The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-07-23
SUB-SEA TRIP ON
BRITISH TIN Fish,
Crew Knows Nothing Of What 10
Going On Overhead While
Attack Is Ordered.

LONDON, July ga graphic de-
scription Of the life" in q British sub
marine about to attack a German ship
is given in the following account.
Look carefully and see how the grim
shadow. almost flush with the sea,
blends with the gray waters and the
gray sky. Her narrow deck Is washed
from end to end. her bow hidden In Q
pillow Of boiling sea. her counter lath-
cred In the foaming eddies of her wake.
Behind the canvas dodgers" of her
Tiny bridge her commander and helms
Of her crew visible, the others are at
tneir stations in her well-lighted In
serior. suddenly there Is sharp word
or command. more men appear on her
wheel. the ventilation cowls. the COM
pass, ana other objects--is detached and
taken taken inside her hull. The rails are
the deck. Then everyone disappears;
tne match Is screwed tight. the main
ballast tanks are filled, the periscope 10
pushed pSs a, upto Its full height. and thus
realms Of the cod and the conger eel.
Silence After Noise.
The roar of her oil engines has sud-
IDENTIFY ceased. The silence seems
strange after their thunderous note,
and to take their place comes the gem
tie hum of the electric motors which
drive her below the waves The COM
mander Is in the coming tower. his
periscope. The stolid coxswain has
the wheel controlling the horizontal
rudders that work the boat in her
trips below. The second coxswsin has
the wheel that steers her to port and
starboard. The leading torpedo man
at the switchboard controls all the
| electrical devices that man has chain-
ed to his viii to work this strange
ship. The torpedo men are at the
| fully charged tubes. The engine stan
have seen that the water and oil are
valves and Blows" tbiow-off vaivss5
on the main ballast tanks. Everyone
stands to his station, blind to the
world without. waiting for the COM
mands OF the one man who can see.
| Dive fifteen feet"' comes the order.
quick and concise. The next moment
the bow has canted down ever so little
and the boat. like a shadow has slid
below. guided by the steady hand Of
the first coxswain.
| In the far distance a ship. gray from
so 1G essns is tsanK hale
smoke from her belching tunnels.
Torpedo Stations Make Ready.
Torpedo stations, make ready"
comes from above. The firing reser-
voirs Of the tube are instantly charged
with compressed air, the caps covering
the outside ends Of the tubes are
raised by mo. g. Of each tube, and
water floods each chamber until q
warning squirt from a tiny vent inside
the boat tells tho torpedo man that all
Is clear for firing.
The silence which now reigns is alone
broken by the hum of the motors.
Everything depends on the Judgment
of one man; the others see nothing;
know nothing and have Slindly to obey
Ing up a dark silhouette on the skyline.
Not one OF her people have seen the
plume" Of the submarines periscopc
heading straight and true to cut them
OF.
Already a string of choice orders u
coming down from the commander;
finally, ..Starboard Understand by"
The tube 10 ready. mo. !" Cthe chief
torpedoman has jumped round to bang
down the firing ball In case the electric
circuit falls)
| Single Word Fire"
The commanders finger crooks round
one Of the pistol triggers before him
very carefully he is aiming with his
whole ship (for the tubes are fixed in
the hulD. Then comes the single word.
Fire. There Is a heavy thud. q
, momentary alteration in the boats trim
(at once corrected by the alert cox
swain). and at the same instant over
300 pounds Of explosive in the war nose
forty miles to the hour.
The enemy notes the wake Of the tin
. fish," there is a burst of fame from his
secondary battery. and as the shells
start on their screaming courses there
Is a fresh series of commands inside the
: submarine, and like a shadow her peri
scope has vanished. and she is plunging
down to sixty feet below the surface,
and turns and twists away, stecred BY
clock and compass.
All the while her crew are listening,
Water is a good conductor Of sound and
will bring to their ears a message u the
torpedo has gone home" Suddenly
they hear it-1ust a heavy thud-and
on the Instant they slip toward the
world Of fresh air once more. A the
periscope projects the commander startl
and calculates, Good shot-right In hei
engine-room."