The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1917-09-06

wounded D1rQ. Ills pane WdDUlcS. ~
looks as If 1t was going to fall, but he
| gets 1t Strengthened out and flies away.
Both of us begin to fire at the other
machine 1t rises. The pilot does not
dare to fly straight into the rifle fire.
| From aloft he contents himself with
dropping more bombs, but he must be
within range Of our rifles, for presently
he flies away and does not bother Us
any more.
eff he had been a German air man
the end Of the story might have been
different"
Sea Slugs Are Fighters.
The crews which officer and man
the submarine chasers are not trained
navy men. They don't know overmuch
of the kings regulations, and the
discipline they maintain is most GER
tainly not that to which one is accus-
toned on board ship.
But-and / want to emphasize this
strongly-they are scrappers. They
fight in their own way. They may
not know how to do it according to
the book, but they are among the gam
est men afloat. Many of them are
wealthy and formerly owned and OPP
Grated their own boats. They are a
hard fighting, hard riding crew, and
the devil himself can't scare them.
Before they are assigned to boats
the men are given about a ten day
course in navigation, for they must
sometimes cruise out of sight of land
and at night. Many amusing and some
times almost tragic incidents arise
from their inexperience.
1 was out once in an NJ. L command
ed by subaltern named C. All he
knew about navigation had been taught
him in ten days. He got lost, was
ashamed to say so and admit that he
didn't know how to get his location.
He figured for two days trying to find
out where he was. He'd get his sun
observations, and by the time he had
the readings calculated he'd be SO far
away that he had to do it all over
again.
He figured for two days, and all the
time he was getting shorter in provi-
sions and fuel. For the last half day
he followed destroyer, thinking she
was running into port. He wouldn't
signal her and ask for instructions or
for his location, SO he just trailed along
after her as though he knew where he
was going. He was too proud to ask
the road home.
The sun was under clouds, but It
came out just before sunset, and he
discovered that he had been running
right away from England. We got
back of Portsmouth at night. But our
signal box had been lost oversize, and
we couldn't reply to the signal at the
entrance to the harbOr, which came
within inches Of costing US our lives,
as our own batteries fired q couple Of
Ats at US, and we had to run out and
cruise around the rest Of the night to
save our skins. However, we hung
In sight of the harbor so as not to
get lost again.
This same chap, though he was short
on the science Of navigation, was long
on fight. When cruising at night the
M. LIS, Of course, show no lights, and
it is very hard to maintain an absolute
ly even speed and keep just the prop
er distance from the other craft
Steam engines can be controlled right
down to the inch, but the gas engines
which drive the NJ. LIS are not so read
ily regulated. A single notch increase
or decrease on the throttle may make
q difference of whole knot in speed.
Well, G. lost track of the other chas-
- ~, l,;e, eu,,o Troy, opn NIGHT md I,o
didn't dare signal to them. They were
out searching for submarines, and to
show lights would only give the whole
thing away. He couldn't take a chance
on sending up q rocket or footing his
whistle, for secrecy is everything. So
he just laid course the way he
thought he ought to steer and kept it
up hell bent all night.
Just after daylight he discovered that
he was off the Belgian coast, having
crossed the channel. As the early
morning mist lifted he sighted a big
vessel astern flying the German flag.
She didn't look like regular war
ship-more like converted yacht-but |
she mounted one gun forward, and c.
could see others aft.
He had regulation three inch piece
himself.
"Well, boys" he said to his crew,
1--WE may be rotten navigators, but we
don't need to know navigation to give
that tub fight. What do you sayY"
There was only about one chance in |
hundred that any of them would |
come out of the scrap alive, and G.
didn't like to order his men into it.
The NJ. L. was so fast she could have
run, but the crew was game, SO G.
put about and began to loop around
in order to cross her bows, thinking to |
cut loose few raking shots into the
craft.
The gun was loaded and ready to |