Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-12-28
FIERCE BATTLE
WITH SUB TOLD
Deeoy Ship Crew FIGHTS H..
While Planes and Powder
Threaten Death.

! London.-CC orrespondence ~ n.
/ Associated Press. The loss 30
British decoy ship Dunrayep i
desperate battle with a German J.,
marine. the story Of which has
been made public by the British ~
! miralty, constitutes one Of h. 49,.
daring and heroic episodes Of ~
anti-submarina war With por.
vessel ablaze and boxes OF eers..
and shells exploding every -
minutes, the after-guu crew 80
to their gun until The maeazir, -
ploded and blew them ana 49,.
gun into the air. Meanwhile ~.
battle with the submarine w.
fiercely waged.
This action took place IN Apy
ust, 1917. The vessel was ono %
the decoys which was commanss5
by Captain Gordon Campbell ~
had previously won the Vietor,.
cross by heroic and successful worI
in decoying submarines to their 5s,
struction. In her role Of an ar1o5
British merchant ship, the Dunrs-
ven was zig-Zagging her course h,
the lanes haunted by the subma-
rines, when q T-bOat opened fra
upon her at 5000 yards. The Dun
raven returned the fire with her
merchant ship gun and reduced her
speed to enable the Hun to over
take her. To coax him on, wireles,
signals were sent out reading.
Help! Come quickly Submarine
chasing and Smelling me-"
Finally, when the submarines
shells began falling close, the Dun
raven stopped and the usual panic
party" abandoned the ship. Inc
Dunraven was then on fire aft and
the submarine closed in 10 a dis
lance Of 400 yards, but was partly
obscUred from view by dense clouds
Of smoke issuing from the Dunra-
ven's stern.
Although he knew that the mag
azine must explode il he waited.
and that a guns crew lay conceal
ed over the magazine, Captain
Campbell reserved his fire until
the submarine had passed clear OF
the smoke. A moment later there
was A heavy explosion and the Dun
ravens gun and its crew were
blown into the air. The conclusion
started the fire gongs at the remain
ing gun positions, The screens
hiding the guns were dropped and
the only gun that could be brought
to bear opened FIRE The submarine
commenced to submerge Knowing
that a torpedo would surely follow,
Captain Campbell had all the
wounded brought up and concealed
in cabins. The after part Of the
Dunraven was a mass OF flame, but
the crew fought the fire with hose
while wireless signals were sent
out warning all other vessels 70
keep below the horizon so as not 10
interrupt ,the final phase Of The
fight
Twenty minutes later another
torpedo struck the ship abaft the
engine room. Another panic par
ty" was sent away in the boats
leaving the ship apparently IN
masked; but Captain Campbell and
a handful of officers and men had
remained on board and lay hidden
for nearly an hour while the sub
marine commander held off watching
the burning ship through his peri
scope.
During all that time boxes Of
cordite and shells were exploding
every few minutes and the fire was
blazing furiously. Eventually ths
submarine emerged astern, where
no guns could be brought to bear (
upon her. and shelled the DunraTel
for 20 minutes. The U-boat then
steamed past the ship $50 yards OF
and Campbell fired one Of his tor
pedoes at her, but missed by few
inches. A second torpedo also
missed. The submarine saw It and
submerged. A third panic party
was planning to jump overheard B
and leave one gun crew for q ma
attempt to sink the U-boat, when a
British and American destroyera
arrived on the scene. The Dunra-
ven's wounded were transferred
her guns recalled and the IRE eI-
The Dunraven, IN j
sinking condition. was taken IN tow, .
but the weather grew worse, ana
on the following morning she SANK
with her colors flying.