The farmer and mechanic., 1915-05-04
LIFE ON SUBMARINE MARKED
BY SEVERE PHYSICAL. MISERIES
AND CRUSHING MENTAL STRAIN


tremely complicated weapon, but also |
hne work of art, and it demands |
very thorough apprenticeship.
forward is another narrow steel |
vault serving at once as engine room |
and crews quarters. Next to it is a |
place like cupboard, where the cook |
has just enough room to stand in
front of his dolls house galley-stove.
1t is electrically heated, that the al
ready oppressive air may not be fur
ther vitiated by smoke or fumes A
German submarine in any case smells
perpetualy of coffee and cabbage.
TWO little cabins of the size of a dec
ent clothes-chest take the deck and
engine room officers, four of them.
Another boX-cabin is reserved for the
commander-when he has time to Oc-
cupy it.
At daybreak the commander comes
on deck in coat and trousers of black
leather lined with wool, a protection
against OIL cold and sea water The
| command to cast off Machines
clear calls a voice from the control
| station, and Clear ship" snaps the
| order from the bridge. Then, Cast
off," The cables slap on the landing
| stage, the engines begin to purr, and
U-47 slides into open water
Three Big Lessons to Learn.
A few cable lengths away another
submarine appears homeward bound
She IS the U-20, returning from a
long cruise in which she succeeded
in sinking a ship bound with a cargo
| OF frozen mutton for England. Good
| luck, old sheep butcher sings the
commander of U-47 as the sister ship
passes within hail.
The seas are heavier now, and
U-47 rolls unpleasantly as she makes
IphfShin nd hn 10
lutte from a friendly hand. The two
ohcers on the bridge turn once to
look at the Hghtship already astern,
then their eyes look seaward.
1t is rough, stormy weather. If
the eggshell goes ahead two Or three
charge will get no sleep for just that
long. If it gets any rougher, they
will be tied to the bridge-rails to
avoid being swept overheard. If
they are hungry, plates of soup will
be brought to them on the bridges,
and the North Sea will attend to it's
sailing for them.
Just as the commander is trying to
balance a plate with one hand and
use a spoon with the other. the
watch calls Smoke on the horizon
off the port bow"
The commander drops his plate,
shouts short, crisp, command, and
|
egg-sheu The ship buzzes like a
hive. Then water begins to gurgle
into the ballast tanks, and U-47
; sinks until only her periscope shows
THE steamship is a Dutchman
SIR" calls the watch officer. The
of periscope. She has no wireless
and is bound for the continent. Sc
he can come up and is glad because
moving under the water consumes
electricity. and the usefulness of {
submarine is measured by her elcc
: trical power.
After 54 hours of waking nerve
= tension. sleep becomes a necessity
+ So the ballast tanks are filed ant
! the nutshell sinks to the sandy bot
tom. This is the time for sleel
aboard a submarine, because a sleep
ing man consumes less Of the prec
Z tious oxygen than one awake ant
! busy.
So submarine man has thre
principal lessons to Iearn-to kee]
levery faculty on tension when he
lawake, to keep stern silence when h
n is ashore (there is q warning agalns
: talkativeness in all the German rail
IS stant1y when he gets legitimate op
e tportunity. His sleep and the econ
omy of oxygen may save the shiI
T. However, the commander allows hal
8 an hours grace for music. There
y a gramaphone, of course, and tn
# "ship's band performs on all man
IT Iner Of instruments. At worst,
" comb with bit Of tissue paper
# pressed into service.
is Looking Through the Periscope.
r. If ship is sunk, three men onl
a lon the submarine will watch her g.
/ The submarine man might hithert
10 serve all his time like a blind ma
o as far as the outside world was cor
4 cerned Just before the war one {
a submarines crew about to be sci
ashore to join the reserve, was asl1e
w. lby his commander if there was an.
n thing he would specially like to ce
A. ebrate his last trip.
at "Yes, sir he said. Il should iii
~ lust once to have a glimpse with tt
a. periscope." The story went tf
a round. and now, during the war, tf
a.o.r is occa Ilx s,,xa Innnel on