For a considerable period thereafter, all the larger German torpedo craft remained cooped up at Bruges, and the Zeebrugge blockships still obstructed the channel at the end of the war.
Motor launches also rescued the crews of the blockships and the men--all of them wounded--from the submarine.
The men employed on the blockships and in the storming and demolition parties were bluejackets and Royal Marines, picked from a very large number of volunteers from the Grand Fleet.
This attack was primarily intended to engage the attention of the garrison on the mole, thereby allowing the blockships to enter the harbor.
At Ostend the wind prevented the effective use of the smoke screen and the two blockships had to be run ashore and blown up without attaining their objective.
Two of the blockships were to be run aground and blown up at the entrance to the port.
At Zeebrugge, of the three blockships two attained their objective and were sunk and blown up in the entrance of the canal.
The depths in the entrances to the canals at Zeebrugge and Ostende were such that the blockships could only navigate during the period around high water.
But nothing possesses such a large element of chance as war; for that reason it was considered advisable to provide at least three blockships at Zeebrugge and two at Ostende.
Three blockships at Zeebrugge and two at Ostende, three storming ships and two submarines at the former place.
Sidenote: Hazards of the Blockships] The work of surmounting such difficulties as escorting the blockships across the seas and locating their destinations would require the use of other units, and will, therefore, be described later.
In our movements, however, there would be small chance of remedy if the blockships failed to find the canal entrance, or if the submarines were unable to locate the viaduct, or if the storming vessels missed the Mole.
The blockships must also be handy vessels, so that they would be manageable up to the last moment, provided they escaped serious damage.
It is common knowledge that when vessels are fitted out as blockships they usually carry a goodly cargo of cement.
The depth was a doubtful matter; but, the operation being timed to take place near high tide so that the blockships could enter the canal, there was every likelihood of its being sufficient.
Reference to the previous description of the locality and to the principles governing the use of blockships serves to show that a single vessel of the light-cruiser class, or above, would suffice as far as dimensions were concerned.
The blockshipsand Vindictive were fitted out at Chatham.
After the operation had been successfully completed I could not help being rather amused at a certain individual who expressed the opinion that "the Germans are so cute that they'll probably remove the blockships in a day or two.
Blockships are stationed in the principal channels, as floating fortifications, commanding absolutely the water around them, and forming strong points of support for the flotilla.
Both shores being hostile, Parker would not attempt to force the passage until he learned the result of the British mission to Copenhagen; meanwhile the Danes were working busily at the blockships and batteries of the city.
The two northern blockships and the Trekroner did not conduce materially to that; they protected chiefly the entrance of the harbor.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "blockships" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
