Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-03
GERMANY PLAYS
INTO FOES HANDS
British Captain Says Mer-
chantmen Now Can Get
Sufficient Guns.
TELLS OF HIS ESCAPE

A British ship captain in Washing
ton today, on a hurried visit from New
York, expressed the opinion that the
himself and other ship captains of the
allied governments with whom he has
talked, has unwittingly played direct
IL into the hands Of the allied govern
ments by its policy of increased fright
fulness and ruthlessness in submarine
warfare.
'Now," he said. 1.-The admiralty will
have to give us guns on our ships.
That's all we have ever wanted"
This ship captain, connected with the
merchant service. preferred not to be
quoted by name. He told a reporter
matte story of his last voyage across
the Atlantic, spoke feelingly and criti-
cally against what he said was the
big fake" Of warning and hating and
commanders. He told how his ship
narrowly escaped from a German sub
marine, when. he said. the first knowl-
edge I had that submarine was in
the neighborhood was by seeing my
first officers head taken off as he was
standing at the rail by q shot"
Need No Conveys, He Says.
"Allied ship captains need no con-
voys, no assistance from their fleets. II
their governments will only allow them
to mount good sized broadside guns, to
protect themselves" he said.
NOW that Germany has so many
submarines lying in wait for US, and
proposes to halt all shipping" he said.
1.-THE naval authorities must let US
mount broadside guns. as well as the
70
mount aft for protective purposes
What we want is broadside guns for
attack, SO that when a submarine
comes up, running the same way at sea
as we are running, as they always have
made point Of doing. knowing we
have only had guns aft. we can fire a
shot at her and put her out of BUSH
ness.
I'VE have some pretty good gun
pointers on our merchant ships, even
if I do say it myself. and I will under
take to get any submarine that comes
up alongside me, and so will every
other captain I know, If they will only
give US the broadside guns"
Speaking of his last voyage to New
York, he said that a submarine came up
near him, fired at him. missed the ship,
killing his first officer, and imm ediately
he began to turn his ship so as to pre-
sent an end-to-end target, instead of a
broadside target, the position in which
up.
There was a pretty piece of maneu-
vering, he said, the submarine turning
with him, attempting to keep his target,
both vessels moving at the highest
possible speed, as they circled.
Submarine Is Sunk.
While this was going on, two British
torpedo boat destroyers appeared in
the distance. steaming at top speed,
and the submarine went under, but
could not go completely to the bottom
and lie there because of the ocean
depth being too much for her at the
point of the fight.
The destroyers, he said, circled round
and round the spot where the sub
marine went down, at their highest pos
sible speed. creating a suction, and lit
orally and actually sucked the sub
marine to the surface, and fired two or
three shots into her and sank her.
I'VE won't need any destroyers.
though" he said. "if they will only give
us broadside guns. and of course if all
this bunk about stopping and search
ing and examining ships for Americans
is off, now that the United States has
broken with Germany, and If there are
as many submarines around the Brit
ish Isles as the Germans say they have,
why, / take it, the admiralty will soon
give US the guns for attack"