The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1916-08-29
GERMANS TRIEDTO
DESTROY U BOAT
Mine Laying Submarine Taken
by British, a New Graft.
ON DISPLAY IN LONDON.
Crew Of the U c-5 Set OFF Bombs In
Her Before surrenderIne-officer of
British Destroyer Dived Under Ves-
sci and Detached Decorators From
the Mines.

bn6 WINES.
The first complete story of the cap
ture by the British of the German
mine laying submarine u C-5 Is pub
lished in the Naval and Army Record
of London. A complete description of
the submarine, said to be the first of
the kind ever constructed Is also
given.
"In April, says the Naval and Army
Record, "a torpedo destroyer, cruising
Off the east coast, captured German
submarine in novel circumstances.
When first sighted the enemy was in
difficulties From the deck of the de
stroyer then some distance away,
flag could be seen at the masthead of
the submarine, and in the mist it was
at first taken to be the union jack.
Closer inspection proved it to be the
German naval ensign, and then it was
noticed that the whole of the crew of
the submarine appeared to be on deck.
"The comic side of the situation was
! not lost on the men of the destroyer,
and, once apprised of the enemy char
acter of the distressed vessel, they set
to work to make her prize. The COM
mander hailed the crew with brusque
| invitation to surrender. The subma-
rine men saw The guns trained on
them, and they hauled down their flag
and put their hands up. Then at a
word from the commander they jump
ed into the water and swan for dear
| life away from the submarine. Internal
explosions followed, and at the last
and heaviest a cascade of hammocks
and other debris was shot out at the
open coming tower to n height of
| forty feet. That there was a vent for
the explosive forces probably saved
the ship; but, as was, the bottom of
the vessel was ptnctured in two places
and rivets Were started so that the
craft made water quickly.
Gas Frustrates British.
AN attempt to investigate the DAM
age was frustrated by the presence Of
| thick, black gases and about two feet
of water, but later expert examination
showed that although the submarine
| had laid no mines two had been re
leased by the force of the explosions
and were foul of the bottom of the
vessel. Contact between the horns,
which jutted out all around the mines,
and the plates of the vessel would
have exploded enough to sink battle
ship, and 1t was an act of heroism on
the part of young officer that render
ed the submarine capable Of being
brought In as prize The officer went
down In a diving suit and made the
mines safe by detach!ng the detona-
tors, afterward securing them In such
q position that the salvers could work
in comparative safety. After seven
teen days she was brought into an east
coast port and put on public view off
the Temple pier, Thames embankment.
She turned out to be the L C-5, YES
sci of the mine layer class, quite small.
but capable and virulent. and the Off
GERS and men of the destroyer who
made the capture are to he heartily
congratulated on their achievement.
Vessels Ensign a Trophy.
"As a memento of her capture the
destroyer now displays her prizes en-
sign In the officers mess. u C-5, as she
appeared In custody at a naval dock
yard, was smartly painted her original
German gray and the white ensign
looked appropriately picturesque sur
mounting the enemy flag on the tele-
scopic mast But hauled off the dock
side so that one might appreciate her
without perspective intervening too
largely, she was not really a pretty
boat, even for submarine. Her bulg-
ing tubular sides gave her q smart ap-
pearance, which was increased rather
than diminished by the clumsiness of
her superstructure-a high, raised plat.
form running the whole length of the
ship and widening at the forward end
to display through gratings the six
huge tubes through which the mines
were launched.
Was Constructed In a Hurry.
"The captured submarine appeared to
+ have been one of those transported in
sections from Germany and put togeth-
, er on the Belgian coast. Her four sec
tlons are plainly marked, the hull being
; divided into three and the coming tow
er constituting the fourth part. The
. seams are rather roughly finished and
point to rapid assembling and none too
; skillful workmanship. A mere minnow
. in size compared with the big fish
possessed by both the enemy and our
! selves the u CO was fitted only for
mine laying and apparently carried nc
> armament. The whole of the forward
section is occupied by the steel launch
3 Ing tubes, and they were worked either
I automatically from the coming tower
: or by hand lever situated between
the wall of each tube and the side
plates OF the ship. She was fitted with
I sixteen horse power Diesel engine
driving single screw, and was capa'
/. ble of not much more than eleven knots
+ at the best Despite her limitations, she
is believed to have made a score of
trips to British waters and probably
+ dropped 240 mines.
"There are one or two clever minor
characteristics Ia the design OF the Q
OK which hova haap nOted.h