Evening star., 1918-10-27

and provided the sea Is clear, q sea-
plane Is able to continue its attack
merged. What does a submarine look
like under the. water? Well. a caro-
full and conscientious canvass of the
pilots here }conduces to the opinion !.
that 1t looks about like a submarine.
As for what American seaplanes are
two instances may be cited: !
On March rs. Ensign John F. Mao
Namara. U. 8. NJ, sighted a periscope
dead ahead. He opened his engine
full out and his first bomb struck
fifteen feet ahead of.the periscope and
and oil to give the sea the. appearance
Of boiling water. His second bomb
landed nearly In the center of the
disturbance, fetching large quantities
Of oil to the surface for some minutes.
- On this evidence the admiralty COM;
damaged. but did not -concede Its de-
struction. AS the pilots. say, in order i,
to recetve admiralty credit for sink :.
ing q submarine, 1t is necessary to /,
with you. and then prove 1t to be an J.
enemy submarine. The pilots. still
quote classic instance of admiralty .
conservatism In giving credit for the
sinking OF enemy. submarines. BY re-
iating the story OF the pilot who
plying through the proper channels
for admiralty credit, received notite
from the admiralty, also through the
proper channels, conceding that 1t
was thought possible that an enemy
at the time and in the vicinity speci-
fed" Only that, and nothing more.
All OF which may be of interest IN
connection with the recent announce
ment by the prime minister that the
I'D {po1 LoI ixrfx f0r
sinking % Of more mo than $50 enemy SUBJ
However, it is usuallyethe pro-
cedure. when a seaplane has bombed
submarine, for the seaplane to
fetch the first destroyer it can find
(although the destroyer may alresdy'
have more than days work cut out
for it) to finish 1t off. For depth
charges are heavier than the bombs
seaplanes carry. ....
Ives, U. s. NJ, sighted an enemy sub
marine on the surface. His first bombb
fell ten feet astern of it. his second
ten feet ahead and his third squarely'
on deck. But al three of his bombs.(
through no fault OF his own. failedf
to detonate and the submarine sub
merged with all possible speed.
The subject Of how seaplanes fight
seaplanes has also been copiously
written about. These actions. like
AcpPcllh dCIiOAS OouoAAy oSSuA O1L tAO
German coast. although within sixty
miles Of their bases at Borkum and
Silt, German seaplanes will not stay
and fight unless they have nu-
merical superiority of at least three
to one.
One Of the most thrilling Of these ac-
tions in which American seaplanes
have participated took place June 4
off Texel and Vlteland Islands, coast
of Holland. as result Of which En-
sign ]. A. Eaton, r. F.. was compelled
to land for repairs and was interned,
the first Of our naval pilots to meet
with this misfortune. A British sec-
ond pilot. acting as observer In sea-
plane handled by Ensign Kenneth b.
Keyes R. F., was killed and an enemy
formation Of seven seaplanes was
driven Off with the loss Of two enemy
machines and the death of an OBJ
server in q third enemy machine.
When the action began. EnsigA.
Keyss na+ as had ss been ss
him to look over the cowl of the
pilots cabin, affording him q view in
accordance with which he could kee<,.
Keyes Informed. The firing at once
became incessant and the air became
machine swooped past, playinghka a
stream Of bullets over Keyes' mact}iAe
and the American pilot, glancing af4e-
ways for split fraction Of seddhd,
saw that his observer was stootag
with his head and one arm on his AHet
and the other arm hanging down Mt
reaching for something. He had, abn
him in the same position before, Hblt-
ever, and thought. nothing of It att}he
time. A few minutes later. he glaNfnd
again and found with a shock that Ne
observer was still In the same bdai-
Of the truth dawned upon hims Ny
bending lover, he discovered that As
observers head was lying In ~ ipeol
Of blood. - tr'i i'' - ii.'
After that he had no clear ideat,sf
Just what his maneuvering was, EHe
knew that he had been cut of fkpm
his formation and was surronnNed
by seven enemy machines, whicftjA jAe
eventually routed. During the hast
had been popping altogether too fre-
Quently, and soon his engineer came
forward to tell him his port engine
petrol pipe had broken.
BY this time he had laid GU + his
observer. in the wireless cockpit,
cleaned up his seat and taken 1t him
self. On his way back to the sta
tion he loosened the wounded. Of
ficers clothing. made his position
at that time he was quite sure was
beating feebly.
At the station he summoned med
ical aid at once. but found that Moth
ing could be done. The shot had
gone through the Observers head.