Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-09-20
THIS IS THE LIFE ON
U. S. DESTROYER; NO
SLEEP, COLD FOOD
BY Kenneth w. Payne.
(Staff Correspondent in London OF
the Daily Herald.)


(Passed by British Censor.)
Somewhere in Ireland, Sept. 20
AT first I dreaded sending a U-boat
with Its crew to the bottom of the
sea-but now I'd just as soon kill a
u-boat as drown a rat! I've seen the
brutes at work."
A United States naval officer who
already done his bit in disposing
Of the kaiser's undersea pirates was
describing to me the life on Uncle
Sans d~estroyers now patrolling this
side of the Atlantic.
The amazing thrills, the endless
hardships. the heartbreaking drain on
patience and courage endured by the
American sailors fighting the U-boats
the past three months can hardly be
imagined by the folk back home.
While the rest Of the nation has
been preparing, u destroyers have
carried the first American offensive
against the Germans. Yet their grim
blind-man's-buff has necessarily been
kept a secret.
It was pure luck to meet in this
particular city the commander of a
u. s. destroyer. taking a few hours
sightseeing while his ship and crew
~recuperated from a long cruise.
Eve reed what little rest on shore
we can get" he said. There's
mighty little resting during our long
periods at sea-. Once outside a break
water, we are never still a second.
Heaving, pitching, tossing. shaking all
day and all night!
ooh. it's a Jolly life! No sleep for
nights on end. Now and then we
wedge ourselves into a bunk to catch
q few moments restless sleep, and
like as not wake up with a bump on
the deck amid a tangle Of jumping
gear, n arm wrenched and stiff
from its automatic grip on a
stanchion.
IAN hours solid sleep is practical
ly unknown. And 81 also Is a square
meal. No hot food, for there car sell
dom be a fire in the little SKA galley.
Once in a while a kettle is put on,
and the ship slews suddenly. and the
boiling water showers rel the adj
venturous spirit dreaming Of coffee.
Mostly we eat in aboriginal style,
standing up, with cold grub in n
ness by the other.
add to that, the internal uncer-
tainty and danger! In our speed
there Is safety. But imagine how we
feel when we stop to pick up the sur
vivors of a torpedoed ship, right over
the spot, maybe, where the U-boat is
lurking. They Chamber abroad as
CnOuRn LHey were Hiduo VI eau.
'Hurry!' we howl at them, and how
our nerves relax when we finally get
up speed again!
You see. unsuitable life boats and
RATS are not part Of a destroyer's car
go. If we were hit we would simply
vanish.
Funny how the U-boats have got
to know us. The other day we came
on a boatload of survivors rowing d.
rectly away from land. Why? we
asked them. Oh they replied, the
submarine officer told US to row over
this way and we'd find you at. about
this spot!' The beggars know us by
name and number.
.'They play tricks, too. Many q
gunner thinks he's sunk q U-boat
when he sees 1t go down and oil and
drift come to the surface. Often that
is Just the U-boat's game. The ship
departs and the submarine Is left UNI
molested.
"But the game doesn't go all their
way. Thanks to my bluejackets there
is already one o German sub
marine that will never get back to its
basel"