The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-08-08
WAS CAPTIVE IN GERMAN
SUBMARINE Fifteen DAYS
tBy United Prc...,


and who have reached this country
via Switzerland is captain of mer-
chant vessel who was taken prisoner
by the commander of submarine af-
ter his vessel had been torpedoed.
and who spent Is days in the U-boat.
This was the I'd ship in which the
British captain had been torpedoed.
The captains story follows:
MY ship was torpedoed without
warning. The force of the explosion
was SO great that the bridge was
wrecked, and when l recovered from
the shock l found the ship was sink
ing. None of the crew was injured,
and we were all able to get away in
the boats
las we were in British waters, and
it was broad daylight l did not fear
that we would not soon reach land,
but hardly had We pulled clear of
the sinking ship than the U emerged.
The commander summoned us to his
vessel, and ordered me to go on
board. After asking for details of
my ship and cargo, he told me to con
slider myself a prisoner, and sent the
boats away. / was at once taken be-
low and the vessel dived.
From what some English speaking
members OF the crew told me the sub
marine had been away from her base
fnr fair
large craft, of recent numbering, hav-
ing torpedo tubes, q. in the bows and
i aft. and carrying 10 tcrpedoes. She
was also armed with a 4-inch gun just
forward of the coming tower. / had
arrived just in time for the midday
meal stew with stringy meat which
was probably horseflesh. small por-
tions of sausage and black bread. This
bread as the voyage progressed be-
came mildewed and then some bread
of lighter color which had been kept
in an Theoretically sealed receptacle
was served out, but was even more
unpalatable than the black bread. The
other meals were breakfast and sup
per at which coffee, made of burnt
barley and acorns, was served.
THE commander and officers of the
U-boat Jared the same as the lower
ratings, but were able to supplement
their allowances with -tinned ham.
Life on board the submarine was by
no means pleasant. Forced as we
were to keep below the surface to
avoid British war vessels the boat
sweated and. all spare clothing be-
came saturated with moisture, while
the atmosphere often became very
foul, and breathing difficult. While
we were below surface the crew
would switch on the talking machine
That was the band which played tri-
umphantly when the U-boat got a vi
tim. Sinking of an innocent mer-
chairman caused that crew as much
joy as if they had sunk war vessel
SEVEN VICTORIES"
while | was on board we had "vic-
tory music" on seven occasions, for
six steamers were torpedoed, and one
sailing vessel sunk by gunfire, 80
shells being necessary TO do this. The
U boat also attacked by gunfire sew
eral other steamers during the voy-
age; but had to submerge. owing to
intervention of British war vessels.
"On the Sd day | gathered that the
U-boat was about to carry out an at
tack on convoy which had been
sighted. The U-boat approached un-
der water for some distance, and tor
pedoed a large steamer. Our where
abouts were evidently detected for we
divei rapidly TO a great depth. Hard
ly had the boat got on even keel
when we heard a tremendous explosion
which caused the submarine to vi
brate from stem to stern. 1t was
depth charge. The effect, on the crew
was evident. All stood trembling.
with faces blanched with fear. not at
tempting to speak q word. expecting
I'd charge. For. some moments we
waited. Engines were stopped and all
means were taken TO prevent giving
away our position, Minutes seemed
like hours in such a situation | must
admit that I was turning over In my
mind whether ! should ever see my
family again. No further explosions
however, took place. and after lying
some IS fathoms deep for a long per-
iod we continued on our voyage
DREADED "WAssER BoMBEN."
I'VE had another experience with