The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-06-30
TRIED TO ram Her
CAPTAINS SKILL SAVES LINER
FROM SUBMARINE
RAIDER dives TO SAFETY

Liner Cameronia Dashed at German
Craft Which Stood in its Path, But
Undersea Terror Dodges in Nick Of
Time-Skill and Nerve of Captain
Kinnaird Saves Cunarder.
The seamanship and nerve of Cap
tain James Kinnaird of the Cunard
steamship Cameronia, which docked
Sunday at Liverpool, probably saved
the ship from being torpedoed by D
German submarine Saturday morn
ing at the mouth Of the Mersey.
Peter Fletcher of New York, an
intimate friend of Franklin K. Lane,
secretary of the interior, told of the
narrow escape of the Cameronia
when he called at the American en-
bassy in London Sunday. Mr. Fletch-
er and his wife sailed on the Gamer
onia, feeling, as he told the embassy
attaches, that it was as safe on a
steamer flying the British flag as the
American inview Of the promiscuous
1t was broad daylight on Sunday
morning at seven O'Clock when, as
the Cameronia was steaming slowly
into the mouth of the Mersey, Cap
tain Kinnaird saw a periscope pop
out of the water one hundred yards
ahead. Suddenly the submarine rose
to the surface of the water.
The captain dropped his binocu.
lars, and, steering the ship straight
ahead made for the submarine to try
to ram it. The engine room respond
ed to the call for full speed and the
Cameronia fairly leaped. The cap.
tain made beeline for the subma-
rine.
It looked as if the ship, accord
ing to Mr.. Fletcher, who was stand
ing On the promenade deck, would
ram the submarine fairly in the mid
die, but the German craft shot down
into the water, diving beneath the
steamer.
Three minutes later the subma-
rine appeared on the opposite side
of the ship, fifty yards away. Again
it took sight of. the steamer, but
Captain Kinnaird now had his ship
going On an entirely different track,
having swerved sharply. The sub
marine, being too far out Of range
to make sure shot, tried to catch
up with the liner, but the captains
tactics had enabled him to make his
escape. The submarine pursued the
steamer for mile, but being unable
to gain on. the Cameronia it gave up.
Twenty Of the saloon passengers
were standing on deck on Sunday
morning when submarine periscope
appeared out Of the water" said Mr..
Fletcher to a correspondent. Nat
urally, we were all startled. We
thought of the Lusitania and Of our
chances of escaping, but no one
started for the staterooms to get life
preservers. We all seemed to be fas-
cinated by the sight of the su5ma-
rine. AS we looked we saw the sub
marine come to the top Of the water,
and all thought our end had come.
81 can not say that there was
panic aboard the Cameronia, but
without doubt all the passengers felt
| nightly shaky. We felt the steamer
Iurch ahead as she put on full speed,
and we were all amazed to see that,
instead of our ship taking a zlgzag
course to get out of the submarines
way, the captain steered right toward
| it.
"For moment it looked as if we
were flying straight into the face OF
death, and I dare say the passengers
must have looked quite pale. But
to our amazement the submarine, IN
stead of setting itself for attack, div
ed down into the water. expected
| the next moment to hear the terrlhc
crash of a torpedo underneath us,
| but nothing happened.
while we stood wondering what
| was going on the submarine popped
to the surface on the other side OF
the ship quite near. 1t got new
sight On the ship, but the captain
had not been sleep, and we easily
escaped through his taking new
track at full speed. 1t was magnl-
ficent show of courage and cooihead-
edness on the part of the captain and
| to this the passengers undoubtedly
owe their lives. Not one Of us was
prepared for the sinking of the ship
| if the torpedo had struck her.
Mr.. Fletcher informed the en-
bassy officials that Captain klnnalro
got word as he was going into the
mouth of the Mersey that six sub
marines were on the southeast coast
of Ireland>and in the waters near the
Mersey.
Another submarine episode was re-
lated by man who received a let
ter from a Mr.. Gerlach OF Yonkers,
travelling salesman for Sweet, or
and Co., New York, telling OF MS
experience aboard the Union-Castle
liner Llandovery Castle, which sail
ed from Liverpool last week for
South Africa. His experience shows
that German submarines are lurk-
ing in most unexpected places.
"While the steamer was off Cape
Finisterre on the Spanish coast last
Friday morning" Mr.. Gerlach writes,
"the passengers saw a school OF
whales blowing and cavorting to the
stern of US. Suddenly / noticed we
were zigzagging quite sharply, and
called the attention OF a naval Of
fcer to it. AS there were women
standing near, he said, We are only
trying the compass" which struck
me as being funny.
"The idea of submarine being
way down off Cape Finisterre, now
ever, did not seem likely. Later the
nova1 officer told me it was a sub
marine, and that he and the captain
had sighted it. The submarine show
ed it's periscope some distance from
our stern on the starboard side. Then
she dived and came up to port, but
could not get the right sight on US.
She chased us for an hour, but lost
ground, as we Sere going fast. Fin
ally she gave up the race.
nTNNTn