The Dermott news., 1915-01-07
RAID BY SUBMARINE
Undersea Fighter Tells Experi-
 ences and Impressions.
German Craft Starts Out Just Before Midnight and by Dawn Has Com peted Successful Attack
 on Enemy.


 The Hague-A letter telling of an attack by the German subm rine U-26 upon an unmentioned British warship Is published by the Zeit II begins with preparations for the expedition two hours before midnight" in order to make a strike at dawn Tho letter. said to have been written by a member of the crew of the attacking boat, fol- lows:
 Around the heavy granite rocks of the long pier. moustrously black in the dark night. the storm sweeps tip the water of the North sea i'll angry waves.
 At half past ten there is a shriH whistle from the little bridge which stands high above the submarine and which Is covered with heavy canvas The officer in command. dressed i'll his oAskiHs. gives the sign of departure The cables are looseued A short sharp signal to the engine room, the sudden vhirr as the motor catches and the U2f is under way We are going to- ward the enemy
 The earliest signs of dawn appear when suddenly in the near distance there is the sight of a heavy bulk. swiI ging high above us upon the Wa ter. Ne pass through the long tail of foam which hostile torpedo destroyer has just left behind speeding toward the east We have managed to find our way through the first hne of the i euemys advance guard From now on we must be very careful
 A signal is heard and the men ap- pear upon deck The boat is prepared for action The flag pole is taken down. l Part of the bridge is folded togethes and well fastened The periscope is brought up to the proper height Then 1 the entrance through the combined l bridge and coming tower is hermeti- l eally closed The tanks are opened l and the inrushing waters tell us that the boat is about to submerge. The ] gasoline motors stop their endless song Electricity will drive us from now until We shall reappear upon the water
 \ young lieutenant is posted at the periscope and looks for the enemy The sailors take their position near the tor pedoes The interior of the boat is lighted with two small electric bulbs. They make the darkness visible but i give no light Iutently the men all watch the sieuboard on the wall in l front of them
 We think oi the advantage of the man eu board a warship IT his time comes. bc can go down with a last look at the happy sun and the blue sky We see nothing hear nothing If the boat l is ta go down We shall all sufocate in the darkness under water
 suddenly We all jump and forget heat and bad ar and discomfort lH small lighted letters the siguboard says attention The officer in com maud holds the lever which will re- i lease the first torpedo A few seconds passing We must be very near the en- emy. Suddenly the first ign disap- pears. half second later and the red, glowing letters say fire With d single jerk the lever releases the torpedo 4 short metallic click, the noise of the water rushing into the empty tube and all Is over The seco.d torpedo is at once pushed into th2 tube A few sec ouds later and the interior of the sub marine looks as before the attack be- gan
 But what Of the first torpedo? Did j she reach her goal9 Iusunctively we have all kept count-lo0 meters, 200 meters. 3o0-io0 Under water no sound peuetrates We only hear the noise of our engines We wait. Nothing l happens Tfen suddenly We are all 1 thrown together by the jerky move ment of the boat Twice or three l times more We feel that We have changed our course very abruptly
 Then the boat rolls as before. The regular purring of the engines is heard. Our submarine Is rapidly nov l ing eastward
 We are on our way home. The at tack has been successful"