Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-10-24
CAPTIVE FIFTEEN
DAYS ON U-B0AT
Skipper of Merchant Vessel De-
sCribes Life on Diver and
in Hun Camps.
FOOD IS POOR and SCARCE
Shifted From Prison Camp to Camp
and Everywhere Conditions Are
Same-Is Made to Suffer
Many lndignlties.

London.-Among those who recent
ly have been released from German
prison camps and who have reached
this country via Switzerland Is a cap
ain of q merchant vessel who was
taken prisoner by the commander of a
| submarine after his vessel had been
torpedoed. and who spent is days in
the U-boat. This was the second ship
In which the British captain had been
torpedoed. The captains story fol-
lows:
my ship was torpedoed without
warning. The force of the explosion
was so great that the bridge "a
wrecked. and when / recovered from
the shock l found the ship was sink
ing. None of the crew was injured,
! and we we're all able to get away In
| the boats.
"As we we're In British waters and
It was broad daylight, l did not fear
/ that we would not DOL reach land,
but hardly had we pulled clear of the
sinking ship than the U-boat emerged.
The commander summoned us to his
vessel and ordered me to go on board.
81 had arrived just In time for the
midday meal, stew with stringy meat,
which was probably horse flesh, small
portions of sausage and black bread.
"While I was on board six steam
ers were torpedoed. and n sailing
vessel sunk by, gunfire. 80 shells be
ing necessary to do this. THE U-boat
also attacked by gunfire several other
steamers during the voyage; but had
to submerge owing to Intervention OF
British war vessels.
Depth Bombs Feared.
"On the third day / gathered that
the U-boat was about to carry out an
attack on a convoy which had been
sighted. The boat approached under
water for some distance. and torpe-
doed a large steamer. Our where
abouts were evidently detected. for
we Owed rapidly to a great depth.
Hardly had the boat got on an even
| keel when we heard a tremendous ex-
ploslon which caused the submarine
4 to vfbrate from stem to stern. 1t vas
a depth charge. The effect on the
| crew was evident. All stood trem-
bling. with faces bIanched with fear,
not attempting to speak a word. No
further explosions. however. took
place, and after lying some eighteen
fathoms deep for a long period we
| continued ON our voyage.
"The submarine was equipped with
| powerful wireless apparatus. and
| every day, about 8 a. N. remained on
| the surface In wireless communication
| with the base. One Of the officers
| kept q record of these messages. One
| night the news arrived Of b Ameri-
can declaration of war. 1t vas eager
ly discussed by the crew, some OF
| whom expressed the hope that they
would be allowed to go on submarine
service In the Gulf of Mexico I'm or
| der to escape the severity of the
North sea.
Eventually the submarine arrived
| at HeIgoland and I was taken ashore
and handed over to a military guard.
| My only food was a crust Of bread. a
| piece of cheese and some very weak
soup. After remaining there a day
and a half Twas taken to Wilhelmshav-
en- where again there seemed to be a
shortage Of food. and afterward to
~Brandenburg, a workingmen's camp,
In which I remained until October 3.
1t was at this camp that / got the
news of the murder Of prisoners who
were forced to remain In a hut which
had caught fire. When I arrived at
Br~andenburg l vas put in a large hut
quite alone. Here 1 came In contact
with 300 victims OF the Moewe. and
subsequently was transferred to a
special part Of the camp set apart for
captains of the mercantile marine. Of
whom there were about forty. The
food was Of the coarsest possible char