New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-13
U.BOAT WAR IN OUR WATERS
An Interesting Analysis of the German
Admiralty's New Programme


To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: cannot see why there can be any
Misunderstanding about the latest German
submarine raid. The facts reported are as
follows:
1. On Saturday, October 7, the U-53 APP
pears without warning and anchors in New
port harbor.
2. When boarded she reports:
(a) She is seventeen days out from
I wilhelmshaven.
(b) She asks II the Bremen has arrived.
(c) The captain says he needs nothing;
/ he is thoroughly supplied with everything
for the next three months.
I'D A letter is mailed to Won Bernstorf
that appears on the surface TO be bravado'
3. After three hours in the harbor she
weighs anchor, steers direct to the Nantucket
Shoals Lightship and the work Of destruction
begins.
But things have happened before this visit.
About the middle Of September two sub
marines were sighted off the coast Of Maine,
neither American nor British. They quickly
disappeared, and the coast guard who reported
them was called dreamer. Again, on Oc-
tober /, a life buoy, marked Bremen, was
picked up on the beach near Portland, Me.
It's finding was called fake. About the time
the submarines were sighted off the coast of
Maine one Of the big interned German liners
was moved to New London harbor. For weeks
tug has gone out periodically from New
London searching for the Bremen.
! Put these facts together, and the solution is
easy, especially as the keeper on the Nan
tucket Shoals lightship declares he saw three
submarines at the work Of destruction, and
one passenger on torpedoed ship declares he
or distinctly saw "U-61" on one of
them.
/ The arrival Of the Deutschland proved that
merchant submarine could come to and go
/ from our ports in comparative safety. The
decision of the United States government that
as she had no armament she was ipso facto a
merchant ship and could not be annoyed made
the status of any other merchant submarine
absolutely safe. Also, she did not have to de-
clare her cargo till she tried to clear 1t.
Another declaration, when the Germans
protested shipment of munitions Of war to
the Allies, was that such commerce could not
be prevented, and if they had any merchant
liberty to ship munitions
These two decisions made it clear there
need be no secret submarine base on our
coast. A submarine merchant vessel could
20 straight into New London harbor-where
the Bremen was said to be expected-take
full cargo of oil at the big tanks of the
Standard Oil Company, sail out to sea- sub
merging inside the three-mile limit, and no
one could say her nay. What more natural
also, than that the Germans should send one
of their big liners to the same point to make
comfortable place for the crew of the
Bremen to stay while in the harbor, and be
prepared with her well equipped machine
shop to make any necessary repairs?
/ All being prepared, the Bremen, oil tank
auxiliary for two fighting submarines, ap-
pears off the coast, under convoy of the U-6l,
shows herself long enough to be reported,
then disappears. That is the signal for the
other fighter to start. She clears from
Wilhelmshaven and shows up in Newport
seventeen days later.
The buoy found October was no accident;
il was the further signal that the U6l and
[ the Bremen would meet the U-53 off the Nan
tucket Shoals lightship soon as she could
get there. When the captain of the U-53
heard that the Bremen had not made port he
knew where to find her, exultingly said his
supplies were assured for three months to
come, and sailed away after sending q short
letter to Won Bernstorff that he WAS willing
any one should read. But who knows its
meaning?
The successful working out Of the first ex-
pertinent points to the fact that the German
navy proposes to use its submarines in units
Of three-two fighters and an oil tank. The
/ fighters are ready to take care of their sup
| ply ship outside our three mile limit; she rs
safe when she appears inside that limit, can
go to any town where oil is for sale, fill her
tanks and 90 out to feed the fighters. And
/ New London is not only one Of the big dis
/ tributing centres of the Standard Oil Com
pany; it is nearer than any point excepting
Newport to the through routes Of all mer-
camille shipping between New York and Great
Britain.
/ The fact that New London is the estab-
| lished naval base for the submarines Of the
United States navy would seem to make it
proper that our government should forbid its
use by submarines of any other nation. That
is matter for excellent President and
the Department of State to consider.
II would seem that the only defence against
these sea raiders, acting in teams Of three,
would be for every merchant ship to carry
good gun on her stern and sink them on
sight. never saving any Of their crews.
Also, the Allies will have TO maintain feet
Of swift destroyers the whole length of this
steamship lane, from New York to the Banks
of Newfoundland, with numerous auxiliary
fleet of mosquito watchers and hydroplanes,
and hunt these pirates TO their death.
SPENCER BORDEN.
Fall River Mass, Oct. 10, 1916.