Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-05-22


been asked. what are our submarines
doing? Are they active at all in hunt
ing the German U-bOats which are sink
ing our mercantile shipping?' Occa-
siOnally cases are heard OF German
submarines being sunk by destroyers.
The weekly Admiralty reports tell Of
certain number of merchant ships
''unsucceSsfully attacked" from which
one concludes that in some cases a U
boat may have been dragged" by the
iIerchantman's gun.
Nor has the American mosquito
feet been long in learning the game
of U-boat hunting Keen as mus
tard," said a British naval officer re-
Gently In talking about the American
navy They simply love a scrap when
they can get 4, but the Germans are
not so keen.
There is no end of stories about
the sinking and destroying of German
U-boats hidden ava in the very brief
reports of commanding officers which
from time to time reach the Admiralty,
If one could only get at them. OF
many of the highly successful meth
DDS Of hunting and destroying the o.
boat II Is, Of course. impossible TO tell,
but the Admiralty has permitted the
publication of some recent records in
which American destroyers, British de-
stroyers. motor launches and suhma-
rines have played distinguished parts.
49, A. Moro pave
The brave fellows engaged In the
work are. for the most part, mere boys,
frcsh-faced. clear-eyed 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 is a story of a successful en-
gagement fought by two American de-
stroyprs which were escorting CON
voy of merchantmen. They sighted a
peTiscope. which however, quickly dis
appeared. Rushing 10 the spot the de-
sttoyers dropped a depth charge and
then wheeled back. The periscOpe
agah. appeared. as though heading for
the convoy. and Off went the destroy
erS full speed.
once more the perlscope disap-
peared. but not before three rounds
had been fired by the leading destroy
or, who also dropped depth charge.
The cuemy's bow then came up rapid
~, and it appeared that he was lying
ut an angle of thirty degrees, stern
down
German Crew Surrendered.
He managed to right himself and
tried 10 get away on the surface but
again tn Americans opened FIRE. and
then the Germans came on deck. held
m their hands and surrendered The
U-boat sank just afterward, the sur
vivors being taken on board one of the
destroyers
Here is a tale Of an English com
mander of submarine just as IL
reached Whitehall
''I0a. NJ Sighted hostile submarine.
Attacked same.
10 .09 a m.-Torpedoed submarine.
Hit with one torpedo nmidshlps. Sub
marine seen To blow up and disappear
Surface to look for survivors. Put
down Immediately by destroyers who
fired at me"
But this young commander was a
little more explicit In his footnote, as
he might we'll be, for, wing kept to
sea and his appointed duty under cir
cumstances of extreme difficulty and
hazard. he took his fate In both hands,
stnlked the enemy and destroyed him.
During my attack" he wrote.
"there was Just enough sea to make
depth keeping difficult | fired two
torpedoes. and one hit at forward end
Of coming tower A large column Of
yellow smoke about one and n half
times IS high as the mast, was observ-
ed and the submarine disappeared
The explosion was heard ana felt in
our own submarine. On the previous
day the periscope had become very
stiff to turn, and IN the dark hours I
attempted 10 rectify same, but while
doing so I was forced to dive. and
thus lost all the tools and nuts of the
center bush.
while attacking II took two men be
side myself to turn the periScope. For
this reason did not consider Il pru-
dent to attack the destroyer after hay
ing sunk the submarine.
Lay on Bottom Amid Enemy.
after torpedoing submarine | pro
ceeded four miles northward and lay
on the bottom. Many vessels through
out the day were heard in close prox-
unity. Several explosions we're heard
especially one very heavy one It must
have been close. rs the noise was con
siderahly louder than that of the tor
pedO. On one occasion wire SWEEP
scraped the whole length Of the boat
along my port side and vessel was
heard to pass directly overhead"
That is all. The feelings of these
gallant men. lying on the sea bed. Will,
death In its most horrible form search
ed around for them, are left to th'
Imagination. They made port safely
and, after refittlug put OFF to Sc,
again
This deadly game of suhmarln,
against submarine is the blindest anC
worst Of sea fighting, The hazard il
the highest that can be imagined, bu
it is accepted by splendid men of. th'
British and American navies with {