Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-03-26

Iney Qau rdU1uS OF dcClOn OF 4,UUU
miles and submerged endurance Of
nine hours. These were considered the
latest word in 1916, but the four new
boats exceeded them in all respects.
Without troubling you with precise fig
ures may say that they represented
roughly Is per cent advance upon
the older boats and were fitted with
several auxiliary engines which were
wanting in the others. At my sugges-
ton. instead of carrying eight Of the
very large Bakdorf torpedoes, which
nre nineteen feet long. weigh half a
ton and are charged with 200 pounds
of wet guncotton, we had tubes de-
signed for eighteen of less than half
the size. 1t was my design to make
myself Independent Of my base.
And yet it was clear that must have
base, so made arrangements at once
with that object. Blankenberg was the
should l have a port of any kind?
Ports would be watched or occupied.
Any place would do for me. l finally
chose a small villa standing alone near
iy five miles from any village and thir-
ty miles from any port. 10 this ! or
dered them to convey secretly by night
Oil, spare parts, extra torpedoes, stor-
age batteries, reserve periscopes and
everything that L could need for refit-
ting. The little whitewashed villa OF
a retired confectioner-that was the
base from which l operated against
England.
The boats lay at Blankenberg. and
thither went. They were working
frantically at the defenses, and they
had only to look seward to be spur
red to fresh exertions. The British
feet was assembling. The ultimatum
had not yet expired, but it was evident
that a blow would be struck the in
slant that it did. Four Of their aero
planes, circling at an immense height,
were surveying our defenses. From
the top of the lighthouse counted thir-
ty battleships and cruisers In the offing,
with a number Of the trawlers with
which in the British service they break
through the mine fields. The approach
es were actually sown with 200 mines,
half contact and half observation, but
the result showed that they were in
sufficient to hold off the enemy, since
three days later both town and feet
were speedily destroyed.
However, [ am not here to tell you
the incidents of the war. but to ex-
plain my own part in it, which had
such decisive effect upon the result.
My first action was to send my four
second class boats away instantly to
the point which had chosen for my
base. There they were to wait, sub
merged. lying with negative buoyancy
upon the sands in twenty feet of wa
ter and rising only at night. My
strict orders were that they were to
attempt nothing upon the enemy, how
ever tempting the opportunity. All
they had to do was to remain intact
and unseen until they received further
orders. Having made this clear to
Commander Panza, who had charge Of
this reserve f1otilla. shook him by
the hand and babe him farewell.
My whole attention was now given
to my own fotilla, which divided into
two divisions, keeping Iota and Kappa
under my own command, while Cap
He was to operate separately in the
British channel, while my station was
the strait of Dover. / made the whole
plan of campaign clear to him. Then
saw that each ship was provided
with all it could carry. Each had for
ty tons of heavy oil for surface pro-
pulsion and charging the dynamo
which supplied the electric engines IN
der water. Each had also eighteen tor
pedoes. as explained, and 500 rounds
for the collapsible quick firing twelve
FOUNDER which we carried on deck and
which, of course, disappeared into a
water tight tank when we were sub
merged. We carried spare periscopes
and wireless mast, which could be ele-
waited above the coming tower when
necessary. There were provisions for
sixteen days for the ten men who man
ned each craft. Such was the equip
ment of the four boats which were
destined to bring to naught all the ma
vies and armies Of Britain. At SUM-
down that day-it was April love
set forth upon our historic voyage.
Miriam had got away in the after
noon, since he had so much farther to
go to reach his station. Stephan Of
the Kappa started with me. But OF
course we realized that we must work
Independently and that from that mo-
ment when we shut the sliding matches
of our coming towers on the still wa
tiers of Blankenberg harbor it was I'M
likely that we should ever see each
other again, though consorts in the
same waters. waved to Stephan from
the side of my coming tower and he to
me. Then called through the tube to
my engineer Jour water tanks were al
ready filed and all Kingstons and vents
cIOSodl tn mt har fv1II Snnnd ahead