Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-02-29
Sub Conmander
7 ellis How Boat
EscapedSeaNet
Surrounded by Submarine
DeStroyerS and EnneShedl
German Manages Finally 10
Get Away Safely

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Jan. 29.-(Cor-
respondence of the Associated Press. >
Naval Lieutenant Wenninger, command
er or the German submarine U-17 which
/ torpedoed the French steamer Crave
line, gives the following description Of
how his submarine was caught in the
ret Of an English boat off the east coast
Of England and how under the most diff
hcult circums tances he succeeded in
| saving the boat and crew from capture
He said that they left their base early
III the morning and passed into the
North sea, the boat being under water
| with the periscope awash. 81 looked
through the periscope," he continued,
land could see red buoy behind my
boat. When ten minutes later l look
ed I saw the buoy again, still at the
same distance behind us. 7 steered 20
the right and then to the left, but the
buoy kept on following us. I descended
deep into the water SUIT still saw the
buoy floating on the surface above us.
At last l discovered that we had caught
the chain of the buoy and that we were
dragging it along with us. At this time
l also saw through the periscope that
a strange small steamer was steering
course directly behind us and the
buoy. At the same time my sounding
apparatus indicated that a screw steam
er was in the vicinity. Obervation re-
vealed that five enemy torpedo boats
were approaching from the north.
increased the speed of the boat in the
expectation of being able to attack one
of them. The five torpedo boats ar
ranged themselves in a circle. I sank
still deeper and got ready for eventual
tiles.
"At this juncture my boat began to
roll in a most incomprehensible man
ner We began to rise and sink alter
nately the steering gear being appar-
emily out of order. Soon afterwards, L
discovered that we had encountered wire
netting and were hopelessly entangled in
it. We had, in fact, got into the net
Of one of the hunters surrounding US.
For an hour and a half the netting
carried us with it. and although made
every effort to get clear of it, it SEEM
ed impossible. There was nothing to
do but to increase the weight in the sub
marine as much as possible SO that 1
might try to break the netting. Fortunate
w when we started had pumped in from
five to six tons of water, filling all the
tanks. increased the weight of the
boat to the utmost and suddenly we
felt a shock and were clear of the net
ting. I then descended as deeply in
the water as I could, the menometer
showing thirty meters. We remained
under water for eighteen hours When
I wanted to ascertain where we were, |
noticed that my compass was out or
order For a time I steered by the
green color OF the water, but at last
I had to get rid of the ballast in order
to rise. I then discovered that the memo
meter continued TO register the same
6epth and was also out of order. l had
thefore to be very careful not to rise
too high and thus attract. the attention
of the torpedo boats. Slowly the perl
socpe rose above the surface and ! could
see the enemy in front Of me, and to-
wards the left the east coast of Eng
land 7 tried to turn to starboard. but
the rudder did not work. In conse-
ouence l had to sink again to the bot
tom Of the sea where I remained Tor
six hours. at the end of which time |
had succeeded in putting tie compass IN
order and also. in repairing the steering
gear. But uDon rising this time. we
were detected by torpedo boat which
made straight for US. forcing us to de-
scend again. 7 remained submerged Tor
two hours. then turned slowly outward
and at a distance of some fifty meters
from the leading enemy craft passed
towards the open sea. At o'clock In
the evening we were able to rise to the
surface in safety