Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-10-16

The New York World has OBTAIN
ed from Capt. Otto Weddigen. a
story of how he sank the three Brit
ish cruisers Aboukir, Cressy and
Hogue, recently. The story as print
ed by the World on last Sunday, was
as follows:
/ am thirty-two years old and have
been in the navy for years. For the
last five years l have been attached
to the submarine fiOtilla and have
been most interested in that branch
of the navy. At the outbreak of the
war, our under-sea boats were rendeZ-
voused at certain harbors in the
North Sea. the names of which l am
restrained from divulging.
Each of us felt and hoped that the
fatherland might be benefited by such
individual efforts as were possible at
a time when our bigger sisters of the
fleet we're prohibited from activity.
So we awaited commands from the
admiralty, ready for any undertaking
that promised to do for the Imperial
navy what our brothers of the army
were so gloriously accomplishing.
1t has already been told how / was
married at the home Of my brother in
Wilhelmshaven to my boyhood sweet
heart, Miss Prete of Hamburg, on
August 16.
Before then l had been steadily on
duty with my boat, and l had to
leave again the next day after my
marriage But both my bride and
wanted the ceremony to take place
at the appointed time and it did al
though within twenty-four hours
thereafter l had to go away on Ven-
ture that gave a good chance of max
ing my new wife a widow. But she
was as firm as l was that my hrst
duty was to answer the call of our
country, and she waved me away from
the dock with good luck wishes that
1 sure had in my part in the outcome
of my expedition.
l set out from a North Sea port on
one of the arms of the Kiel Canal
and set my course in southwest
erly direction. The name OF the port
l cannot state officially, but it has
been guessed at nor am l permitted
to say definitely just when we started,
but il was not many days before the
morning of the 22nd of September,
when 1 fell in with my quarry.
Coming UP With the English Ships.
When l started from home the
fact was kept quiet and heavy
haze helped to keep the secret. but
when the action began the sun was
bright and the water smooth-not
the most favorable conditions for
submarine work.
l had sighted several ships during
my passage. but they were not what
l was seeking. English torpedo boats
came within my reach but l felt there
was bigger game further on, so on 1
went. / travelled on the surface eX-
cept when we sighted vessels, and
then l submerged, not even showing
my periscope, except when it was
minutes after six on the morning Of
last Tuesday, when l caught sight of
one of the big cruisers of the enemy.
| was then eighteen sea miles
land. l had then travelled consider
ably more than 200 miles from my
base. Ny boat was one of an old
type, but she had been built on honor
and she was behaving beautifully.
had been going ahead partially sub
merged with about five feet of my
periscope showing. Almost immedia-
tely | caught sight of the first cruiser
and two others. l submerged COM
pletely and laid my course so as to
bring up in centere of trio, which had
a sort of triangular formation.
could see their gray black sides rid
ing high over the water
When | first sighted them they
were near enough for torpedo work,
but l wanted to make my aim sure,
so l went down and in on them. l
had taken the position of the three
ships before submerging and l sue
ceeded in getting another flash
through my periscope before l began
action. l soon reached what / regard
ed as good shooting point.
(The officer is not permitted to
give this distance, but it is under
stood to have been considerably less
than a mile. although the German
torpedos have an effective range of
four miles,
First Shot Went Straight and True.
Then l loosed one of my torpedoes
at the middle ship. / was then about
twelve feet under water and got the
shot off in good shape, my men handl-
ing the boat as if she had been skiff.
l climbed to the surface to get
sight through my tube of the effect,
and discovered that the shot had gone
straight and true. striking the ship,
which l later learned was the Abou-
kir under one of her magazines
which in exploding helped the tor
pedo's work of destruction.
There was a fountain of water, a
burst of smoke. flash of fire and
part of the cruiser rose in the air.