The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-05-20

the simple tale of the gaunt gray
fighting hulks that swing ceaselessly
in circles from the Arctic down to
Ostend, barring effectively the egress
from German ports of naval merchant
shipping. Only the U-boats and an
occasional raider have been success
full in slipping through the steel cor
don.
Although much has been told about
the high seas fleets, but little has
been Written-and less officially dis
closed-about England's efficient sub
marine navy. However there has been
received by the Committee on Public
Information an official British state
ment, made public with the approba-
ton of the Admiralty, telling in de-
tailed form of the exploits of Britons
in combating Germany with her IA
vorite weapon.
Leaving the home harbors on Eng
lands east coast, or perhaps dropping
| down some Scottish firth, the submar-
ines slip into the gray waters of the
North Sea and pick their way through
| German mine fields so that they may
| battle with the enemy even within
| the confines of his own harbors
One of the most popular tales of the
| exploits of British submarines, which
| however, is not contained in the pre-
| pared staten ents, deals with a young
commander who audaciously crept
through mine-infested waters into the
very harbor of Hehgoland, the Ger
man Gibraltar. AS he allowed his
periscope to show above the surface
for an instant, he caught a glimpse
| of an enemy Uboat riding awash
while the crew, lined up on deck,
| smiled a greeting to the crowds on
| shore and aboard harbor shipping
who were noisily welcoming the "he-
roes' returning from a raid on the
Atlantic. A torpedo. from the Brit
ish craft summarily cut short the
celebration and eliminated the u
| boat as a future menace to Allied YES
sells. The brilliant phase of the
achievement is the fact that the Eng
| fish vessel succeeded in escaping and
returning to port unframed.
Besides detailing various engage
ments in which British submarines
| have accounted for one or more enc
my war vessels-it is stated that more
than forty German warships have
been attacked successfully-th re-
view tells of the hardships incident
| to patrols in bad weather.
In winter, cold, clammy chill per-
| vades the submarine and at times the
| thermometer drops so low that the
crew find it difficult to sleep. Spray
freezes several inches thick on the
wireless antennae. rendering radio
communication impossible, while the
| periscope becomes useless at times
| because of a, frosty mantle.
The submarine rides very heavily in
! a seaway, and an even keel is difficult
| to maintain even many fathoms be-
| low the surface. When running on
| top for the purpose of replenishing
the supply of electric motive power
the ventilators must be kept open
with the result that water is shipped
in heavy quantities.
| How much respect for the British
underseas navy is entertained in Ger
many is told best in the official mar
rative, which runs as follows:
''Venturesome as the enemy is with
his U-boats, he rarely allows his above
water craft beyond the confines of his
harbors. He we'll knows that our sub
marines are ever on the prowl for
him, and how viligant and thorough is
the watch kept may be gathered
from the fact that though so few OPP
portunities are afforded them our
submarines have successfully attack
ed no less than 40 enemy warships
Might and day the search is con-
tinued, according as circumstances
may dictate. The watch is kept on
the surface, or submerged save for
are on the diving patrol, only COM
ing to the surface every now and
again to scan the horizon for any
| hostile craft which may come within
reach.
"a ship being sighted the submarine
dives to the attack. AS the ship is
probably steaming on a zig-zag course
a long time may elapse before the
submarine is in a favorable position
to fire her torpedoes. While this is
going on she must ascertain whether
the ship is friend or foe and at all
costs she must avoid being seen. If
the periscope is sighted the hostile
the odds are that she will get away.
An irregular course and great speed
make her a difficult target and if
the sea is smooth she may see the
track of the torpedo fired at her and
steer to avoid it.
But in spite of all the difficulties
the submarines manage to drive home
i their attacks and a few of the sue
L.
while patroIing between the Eas-
tern Ems and the Weser river sub
marine sighted two lots of destroyer
smoke to the southeastward. Two
anxious hours were spent maneuver-
ing for position to attack, and then,
at a range of 500 yards two torpe-
does were fired, one at the bow and
one at the stern, of one of the des-
troyers. Having fired the torpedoes
the submarine dived to avoid being
detected, but a loud explosion told
without debut that one of the tor
pedoes had reached It's mark. Eight
minutes later the destroyer was seen
sinking by the stern, fifteen feet of
her bows still standing vertically out
of the water.
THE other destroyers was seen
steaming at varying speeds and dis
tances around the wreck. Elated at
the success, the submarine thirsted
to put her down too, but as two more
destroyers had arrived on the scene
and were Systematically searching, it
was not considered feasible to con-
tinue the attack.
ION another occasion two armed
auxiliaries were sighted in the He'll
goland Blight and the leader, the larg-
| ar Of tho TIM rras aftanlrad and to-