The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-06-05

st was awakened at 5:S5 o'clock
Sunday evening, as usual, for supper.
The other fellow assistant Operator
Warner) came running in while L was
dressing and yelled Come up here
quick 1 rushed into the wireless
room and there was an S. o. S. re.
garding the schooner Isabel B. Wiley.
I clamped the receivers to my ears
and heard it myself.
"%S. o. S.---Isalbel B. Wiley being
shelled by armed German submarine,
latitude 38.07, longitude 75.1V---that's
what the sounder said.
It told Capt. Barbour he better
make quick Roadway, for judging by
the strength of the signals the sub
must be right on top of US.
You're right, Sparks the skipper
said, and he bawls out to change our
position and we began to zigzag and
speed up.
cat about 6 o'clock 7 was down for
supper and had just ordered my meal
when heard something smack along
side. / had a bunch what was going
on, but / went out on deck without
attracting any more attention than
possible. I hurried up to the wireless
house and sent the other operator up
top to get our position. He returned
soon, saying some one else was dgur-
ing out where we were and mean
while was setting up and forthwith
shout out our first S., o. S.
"fS. Q. S.---Steamship Carolina be-
| ing gunned by German submarine I
sent out. Then I set my instrument
for receiving. Within two minutes
Cape May station had picked US up
and queried for our location.
But just then our German visitor
(the submarine OPERATOR butted in
and says: You don't use wireless,
we don't shoot Sounds German,
doesn't it?
'By the way, I could tell from the
faintness of the vibrations that the
Hun sender was geared to be heard
not more than half a mile away.
ION order then from my captain
replied that we were laying to.
But I followed that by repeating
the s. o. IS. call.
81 forgot to say that the first shot
went right across our bow. When I
repeated the call for help the Huns
sent over another which whizzed some
distance over our top. A third went
|
fell short. 1t seemed as if it were
designed to. 1 guess they intended
only to scare us, but I thought they
were bit careless where they shot.
by this time everyone had rushed
from the dining room and was trying
to find shelter behind the deck house
or below.
81 listned in again and caught re-
peated calls from Cape May and one
from the Brooklyn navy yard, asking
where we were. I hadn't our bear
ings from above yet, but knew ap-
proximately where we were. Just
when I was rigging up to give this,
Capt. Barbour ordered no.
"I went out of the wireless room
and watched the passengers and crew
going over the side in boats, then
went back to the operating room and
tore up a secret navy code book
which the Huns might have found
useful. All other papers of any i'm
portance that I found I tore up and
put in a silver water pitcher and
threw overheard. 1t sank-spurlos
versenkt-you might say.
'"Then the captain came in and
with him I took to a boat-everyone
else had left"
Estimates as to the length of the
German submarine varied. Some
said it was 200 feet long, others in
sited that it was "a big one"-at
least 800 feet in length. The crew of
the raider was estimated at from rs
to 40, attired in yellow oilskins. The
captain and his men bobbed up
through the coming tower and stood
waving their hats from the deck dur
ing the attack, the refugees declared.
Two of the submarines unfurled a
German flag and held it -'inpudently'
up for their gaze, the passengers de-
clared.
!. All agreed that the U-boat bore no
Identifying mark or number. She
had two guns, on stationary mount
; ings, one fore and the other aft, and
of about six-inch calibre