Crittenden record-press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1909-191?, 1918-05-23

doing? Are they active Mt all In hunt
ing the German U-boats which are sink
Ing our mercantile shippingT" Occa.
honally cases arc heard Of German
submarines being sunk by destroyers
The weekly Admiralty reports tell Of
n certain number " merchant ships
-unsucccssfully attacked" from which
one concludes that In some cases n u
boat may have been dragged" by the
merchantman's gun.
Nor has the American mosquito"
neet been long In learning the game
Of U'boat hunting. Keen rs mus
tnrd," snid British naval officer re-
Gently In talking about the American
navy. They simply love n scrap when
they can get II. but the Germans are
not 80 keen.
There IN no end OF stories about
the sinking and destroying Of German
U-boats hidden away In the very brief
reports Of commanding officers which
from time to time reach the Admiralty,
" one could only get nj them. OF
many Of the highly successful meth
DDS o. hunting and destroying the u
boat II Is, Of course, impossible 10 tell.
but the Admiralty has permitted the
publication Of some recent records In
which American dcStroyers. British de-
rtroyers. motor lunches and subtna-
rnes have played distinguished parts.
Most Arc Mere Boys.
The brave fellows engaged I'm the
work are, for the most part mere boys.
frcsh-faccd. deareycd youngsters. de
void Of nerves, always alert, cool and
confident. who have TO make up their
minds and give their orders on the
instant. and who. In true navy style,
perform their allotted TASKS and say
nothing about them.
Here ls story ~ n successful en-
gngemcnt fought by two American de-
Stroyers which were cscorting n con-
voy NJ mcrchs ninlen. They sighted a
pcriscope. which how,~cr. quickly dis
appeared. Rushing 10 the spot the de-
stroyers dropped a depth charge and
then wheeled bnck. The periscope
uguin appeared. rs though hending for
the convoy. and OF wen, the destroy
ars full speed
Once more tho pcrlscope disap-
penrcd, but NOT before three rounds
had been Aired by tho heading destroy
er. who also dropped a depth charge
The cncmy's how then came up rapid.
ly. and Il appeared that he was lying
nj an angle Of thirty degrees. stern
down.
German CIV Surrendered.
He managed to right himself and
tried TO get away on the surface, but
again the Americans opened FIRE, md
then the Germans came on deck. held
M their hands and surrendered. The
U-boat- sank Just sftcrward. the sur
vivor> being taken on board one Of the
dcstroysrs.
Here Is n tale ~ nn English com
mander Of submarine just as II
renchcd whitehall;
"I0a. m-Sigh'cd hostile submarine.
Attacked sane.
40 03 j. m.-TOrpcdocd submarine
Hit with one torpedo amldships. Sub
marine seen to how up and disappear
Surface to look for survivors. Put
down Immediately by destroyers who
fred NJ me-"
hut this young commander wns
little moro explicit In his footnote, as
he mlght well be. for, having kept TO
sen and his appointed duty under cir.
cnnstnnccs Of extreme difficulty and
hazard. no took his fate In both hands,
stnlked the enemy md destroyed him.
During my attack" he wrote.
',hcrc wns Just enough sea to make
depth keeping diflcult. | fired two
torpcdocs. and one hit NJ forward end
Of coming tower. A lnrge column Of
yellow smoke. about one and half
times IA high rs the mast, was observ-
"a and the submarine disappeared
The explosion was heard and felt In
our own submarine. On tho previous
day the pariscope had become very
suT TO turn. and In the dark hours |
attempted N rcctify same. but while
doing so was forced 10 dive. and
thus lost all the tools and nuts OF the
certcr bush.
"While attacking II took two men be-
side myself "a turn the periscope. For
this reason ] did not consider II pru'
den, to attack the destroyer after hnv-
INK sunk the submarine.
lay on Bottom Amid Enemy.
after torpcdoing submarine pro-
ccedcd four miles northward and lny
on the bottom. Many vessels through
out the dry were heard In close prox.
unity. Several explosions were heard,
especially one very heavy one. II must
have been close, us the noise was con
sidernhly louder than that Of the tor
pcdo. On one occasion wire sweep
scrGpcd the whole length Of the boat
along my port side, and vessel was
heard 10 pass directly overhead"
That is all. The feelings Of these
gallnn, men, lying on the sea bed, while
death In Its most horrible form search.
I'd around for them, nrc left to the
imagination. They made port snfely
and, after rcnttlng, put OF to sea
again.
This deadly game ~ submarine
against submarine IL the blindest md
- n..s. a.