The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1918-02-19
AIRCRAFT help
Fight U.BOATs
important Factor in Defeat of
Submarine Drive.
Speed IS GREAT ADVANTAGE


Mines and Rescue Seamen-co-op-
Grafton With Naval Vessels Hohs
: German Campaign of Effectiveness
Stories of Daily Fights Would
Make Thrilling Epic.
GAS everyone knows, aircraft are
used for many purposes in this war,
that most familiar to the public being
the direction of artillery fire at the
'front.' writes Il special correspondent
in the London Daily Telegraph. 'This
is one Of the ways in which aircraft
preserves human life, but far more ex-
tensive in its consequences is the use
of aircraft at sea to protect us from
the submarine menace. Had it not
been for the cooperation of our air.
craft, the antiSubmarine campaign
would have been far less effective, the
people of Great Britain and certain Of
her allies would have been faced with
sitter rationS, and the central pow
ers would have been unduly elated.
"Here are a few figures relating to
the work which naval aircraft per-
fOr1neG during the month OF Septem-
ber 1917. The total distance covered
by the patrols was 10000 miles, of
which 10000 miles was covered by sea-
planes and $4,000 miles by airships.
On seven occasions ships which were
being attacked by submarine sent
S O S signals, which brought sea-
planes to their assistance in time to
save them by compelling the suhma-
rines to dive. Several hundreds Of
ships were conveyed.
Speed Big Advantage.
unfortunately the number Of sub
marines attacked and destroyed by
our aircraft cannot be published, but
a few words may be said as to the
method of attack. When destroyer
sights submarine some five or six
miles away, he goes full speed to the
attack at about thirty miles an hour,
so that the submarine has ten minutes
or so in which to dive beyond the
reach of the destroyer's depth charges.
"But when seaplane sights sub
marine at the same distance he flies
to the attack at anything from SO to
100 miles an hour, so that the sub
marine has only three or four min
utes before bombs begin to fall around
her. 1t must not be assumed, how
ever, that destroyers have been super
seeded by the seaplanes as the enemy
of submarines. On the contrary, the
two very often work i" together, and
their cooperation usually spells disas-
ter to the U-boat.
1.-THE stories of these fights, which
are going on daily between seaplanes
and submarines, would make a thrill
ing epic. Here is one which happened
recently: A seaplane sighted a Ger
man submarine on the surface. he"
directly over her before she had
chance to dive, and dropped a bomb
on her tail which was seen to make
large hole in the deck. Immediately
afterward the seaplane pilot saw
through the mist three more German
submarines, in line abreast, followed
by three German deStroEerS, ana es-
corted by two German seaplanes. All
six vessels fired their antiaircraft
guns at our scaplane but the German
seaplanes did not attack because they
could not get through the barrage put
up by the fire of their own destroyers.
Calls British Warships.
"Our seaplane turned, dropped an
other bomb on the wounded submarine,
saw her sink amidst pool Of Oil, in
which fragments of her floated, and
then retired gracefully from an unequal
contest,
"This incessant and ruthless warfare
against the U-boat by naval aircraft
has been one of the main factors in de-
feating Germany's aims and in saving
the people of this country from the
starvation which Germany has tried
to infict upon them. But our
seaplanes save life in other ways. AS
already mentioned, their mere presence
has many times saved a merchant ship
when a submarine has been attacking
it. Moreover, when the tragedy has
actually occurred and the torpedo has
found it's mark, it is the seaplane which
is the first to see the shipwrecked
crews in their boats, to send wireless
messages for assistance and to direct
the rescuers to the right spot.
'It is the seaplane and the other air
craft which first sight the deadly mine,
and so help the minesweepers in their
task. In word, it is the naval air
craft which has been, and is, saving the
lives not only of those who traverse
the seas, but of every man, woman
and child in the British isles, who 9th
erwise would be threatened with star
vation. The strike at Coventry already
has been a serious blow to the empire;
a repetition there or elsewhere would