Ripley County democrat., 1916-06-23
STRANGE BATTLE
IN AIsNE WOOD
SUBMARINE. HAS
EXCITING Time.
Adventure Of the German u.2O2
Is Described by Its CON-
mander.
CAUGHT IN NET; ESCAPES
F'sss British Destroyer and Cub
MERGE, Only to % Hooked In
msshss, Which She Breaks
at Full Speed, ....


at Full Speed.
!, Berlin.--A Sensational episode q
Q submarine warfare Is told by Captai
/ Commandant Freiherr spiegel in IN
, Diary Of U-2o2." which has 1ust bee,
! published BY August Scherl, in Berlin
, 1t gives some idea of the dangers en-
countered and tells how the U.2o2 wa,
caught In a net but managed to ex
tricate herself by clever maneuyerinp
1T was three minutes after al,
O'Clock and in half an hour It would
Pc SUNRISE" writes Captain spiegel
SKY and sea were enveloped in a
dark, gray mist and no horizon was
visible. Suddenly my glasses dis.
cerned dark shadow, which came
ike ghost out Of the mist. Gradu.
aiiy the shadow took more definite
lorm-l saw q dark hull, q mast. and
then one. two. three and four tunnels
II was torpedo-boat destroyer.
gave the alarm and shouted the or.
DER submerge at once Quickly the wa.
ter began rushing into the tanks. and
then 1t seemed an almost intermInabla
interval until the tanks were filed and
the submarine began to sink. Never
In my life did the seconds pass 40
slowly. The destroyer, of course, had
sighted US and came speeding on with
sii the power Of her 4oO0o-horsepower
engines. Her forward guns began fir.
ing at us.
Shells Fall All Around.
"Groat God! / hone thew do mt M
US. One single shot and we are lost
our tower was now almost submerged.
but could still see the dark shadow
drawing nearer. The shells were fall.
ing oil around us, and as they dropped
IN the water they made noise like n
hammer coming down with full force |
on steel plate.
One shot came 90 near that II I'M.
cd our boat half way above the sur.
iace OF the water. Another shot and
he will surely strike us.
Slowly we sank. and then the sub.
marine responded to the movement
OF the deep-sea rudder and we dlyed
quickly.
The red-globed electric lights
showed that our manometer regis.
tered eight meters. then nine meters.
and quickly mounted to IA meters
We were safe. What o feeling of re. =
lief to know that an impenetrable !
wall OF water protected us now from I
the destroyer. Our hearts, that had
almost stopped beating, began to send
me warm blood again through our
veins. Our boat sank deeper and a
deeper, responding to every move. b
nent OF the rudder as faithful horse Q
loes to the rein. We were now 30 I, I
meters under the surface. n
. We could still hear the crash Of
hs shells overhead. I looked at the
nan at the wheel and pointed upward
Vith my thumb, smiling all the while n,
10 smiled back at me. v,
Suddenly we were thrown haas. .,
,ng In all directions. The subma, "
me trembled like wounded animal. Oh
or . few seconds We were uncon. yt
cious and our heads and shoulders "
nd all our bones ached. 6,
What has happened! Is II all over N,
tth us? Did we hit q mine? Gu
Then the men reported that every.
ling was in excellent shape. No =
axis were found. n
The submarine. however. was at
most right angles.
Captain. there's somsthin9 K
rong,' said the lieutenant. We are
ught In Q net. and attached to the :
per part Of the net are mines. This =
enough to drive . man crazy
Bored Right Through.
Don't lose your nerve / shouted.
ell get out Of this, Keep the sub
Irine submerged. Back up and then
th all the power Of our engines
ahead. But don't rise an inch.
member the mines above u.s.. ~
The engines worked perfectly. The i
'marine, when she moved forward. tisu
ed right into the net and tore Il pa.
bits, and as our splendid little essii
ft responded again to the helm we Es.
9 shout OF JOY. for we knew that IS
had extricated ourselves. D.
go DEEPER ] cried. Go down to -
~ meters.'
J sat down and held my schinr
2 IN my banda. My brain seemed -
Be whiriing like . windmill. IN
dies seemed to be sticking In INV =
head and there was . roaring in il
ears which tried 70 stop by plao. -
my hands over them. -
{ was some time before was
TO think clearly and then I rec.
lied the fact that we had zone
enough Just In time. The en- y
had no doubt figured that We =
q slisht right Into the net, which -
q explode the mines and ami y,
. ne. A II was We passed dt
y under the net. 90 that the AZ
= exploded IN the direction Of no
resistance. doing no more dam. when
than to knock us unconscious mo- imen'
larily. nser:
am willing to LEI the sasny nas. 1ss : !
he got ~ but | pray thar We ! ho.
never have enothar sneh e~ca. sueh