New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-20
Iron s,Ar Correspondent o, The Tribune

and the imperial torpedo works; watch
ing the gun crews OF German dread
nought being whipped into shape py
enthusiastic coaches" for the last
great death grapple with the BRUSH
(which they were all sure was 10 COME
and they hoped SOON. witnessing the
final tuning up of the newest and larg-
est German submarine, whose boyish
commander modestly said he wanted
TO bag a Lion" or Tiger or an
Ajax" though he would take a shot az
a King George il nothing better OIL
fereG-such was the eye-opemng eN-
perience which the courtesy of the au-
thoritics enabled The New YORK ITO
une correspondent to have.
Judging by the two score or more
officers who were sampled" in CONVEX
sation, the young German navy mas
not aad its head turned by Its initial
successes, but is undeniably IN hlgh
shirts and full of whimsical humor at
the expense Of the English. As sig,
nifcant illustration of the new naval
morale, one of the officers with mock
seriousness scrubbed an invitation on
the back of a menu card to come ana
take part in "a little submarine prac-
tice, during which at least four Eng
iish cruisers or better will be sunk,
wind and weather permitting" 1--WE
could not think Of offering you less
than four because three is already an
old story" he laughingly explained,
adding that wind" was metaphorlcal
for Winston Churchill.
New Submarine Inspected.
The whimsical invitation was ac-
cepted. and while "wind and weather
did not permit" a very thorough in
spection was afforded of the new
super-dresdnought submarine U-32. OF
about / 900 tons and nearly 200 feet
long. il carries a complement of thirty
officers and men and six torpedoes.
Her youngish commander, Ober Lieu
tenant Freiherr Spiegel Won und IN
something or other, thought 1t highly
probable that U-32 would get her bap-
tism of North Sea water in the not DIS
tant future and recited list OF Eng
lish uper-dreadnoughts which he hoped
and would be delighted to meet. "Espe-
cially the Ajax" he said, with cat
, before eating canary" smile. u have
some friends on the Ajax-I had some
friends on the Ajax" he corrected him.
self, with magnificent emphasis on the
past tense.
II.
tower, he showed how simple boat II
was, after all. He turned the periscope
around until q German dreadnought
swan into the field Of vision, allowed
The Tribune correspondent to have a
peep through the eyepiece, pointed to
! the dial that showed just how far the
submarine was beneath the surface,
explained how by pulling lever here
/ and a handle there the boat was man
euvred into firing position and then
nothing more TO do but press an cleo
! trio button to fire torpedo in one OF
/ the two bow tubes, another button TO
| fire off the second tube, two more but
! tions to "shoot" the two tubes aft.
/ That was all there was to il.
Junior officers and crew were also
/ looking forward to getting away as
TO q pleasure excursion, and so were
+ the men of the smaller III, sister
/ ship of the famous U-9, which was act
/ ing as consort to U-32.
Played Harmonica as Ships Sank.
/ Being ? submarine hero is evidently
/ very uneXciting business, however,
according to the story credited TO a
member of the crew of the U-9. "They
gave me the Iron Cross, but I'm sure
/ / don't know what fOr." he said. 81
didn't do anything. We didn't know
what was going on. ! was playing the
/ harmonica at the time, when we were
/ told three English cruisers had been
sunk"
1t was particularly striking, however,
! that among the naval officers and
sailors one did not find the bitter
hatred of England and the English
which one so invariably meets among
army officers and soldiers in the field
and landsmen generally. The official
German report of the destruction of
/ the Audacious had just become known
! in Kiel, but there was no gloating and
no celebration, liquid or otherwise.
The officers at once recalled that the
| Audacious had been member Of the
\ visiting British squadron during Kiel
week, in June--"a splendid ship"-but
made no other comment.
A lieutenant commander (who would
get into official trouble if his name
were printed) said TO the Tribune cor
respondent: 1--WE consider il an honor
to fight against the English. The Eng
lish naval officer is always a gentle
man. But the Japs-treacherous yell
low curs-just let them once come. We
have no use for them. The English, the
French, and even the Russian, we can
respect as opponents, but not the Japs."
After the inspection of submarines
the programme called for a sail around
Kiel HaTbor in a steam pinnace, where
two battle squadrons-one of eight
dreadnoughts, the other composed of
an equal number of older battleships-
were riding at anchor, but whether
they were Just coming or going, or
were permanent residents-"rats TO be
dug out Of their holes" as the English
scOrnfully eharged--the Tribune CORE
4 spOndent was unable to extract from
his naval hosts. Also there was little
mine layer, name carefully painted out
steam up and decks freighted with
rows Of mines, all neatly numbered.
A visit was next paid to one of their
best dreadnoughts, the Markgraf, where
/ Captain t-sea Nordman and his officers
I did the honors and conferred on The
/ Tribune correspondent the freedom Of
/ the ship. All the gun crews were be-
| ing driven at top speed, some in pan
/ tomime shadow practice others with
/ real shells. About five hours a day Ct
/ gun drill is now the rule, your CORE
/ spondent was told, as many of the men
/ are reservists, thirty to thirty-four
years old, and need plenty OF work TO
/ take the kinks out Of them. They
looked like a particularly fine lot OF
men, and went at the work as II they
were playing game.
A first lieutenant, who proved 10 nave
an American wife, in addition TO good
American accent, invited the american
visitor 10 his forward turret, where he
nroudly put his two 12-inch guns
tbrough their PAGES. can English
dresdnought is about seven miles
swav." ne suggested, then blew his
~ ond fbe Gun crews stood at