South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-13

other side of the vessel whose ofHcers sailors and
gunners straight and uttered the deep
and hearty of the They would have swap
per their souls for a few bombs TO drop in RENE
brance. Grimy stokers popped their heads through
sonatey scrambled Jumps and slice bars TO
heave the blankety blank think. Then the fog
swallowed it up and the incident was closed
Brief items like these serve to emphasize. like
tragic etchinss. the sinister chronicle Of German
piracy:
In the morning picked up S o. s calls from four
ships that had been torpeIoed within two to three
hundred miles from position"
Passed a corpse with life preserver on"
Received several S. o. :. calls. All hands slept
guns"
ships during voyage which either being chased
or have been torpedoed by submarines. The fear
being sheled in the open boats more than the tor
pedoes."
The submarine opened fire at and fire
turned. The ship her. The submarine would
cut fully exposed and then partly submerge NOV
ing with decks awash and only the guns above the
surface. The crew seemed to be standing In water
part of the time while they Smelling u.s."
Three ships were on the beach where they had
been driven by gunire from submarines A transport
of foreign power, loaded with troops was torpedoed
just ahead of Two ships were sunk asern Of us
For hard fighting and the logged courage that we
rightly ascribe o the of the American navy, the
story OF Moreni and Chief Petty officer Andrew
Copassaki, commanding the armed guard, is one of
those which shines undimmed in defeat. German
sailors cheered him and his from the deck of
submarine w he finished with his ship fire and
cargo of gasoline about to blow him to kingdom come
He was made a officer devotion to duty
determination to fight as long as she hoated A sum-
mary of his report the navy department was given
shortly after, but it seems worthy Of publication
we were attacked three days out from Gibraltar.
first sighting the submarine at 5000 yards away. She
FIVE shots before located her. We then
swung head at her and returned the
1000 yards. After half hours fight we We're
hit in the gasoline tank aft and fire started It was
reported to that the ammunition aft was running
low l lined up the forward guns crew with the
merchant crew to pass ammunition from forward to
aft
after fighting an hour longer, fire broke out all
the ship. II became impossible for the men TO
pass any ammunition aft. When 1 that such
was case happened to be abaft the mainmast and
called for of the guns crew to go forward with
me- I reached bridge. being burned the way
but the man was unable to follow
About the steering gear shot
and the ship steamed in circles Coming down the
bridge 1 saw the captain and bOatswain, who were
ro1in the fails ready TO lower the lifeboats The cap
tain asked me and get in his boat, it
already and it would be too late if we waited
told him to wait and he replied that he would hold
for as long possible.
I'VE went forward and manned the gun, with
which we shots before it put out
of commission. when the submarine saw that our
dropping closer she went full speed astern
so that we could her. Then could fire
no more, the captain called that the nfeboat
burning, we got into IT, me boat upset when II
hit the water and two the merchant seamen
lost. around until we could get to the cap
sized and turn il over.
The submarine called the boats alongside and the
commander congratulated us shaking hands with the
captain telling that it the best fight they
had ever put up by a merchant vessel The sub
marine inches of deck armor.
The lieutenant asked where the gunners were,
and I told they had been killed by shell tire. He
was also anxious to know if we any Englishmen
aboard hours after the submarine left
we're picked up by a Spanish steamer. After were
a German submarine came up near by An
officer of the steamer him in a small boat
and appeared to receive papers. after which he
returned TO the ship The of the submarine
and the spanish sailors cheered back, an we
then steamed
sDuring the fight which lasted two hours
hr Tho cfn niwr zhOf nvQIr
the ship moving in circles, could get range
The submarine hred 300 shells of which four hit the
ship"
the flames racing fore and aft The chief gunner
a passage through it, being burned the way"
his men followed him into action for a final go at the
another night at very long range, con-
Quoted with extreme caution by the submarine.
Copassack was looking after the drafts they
came from the fleet to the armed guard when found
him ashore. \ dark. handsome man, showing a strain
blood he wasted words and insisted that
all in his report From his matter-of-fact
point there nothing to add. They
had fought the ship until she ready TO blow up.
and lifebOats had caught ire he might have
STAYED a little longer What seemed "a distress
was crazy the ship after her rudder
It spoiled the work of his gunners. other
wise they might have found the target. He was i'm
pressed by the excellent English Of the submarine
lieutenant The Germans behaved like good sports
men he might have ripped their sub
marine to pieces with shell, but he had TO say they
acted decently.
His mention of the amiable relations displayed be
tween the spanish steamer and the passing
suggests a similar sort OF information contained
other report chief gunner ashore Gibraltar, met
the master of a torpedoed American schooner
trying 10 get passage the United States. This
unluclly mariner narrated that his vessel had "een
lying in the port OF Alicante. Spain While in the
he made the acquaintance of a courteous man,
who asked him if he were the captain of the Amer
lean schooner then harbor The then went
10 say that he was the commander of German
submarine, which had run IN for supplies Iaklhg
fancy the Yankee skipper. possibly over bottle OF