New Britain herald., 1917-12-29
AMERICAN GUNNERS
sink SUBMARINE
Full Details Are Given Out by the
Navy Department at Washington
CAPTURE ENTIRE SUB CREW

AAU@A ANAAAfNAA6 ~OA AAUS tN1V" O4
American Ship Rescues German
Sailors from the Sea, One Dying
j AFTER Being Taken Aboard Tanning.
Washington, Dec 29.-Full details
of the destruction by American de-
stroyers of a German submarine and
the capture Of it's crew made public
today by the Navy department show
that the destroyers flaming and
Nicholson were the warships engaged
The incident was reported November
"a, but few facts were given at the
time.
The submarine was sunk, the Navy
departments story of the affair indi-
Gates, as it was preparing to attack
a merchant, ship flotilla conveyed by
the destroyers. One merchant ves-
sci aided the destroyers by dropping
a depth charge. .sas# .-
AT about 4:1O p. M, while escort
ing a convoy. Coxswain David D.
Loomis, lookout Of the Tanning,
sighted small periscope some dis
tance Off the port bow, extending
about q foot out OF water, and Wis
1ble for only a few seconds. The
Tanning Immediately headed for the
spot and about three minutes after
the periscope had been sighted
dropped a depth charge. The Mich
olson also speeded to the position of
the submarine. which appeared to be
heading toward q merchant vessel in
the convoy, and dropped another
depth charge. At that moment the
submarines coming tower appeared
on the surface between the Nichol-
son and the convoy. and the Nichol-
son fired three shots from her stern
gun. The bow of tht submarine
came up rapidly. She was down by
the stern, but righted herself and
seemed to increase her speed. The
Nicholson cleared, the Tanning head
ed for the U-boat, firing from her
bow gun. After the third shot, the
crew Of the submarine all came on
deck and held up their hands, the
submarine surrendering at 4:2S p.l M.
The Tanning approached the SUBJ
marine to pick mp the prisoners, both
trained on the boat.
"a line was got to the submarine,
but in few minutes she sank. The
line was let go and the crew of the
U-boat jumped into the water and
swan to the Tanning.
/. "AlthQugh the crew all wore life
preservers," the statement continues
"a number Of them were exhausted
when they reached the side of the de-
stroyer. AS the submarine sank, five
or six men were caught by the radio
aerial and carried below the surface
before they disentangled themselves.
Ten Of the men were so weak that
lines had to be passed under their
arms to haul them aboard. One man
was in such a condition that he could
not even hold the line thrown him.
Chief Pharmacists Mate Elser Har-
well and Coxswain Francis Ga Connor
IN. N. W jumped overheard after
this man and secured line under
his arms. When he was hauled
aboard every effort was made to re-
suscitate him, but he died in a few
minutes. The four officers Of the
| submarine and the IS members of the
crew were all taken prisoners
after being taken on board, the
prisoners were given hot coffee and
sandwiches. Though kept under strict
guard, they seemed contented and/a
| ter a short time commenced to sing.
To make them comfortable, the crew
| of the destroyer gave them their
COdIS duu HedFy ClOLulH8.
| "The German officers said the first
depth charge had wrecked the ma
chinery Of the submarine and caused
her to sink to a considerable depth.
'The submarine bore no number
nor distinguishing mark. She was.
however, identified by lifeboats and
by statements Of an officer and men
of the crew. One of the life belts,
| the reports said, had Kaiser marked
on one side and 'Gott' on the other.
"The Tanning proceeded to port
and transferred her prisoners under
! guard. AS they were leaving in small
boats the Germans gave three cheers.
! The commanding officer of the Fan
| ming read the burial service over the
body of the dead German sailor and
| the destroyer proceeded to sea and
buried him with full military honors.
"In his report, the commander of
the flaming praises the conduct of
his officers and crew and gives par
ticular credit to Lieutenant Walter
o. Henry, officer Of the deck. and to
! Coxswain Loomis, who sighted the
! periscope. He also commends Phar-
macist's Mate Harwell and Coxswain
Connor, who jumped overheard to
f, save the drowning German.
'The British n-chief,
under whom the destroyers were
operating, said this in his report to
the British admiralty:
".The whole affair reflects credit
on the discipline and training of the
United States flotilla, and added that
the incident showed the Tanning Is a
man of war in the best sense of the
term, well disciplined and organized
and ready for immediate action. He
also praises her commander, Lieut.
A. 8. Carpenter, and commends Lieut.
Henry. Coxswain Loomis, Pharma-
cist,s mate Harwell and Coxswain
J rsonnor The British admiral also