New-York tribune., 1918-07-05
Flotilla Runs Submarine,
Gordon, Losing One
Vessel
END of Perfect Day"
Prevents a Panie
Passenger Tells Storv a,
Battle Off the Irish
Coast

British steamship, one OF convov.s
flotilla of eight merchantmen ~.
fought their way through the U-bo..
Gordon off the Irish coast, losing ~.
empty freighter and sinking, it ia s,;a
three submarines, arrived here to.d,,
The first attack came at tea-time ;,
June 25 and the last at $3.50 p. m os
the same day. AS the passenger,
shaken by the explosion of deapts
bombs and nervous as the result Of H.
earlier attacks, rushed on deck.
young woman seated herself at ~
piano and began TO pick out "The Ens
of a Perfect Day" It occurred n s ~.
passenger, while the air and the al
venture were still ringing clear N
his memory, to retire TO his cabin and
write an account Of the whole aFa;s
from the five sudden blasts Of ths
ships whistle to the tinkling tuna an
the piano. He did so and here il l..
I've left our home port in Enrlani
on June "a. | will not give the nors
but ! may say that at .. m. the fol.
lowing day we were we'll TO the nor,b.
west of Lough Swilly on the irish
coast. At that hour the call had ;u,s
come for afternoon tea and most II
US had foregathered IN the lounge
The phonograph was giving out soma
snappy music, the air was warm and
the sea smooth.
Whistle Gives Alarm
''Presently FIVE short blasts of fra
whistle made all of us jump 10 our
feet. 1t was the warning of sub.
marine attack. ! rushed on deck with
the others and saw that the formation
OF our convoy had slightly changed
There were seven merchantmen besids,
our own and our escort consisted a.
seven fast destroyers and one biz
cruiser. AS | looked out to the south.
! saw the destroyer which had been
off our port bow put about and
steam rapidly to the rear of the
convoy. | knew something was wrong
As she sped by she made a signal
which | learned later meant that sub.
marines were astern.
Our vessel changed her course to tho
south and another merchantmen thai
was ahead of US went to the north
east. From this new position we coul,
plainly see that the last ship of ttt
convoy, the Orissa, was settling in 4.
stern. She had been hit by a torped
and the destroyer that had just gop
by US was IN pursuit of the L boa
that fired it. At 4:2O p. III. the Oriss
was awash from amidships to stern
Two minutes later her bow pitche
skyward and she went under. She wa
a freighter in ballast and her crew
except for nine men who had bee,
killed outright by the exploding tor
pedo, had all taken to the lifeboa.s
Ihe deStroyers soon had the boats il
tow and took them over to the neares
ship, where | presume they were tsker
aboard.
"All the while the noise of the gun
from the destroyers and the cruise
and the terrific conclusions of tn,
depth bombs discharged by ships o
the convey in the vicinity of the at
tack gave all of us the impression ths
we had been torpedoed
ut IS amazing that steamships cal
escape injury from the exploding dept
bombs. Soon after the Orissa sank.
steamship, whose identity do no
know, steamed at full speed 10 tn
southwest. She was between US an
the leader of the convoy that had gon
eastward.
Dead ahead of her periscope cam
SU0.
splashed into it from q DESTROYER. Tht
merchant vessel for whom the sub
marine had been jockeying kept right o.
her course and sent two depth bomb
near where the U-boat had submerged
Those depth charges seemed to lift op
ship right out of the sea. She shoe
from stem to stern. thought th
undersea explosions would actuall
shake the plates out of her.
This, the first instalment of III
nght, lasted about an hour. We 20
INTO formation again and proceeded O
new course. | was Informed from re
llable sources that both these sub
marines had been officially reported q
destroyed.
Two Shots at Boat
AT O'Clock another submarine wa
sighted close by off our starboard bow
and again the destroyers drove tw
shots at 1T. At the same time our We.
sci hurled three depth charges ths
Droke some ass windows and gave u
shaking. The destroyers also di:
charged several undersea bombs in tn
Vlclnlty, but the officers were not sur
'hat the submersible had been ds
stroyed.
io'HeI scare came at g o'cloc
"hen the lookout on the forecastle hes
reported periscope. This. howeve
was false alarm. as the object
thought was submarine was derelit
yawl, the mast of which was still il
tact. A half hour later two destroyer
on our port bow began firing sn
steamed off to the southeast. Our We
sci again sent over two depth bomt
Tor good measure, although it was sal
no enemy had been observed from oil
bridge
Most of us thought that the encoul
ter at o'clock was the last we were
have with the Germans, and we tried
make merry in the lounge.
Then came the shots from the d.
stroyers at $3.50. followed by the te
rliic conclusions OF our own dept
bombs. Some of the passengers wei
| making ready to run out on deck whe
Miss Marjorie Hast, the daughter {
Walter Hast, the English theatricI
manager, went to the piano and plsye
The End of Perfect Day.
AT l o'clock next morning the d.
stroyer that left our port bow in pu
suit of submarine at $3.50 a. M. r.
turned, and a voice from our brids
called out, What luck %
We got her. was the laconic reply