The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-04-06
SUBMARINES.
Little Stories About German t-lSoatS
and Their British Prey.

Out of the green depths, with the
suddenness Of lightning flash, death
rose at the British destroyer. Look
ing down from the bridge, her cap
tain saw a CLINT of shining, swift
moving steel under the vessels side
A second later a huge geyser roared
skvward, cutting as it rose, a great
gap in the destroyer;s side.
s"Torpedoed!" exclaimed the cap
tain, and his words were almost
choked back into his throat by the
surge that threw him overheard. A
signalman standing on the bridge
was shot up into the air like a bolt
from a catapult, turned a somersauit
and fell down into the sea, where,
with one hand, he instinctively grasp
ed a. floating spar, while with the
other he wiped the blood from his
face in a dazed kind of way-and
cursed vigorously. Meanwhile the
CAPTAIN was swimming about, with
tight-set lips, trying to count the
number of heads bobbing amid the
waves. and from them to estimate
how many of his men had gone down
with the ship. This was chapter one
of the grim war story.
Chapter two opened some few days
later, when the captain of the sub
>marine destroyer walked into GER
tain admiral's Office and said:
"I want you to let me have
trawler, sir"
"Why?" asked the admiral.
s1'm going out after one of those
German submarines, and I won't
come back till I've got one.
Every we'll; take what you want.
Out in a trawler went the captain.
For some days he thrashed about the
sea, sleepless, unresting, even vlgl-
lantly looking for the quarry he was
hunting. And, as he who seeks dill
gently will surely find, one morning
tha CAPTAINS persistence was reward
ed. There was a swirl in the water
on the trawler's beam, and up rose
u-boat. From her coming tower
emerged a man who shouted in gut
tural English, "Take to your boats;
I'm going to sink your ship. I'll give
YOU five minutes to get clear of her. -
y. "Will you?" snapped back the cap
tain Before that times up you'll
be below
Even as he spoke there came the
snarling yap of quick-firers from the
trawler. AS their projectiles struck
the submarine she seemed to culver
as though in pain, then she rolled
sideways and sank, like a whale with
q death wound.
Without speaking word the cap
tain put his trawler about and steer
ed for home.
Fighting submarines is not always
so grim a business, for sometimes an
element of humor and no bloodshed
characterizes these encounters. Here
is a case in point. A hurley north
county skipper was bringing his ship
"a little coasting craft-to anchor,
when he saw periscope poke up
right alongside her. Putting his
hands to his mouth he shouted:
sHey, Geordie! Geordie!"
A deck hand answered the hail and
asked what was the matter.
sWhy, there's submarine along
side us. Hop over quick an knock
his eyes out or he'll sink us.
Without any hesitation Geord1e
seized a hammer, sprang over the
ships side, and found himself upon
the coming tower Of U-boat.
Promptly he began to ''iet swing at
the periscope lens. Apparently the
boat had unknowingly came up along
side the ship and those in her Won
dered where she had got it. Cau-
tiously the coming tower opened and
a sacred face peeped out to investi-
gate. Geordie went for. this, too.
Down went the tower-hatch; down
also went the submarine and scuttled
away.
A Welsh skipper found himself in
charge of vessel ''sweeping'' off the
-coast. Suddenly, trail of
smoke smudged the horizon and four
destroyers came into view.
The skipper put on full speed, but
as we'll might tortoise try to run
away from a greyhound. Within a
few minutes the f1otilla was close
abeam, and the destroyers began
firing at the sweeper" as they spun
past. Splinters flew from various