The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-22
NEAR CAPTURE, GERMANS TRIED
 TO SINK U-b0AT

laying submarine UC-5 is published in The Naval and Army Record Of London in it's issue of July 31. "A com plete description of the submarine, said to be the first of the kind ever constructed, is also given.
 "In April,' says The Naval and Ar my Record, "a torpedo destroyer. cruising off the east coast, captured a German submarine in novel circum- stances. When first sighted, the en- emy was in difficulties. From the deck of the destroyer, then some dis tance away the 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 inspec- ton proved it to be the German na- val ensign, and then it was noticed that the whole of the crew of the sub- marine appeared to be on deck.
 "The comic side of the situation was not lost on the men of the de- stroyer, and once apprised of the en- emy character of the distressed ves- sel, they set to work to make her a prize, The commander hailed the crew with a brusque invitation to surrender The submarine men saw the guns trained on them. and they hauled down their flag and put their hands above their heads in the ap- proved "Kamerad" style. At a word from the commander they jumped into the water and swam for dear life away from the submarine. In- ternal explosions followed. and at the last and heaviest a cascade of ham mocks and other debris was shot out at the open coming tower to height of forty feet. That there was vent for the explosive forces probably saved the ship, but, as it was. the bottom of the vessel was punctured in two places and rivets were started, so that the craft made water quickly.
 "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 exami- nation showed that, although the sub marine had laid no mines, two had been released by the force of the ex- plosions 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
 
 battleship, and it was an act of hero ism on the part of young officer that rendered the submarine capable of being brought in as prize. The officer went down in a diving suit and made the mines safe by detach- ing the detonators, afterward securing them in such position that the sal vers could work in comparative safe- ty. After seventeen 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 UC-5 vessel of the mine-layer class, quite small, but capable and virulent and the officers and men of the destroyer who made the capture are to be heartily. con- graduated on their achievement. g.'
 .As a mementos of her capture the destroyer. now displays her prizes en- sign in the officers mess. UC-5, as she appeared in custody at a naval dockyard this week, was smartly painted her original German gray, and the white ensign looked appropriately picturesque surmounting the enemy flag on the telescopic mast. But, hauled off the dock side 50 that one might appreciate her without per spective intervening too largely, she was not really a pretty boat, even for a submarine. Her bulging, tubular sides gave her a smart appearance. which was increased rather than di- mfnished by the clumsiness of her su- perstructure-a high, raised platform 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.
 '"The captured submarine appeared to have been one of those transported in sections from Germany and put together on the Belgian coast. Her four sections are plainly marked, the hull being divided into three and the coming tower constituting the fourth part The seams are rather roughly finished, and point to rapid assemb- ling or none too skillful workmanship. A mere minnow in size compared with the big fish possessed by both the enemy and ourselves, the UC-5 was fitted only for mine laying. and appa- rently carried no armament. The
 
 pied by the steel launching tubes, matically from the coming tower or by a hand lever situated between the we'll of each tube and the side plates of the ship. She was fitted with a sixteen horse power Diesel engine. driving a single screw, and was ca pablo of not much more than eleven knots at the best. Despite her limi- tations, she is believed to have made a score of trips to British waters, and probably dropped 240 mines.
 "A visit to the interior of the sub- mari1fe was a rather disappointing ex- perience, for her late occupants had wrecked her pretty effectively before giving themselves up. The periscope lenses and compasses had apparently been smashed with a hatchet, while revolyers had been fired into the mechanism at various other points Rust and muddy sediment had coated everything that survived, and gave cave rather than the compact me- chanical model which every subma rine has to be. At no point was it possible for man of average height to stand erect. and as a habi- tation for five officers and seventeen men it must have been most comfort less The Germans carry in their submarines no fewer than five off, cers. as against our two, but the bal ance of efficiency seems .indubitably to rest with the highly skilled young officers of our own submarine f1otillas.