The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-09-25
FREIGHTER IN FIGHT
 WITH SUBMARINE
Attacked 100 Miles Off Cape Sable, British Cargo Ship Engages in Long Range Duel.

 ballast from England were receiving | congratulations yesterday from their | friends on shore for their lucky es- cape from German submarine which | attacked their vessel about 800 miles | from the American coast on Friday, | Sept. 13. After firing torpedo which 1 missed the freighter by six feet, the | U-boat opened a long range duel that 1 lasted for one hour and twenty min utes. The steamship was only saved from destruction by the skillful ma noeuvring of her Captain, which caused the German gunners to shoot 1 wildly and the good craftsmanship of the three British gunners with their four-inch quick-firing stern gun.
 The steamship was not struck by any of the high explosive shells fired by the U-boat, but her decks were showered with shrapneI. The bro- ken pieces of brass also perforated the lffeboats hanging at the davits ready for lowering, and a dozen or more larger Jumps of iron struck the
 hull on the port side amidships two feet above the water line, but did not
 pierce the plates. Three of the shells fired from tn stern gun struck the U-
 boat and the crew of the freighter
 said that they hoped the undersea fighter had been destroyed
 Not one of the crew was injured by
 the shrapnel, but the Hindus among
 the crew were somewhat alarmed by
 the constant booming of the gun and
 the swinging of the ship, which near
 ly threw them off their feet at times.
 Officer Tells of Fight. | One of the senior officers gave the following account of the attack upon
 the steamship:
 , At four bells, 10 o'clock, Friday morning(, Sept. 13, we were about 100
 miles southeast of Cape Sable and
 steamihg along comfortably at ten knots. Without warning a torpedo
 was fired at the ship and passed from port to starboard, missing the , bow by barely six feet. The man f in the upper crows nest could not see anything of pefiscope or a U- , boat on the horizon. The Captain immediately headed the ship toward
 the southward, the direction whence f the torpedo came, so that when the submarine appeared on the surface T
 was kept there. The Germans never. , got a chance to fire a broadside shot. , If they had our ship would probab- !, ly not have reached port.
 f '"The U-boat opened the battle by firing with her two six-inch guns at Q a range of 5000 yards, and missed. us a by fully 800 feet. We replied with
 the stern gun, our only one, at a range , of 5000 yards as we had increased the n distance by zig-zagging. Our high explosive shells weighed 32 pounds " and our range was 13, 900 yards, while q the Uboat's guns fired a 1OO-pound r shell and had a range of 15,000 yards a at least.
 ,- "Altogether we fired 70 rounds tc if his 175 shells, not one hitting us 6 Shrapnel burst over the deck and the ,r bridge and made holes in the two for o ward lifeboats on the port side which O were plugged up later by the carpen d ter in case we had to lower them tC h abandon the ship. Other pieces fe1 Ia in front of the officers quarters an( if one large, crinkly bit of iron strucl ia the door of the chartroom with sucI
 force that it was buried deep in tn,
 wood.
 U-Boat Hit at 5000 Yards.
 After our gunners had fired lift. ut shells they made their first hit a T. 5000 yards. The shell dropped righ t. in front of the bow gun on the decl C. of the U-boat, and a cloud of smok m followed the explosion. When it clear 'y ed away the gun was pointing sky m ward at an angle of thirty degrees Sa | he Of rs crew that had been manning it Id minute or two previously. After si n- more shells had been fired our chap "a scored another hit on the bog of tn " U-boat and appeared to knock it end le ways, but the craft did not sink an' of her crew continued firing.
 C. It was at 11:3O o'clock that tn ly third hit was made by one of ou
 shells striking the stern of the subma
 rine. and that seemed to satisfy he IS commander that his craft had takel
 all she could stand. The range b. as that time had increased to 13,4O ut yards and we had only 200 yard a. more to go before our gun would b nt ineffective.
 ne Neither the Captain nor any of u n- could be sure that we destroyed tn WV German submarine. All we can Sd e. is that the U-boat went down slowl nd on an even keel and appeared to b ey laboring under great difficulties. W ad did not see the undersea craft again.
 think that we are lucky to be here to
 day.
 h. The officer said that a portion of k. shrapnel shell which fell on the dec - and was given to the United State naval officers at this port, proved ths the guns on the submarine were (
 at least six-inch, if not seven-inch ca
 ibre. He declared the shooting ( Ot the German gunners was bad, as tE
 freighter, being high out of the wa
 ter. formed an excellent target. id The story of the senior officer WE act confirmed by the Captain and othe ,ra officers of the steamship, several me whom had pieces of shrapnel the ten had picked up on deck after the CT nd gagement. Although the shrapn ,to did not pierce the plates of the stean m ship which is thirteen years old, or
 of the plates was cracked.
 roo -H,1-r, 11STT7IJ COLT ECT