6 5 -in., ii 4-7-in., and 52 4-in. The coast positively bristled with guns. Only 3 m. E. of the Zeebrugge canal stood the Kaiser Wilhelm II. battery (known at Dover as the Knocke) armed with 4 i2-in. with a range of 41,000 yd. One and a quarter m. W. of Ostend was the Tirpitz battery with 4 n-in. ranging 35,000 yd., and 3 m. E. of the town was the Deutschland (old Jacobynessen) equipped with 4 is-in. ranging 43,500 yards.
The approach to the entrance of the ship canal at Zeebrugge was under the fire of the Goeben battery of 4 8-2-in. guns at 1,000 yd., and the chance of success depended largely on an effective smoke screen.
The attack on the mole was to be made by the " Vindictive " (Capt. Alfred B. Carpenter), an old cruiser of 5,750 tons, 320 ft. long, 24 ft. draught specially fitted for the occasion, assisted by the "Iris II." (Comm. Valentine Gibbs) and "Daffodil" (Lt. Harold G. Campbell), two Liverpool ferry boats of large capacity and light draught. The viaduct of the mole was to be
blown up by two submarines, Ci (Lt. Aubrey Newbold) and C$ (Lt. Richard D. Sandford). A strong body of 15 destroyers was attached to the Zeebrugge force under Capt. Wilfred Tomkinson ("Phoebe," "North Star," "Trident," "Mansfield," "Whirl- wind," "Myngs," "Velox," "Morris Moorsom Melpomene," " Tempest " and " Tetrarch " to escort the force and cover it to seaward; "Termagant," "Truculent" and "Manly" to screen the Zeebrugge monitors). A force of 18 coastal motor boats (55 ft. long, 3 ft. draught, 35 knots, 2 i8-in. torpedoes) under Lt. Arthur E. Welman accompanied the expedition, of which 8 were allocated for the smoke screen, 5 to support the " Vindictive," and 4 to attack vessels inside the harbour. With them were 33 motor launches under Capt. Ralph Collins for smoke screens, and inshore rescue work. Out to seaward were the two monitors " Erebus " and " Terror " for bombarding the batteries. The Rear Admiral's flag flew in the destroyer " Warwick."
The three old cruisers " Thetis " (Comm. R. S. Sneyd), " Intrepid " (Lt. Stuart Bonham-Carter) and " Iphigenia " (Lt. E. W. BiUyard-Leake) were to act as blocking ships. The two latter were of 3,600 tons displacement, 300 ft. long x 43! ft. x i8 ft., and the " Thetis " was a little smaller (3,400 tons and 17! ft. draught).
A similar attempt was to be made at Ostend. There the blocking ships were to be the old cruisers " Brilliant " (Comm. ' A. E. Godsal) and " Sirius " (Lt.-Comm. H. N. Hardy) of 3,600 tons. They were to be supported by five bombarding monitors (" Marshal Soult," " Lord Clive," " Prince Eugene," " General Crawford," M24 and M26) and covered by five British destroyers (" Swift," " Faulknor," " Matchless," " Mastiff " and " Afridi "), with three British destroyers and six French torpedo boats attending on the monitors (" Mentor," " Lightfoot," " Zubian," " Lestin," " Capitaine Mehl," " Francis Gamier," "Roux," "Bouclier"). Eighteen British motor launches under Comm. Hamilton Benn and four French were attached for smoke screen, inshore and rescue work, and the whole force was under Commodore Hubert Lynes.
The object of the attack on the mole at Zeebrugge was first to seize the battery at the seaward end and prevent it firing at the block ships, and then to demolish the structures on it as far as possible. The battery was 250 yd. from the lighthouse, and to facilitate its seizure the " Vindictive " was to berth nearly abreast of it on the outer side of the wall. It was then to be stormed by three companies of bluejackets A company under Lt.-Comm. Bayan Adams ("Princess Royal"), B under Lt. Arth. G. Chamberlain (" Neptune "),D under Lt.-Comm. G. N. Bradford; all under Lt.-Comm. Arthur Harrison (" Lion ").
Some 150 yd. to shoreward of the battery and 400 yd. from the lighthouse there was a " fortified zone " of barbed wire and machine-guns. As this commanded the "Vindictive's" berth and would form a rallying point for reinforcements from landward, it was to be seized by four companies of Royal Marines A (Chatham) under Maj. Chas. Eagles, B (Portsmouth) Capt. Ed. Bamford, C (Plymouth) Maj. Bernard Weller, and machine-guns under Capt. Chas. B. Conybeare.
The storming parties numbered 50 officers and 980 men of the Royal Navy, drawn chiefly from the Grand Fleet and the Nore, and 32 officers and 718 men of the Royal Marines. The seamen were under Capt. Henry C. Halahan-and the marines under Lt.-Col. Bertram Elliot. Preparations began early in the year. The force was segregated in the Swin (Thames) and specially trained in all its various tasks. The blocking ships were stripped of all fittings and filled with rubble and concrete. The " Vindictive " in addition to her 10 6-in. guns was given a special equipment of 2 7'5-in. howitzers (i ford, and i aft), i 1 1 -in. howitzer (aft), 16 Stokes mortars, flame throwers, 16 Lewis guns, and 4 i^-in. pompoms. The success of the attack depended largely on an effective smoke screen, and Wing-Comm. F. A. Brock and 60 ratings were lent to the Dover command, where a small factory was set up to prepare the materials for it.
The lessons of history were not very favourable to the enterprise. Naval Constructor R. P. Hobson had tried to block
