In the autumn of 1914 Severn had her first taste of war, her G-inch and 42-inch guns being used to successfully bombard the advancing German armies in the close vicinity of the Belgian coast, By reason of her narrow draught she was easily able get close inshore and although she herself presented a fair target to the German gunners, was able, day after ay, to pour shell afler shell into the enemy from a range of from 7,000 to 10000. yards, She remained, with very brief respites, cruising up and down the coast between Ostende and Nieuport, belching forth salvoes. of death-dealing steel at her enemies until" mid-January when it was decided by the Admiralty that she could, with advantage, be employed in the Dardanelles adventure of 1915.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.