The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-12-20
A Matter of Luck.

Il MaCter OF LUCK
As l said before, the catching OF a
submarine and its destruction is great
~ q matter Of luck. Sometimes the
M. LIS cruise around for days without
seeing one, and then perhaps a y boat
viii pop to the surface within Il couple
OF hundred yards. The most impor-
tant adjunct to luck is al all seeing
eye. One never knows whore the peri
scope is going to stick out above the
surface. and you must be ready at any
second to make it out at amy point OF
the compass.
Just how many submarines were
got" while | WIS III E0%lund | am
not at liberty to say. but | can go On
record as stating that they are not
easy to get. and the cartiycs are few,
er than generally supposed. A vast
. number Of units are necessary to com
bat them with any degree Of success.
Besides being Invisible almost at Will,
the submarines are manned by men of
nerve.
The idea prevalent among some PEG
pie that submarine crews are more or
less only sncaks, who strike in the
dark or when there is no danger for
themselves. should be dispelled. The
submarines are operated by men who
fear death not at all and who some
| times take staggering chances. If the
British develop one trick that bags a
single submarine they consider it a
success. News Of English ruses
| spreads rapidly in the under water COS.
sip.
u boats have run In a few scant
miles from shore and sunk all sorts Of
craft. and they have V tackled de-
stroyers. The British had some very
sad experiences in sending destroyers
| on rescue work. after which they used
the M. LIS for this purpose. These
make smaller torpedo targets. The
Germans are supposed not to risk U
boats unduly; but, believe me, they do.
] talked with the chief engineer and
n of the crew Of a British sugar ship
from the West Indies who had been
rescued after being torpedoed.
1--WE were just making Havre." said
the engineer, land we were mighty
glad to get in. The day was remarka-
bly, clear, and the water was oily
smooth. We were so close to land we
didn't think there was a chance of
anything attacking US when just at ]
o'clock In the afternoon a submarine
appeared off our port bow and signaled
US to stop.
1--WE were armed with a ~ gun on
u stern and had navy gunners on
board, so instead Of obeying we turned
sharply to starboard to present as
small a target as possible for q torpedo
and opened fire.
THE first two shots fell short, and
the third went over the U boat. The
expected the submarine to run away.
She didn't do anything of the kind.
She opened up OH us with a gun that
must have been at least a three inch
piece, and the second shot hit one Of
our gun mounts.
"One man disappeared-actually dis.
appeared. Either he was knocked into
the sea and sank, Or he must have
been literally blown to pieces. Anoth-
er poor fellow was killed-just about
torn In two-and two other men were
put out cold. The captain had to stop
then, because there was nothing left
to fight with.
I'VE were so near port that the firing
must have been heard, and it was al
most certain something would come
out to investigate, but the U boat went
about finishing the job very method
ically.
"The German commander ordered us
into our boats. While we were lower
ing away he signaled the captain and
the chief engineer, myself. to come
alongside the U boat. The first thing
he did vas to have u wounded
brought aboard, and his surgeon At
tended 70 them. Thea ~ usel =