Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1916-07-19
STORY Of U.BQATS TRIP ACROSS
THE OCEAN READS LIKE FICTION
Commander Of Intrepid Crew Tells in Modest Manner How German
Submarine Dodged Hostile WarShps in Remarkable
2800-MNe Voyage.

Baltimore, Md.--Iiow the German u
ooat Deutschland, the first submarine
10 cross the Atlantic ocean, mnde the
3,S00-mils trip lodging hundreds oc
hostile warships and thousands of
floating mines. dropping to the floor
of the sea when endangered by ap-
proncnlng ships and running under the
surface Of the water for miles To es-
cape possible pursuers all this makes
up story that Is more thrilling than
any that has appeared In the pages of
fiction. The imagination Of jules Verne
never conceived any tale more roman
tic than that told 10y Capt Paul koe-
mig, who with his intrepid crew piloted
the undcrsea craft from llelgoland to
Baltimore.
I But the story was told modestly by
the sea captain. who refused to see
anything very remarkable In his ex-
ploit.
Describing the voyage OF the
Deutschland In n quiet and simple
manner, Captain koenig said:
The Deutschland was completed
some months ago. | was chosen to
command her. suppose, because
have been captain of two North Ger
man Lloyd liners, the Princess Irene
and the Schleswig and had also sailed
into Baltimore with the Rheln and the
Neckar.
Knew Little OF Submarines.
II knew little about submarines.
Indeed, this was my first long cruise
ne, bu, | was given nm opportunity
AXE trial trips in the Baltic and
elsewhere. The company assembled a
crew Of twenty-five men. Most of them
are married and they range In age
from twenty-one w to forty.
My first officer Is Mr.. Krapohl my
second officer Eyring and Klecs is chief
engineer. klees is the most important
man of all.
1--WE left Brcincrhaven at noon Of
June II. In our cargo we had about
Sl.OOO,OoO worth of dyestuffs. Also |
carry 300 tons OF iron for ballast. In
addition we were given three pack
ages of mail from the foreign office To
be delivered to Ambassador won Bern
storff. This turned over.
well, we went to Helgoland from
Bremen. The trip consumed only II
few hours and we kept on the sur
face all the way.
NO, the British blockade is not
half as tight as they would have you
believe.
Had Much Oil Left.
Here we delayed for nine days.
This was for the purpose of dIspos-
Ing properly of our cargo and ballast
and the reception of food and fuel.
We took on $50 tons of oil. We have
nlnety-iive tons left, enough to take
us home again.
"We had not serious accident, no
trouble with our engine or submcrg.
ing apparatus, and had more than
double the amount of fuel needed.
only one case of sickness of any
sort developed on the trip. one of
the sailors was badly sunburncd one
day.
I'VE left IIrlgolnnd on the I'D of
June and headed across the North
sea for the Channel. Almost all the
time we Travelled at II steady speed OF
13 or II knots on the surface of the
water.
In fact. we travelled very little un
der water. Only 81 of the $500 miles
was done under water our practice
was To suhmerge for II very short tim,
the moment we sighted an enemy ship
We went under five times In the North
, sea. six times in the Channel and
three times in the Atlantic ocean.
Under Water Ten Hours.
"'rhe longest time We remained un
der water at any one time was tci
hours. This was In the North sea. II
necessary we could submcrge for four
days. Then we would be forced [,
come to the surface to rocharge oui
oxygen batteries.
"Once we went down almost fiftN
fathoms. This was AT the time W,
remained beneath the waves all night
Your see we 4ad sighted English tie
stroyers and merchantmen. II wa,
just small group--we never ran int,
II hCet or IA large group of ships s-but
we thought II beSt to avoid them
Were we ufraid?' The captain.
laugh was IL dry cacklc. mo. not ex
actly; just cautious. We We're no
afraid of mines because we had q
pretty good idea of their location
But we did not want TO give de
stroyer or merchantmen chanc,
to get In lucky shot or ram us"
How did you amuse yourselvc,
down there ut the bottom Of the sen 2
The captain looked little shame
faced. "Why, we played our tw,
graphophones and drank n little cham
pagne," he replied.
Crew Played Graphophones.
Imagine the picture. Foggy night
heavy sea-destroyers prowlinl
/ ubnva unI plup--btttuun h.f,,.,g m.