The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-29
Their Sole Job Is to Kill and Sink and Do It
 Quickly
LIFE AS LIVED UNDER
 WATER IN WAR ZONE
NerveWraeking Incidents That Some times Make the Commanding Officers Almost Lose
 Their Tempers
By CLAIRE PRICE

With an American Submarine Flotilla, at European Base, September 19.-It is 9 fact that American submarines are patrolling certain areas of the sea on a very still hunt for Huns. They run up no flag when they attack; they sound no bugle call to general quarters. For an American submarine making an ap proach on q German submarine is a sort of sniper-a sniper with 21-inch missiles. Contact is apt to be brief
 Now American submarines. as a weap- on against German sumbarines, possess certain distinct advantages over the top- side craft. In the first place, the Ger man prefers to remain on the surface as much of the time between attacks as possible, even though he exposes thereby all his gray, glistening deck length for target. This is for two very good reasons. CD it affords his lookouts a greater range, for a periscope at its driest reaches only fourth as far as a pair of binoculars; and @ it saves his battery, and on the state of his battery his military usefulness ab- soutely depends. Meanwhile, he is able to pick up topside craft hull down, sub merging either to attack or to lie doggo But what he is not able to pick up IS the submerged American submarine por- poising cautiously at long intervals to correct it's firing angle as it develops it's approach on him. He may pick up the wake of it's torpedoes, but then it is frequently too late
 As for the American, contact for him consists, please Allah, in an unobserved approach to his desired range, and at the exact instant when certain angles coincide with certain other angles laid across the bow and coming tower of the unsuspecting German, and a tor " neither breaches nor circles, but out of the white gurgle of its impulse air, steadies away at it's set depth for straight, hot shot. Then, please Allah again. a gratifying concussion which reduces his enemy to handful of gibbering sur vivors-and after that: proceeded en route billet, sea very calm, light airs shifting from north to south. visibility low-reached west end of billet at 0900 and headed east, etc.
 Now the submarines live to themselves. Not even in sucn elementals as the reck- oning of time do they trail with the top- side bunch. After the manner of the British royal navy, they use four figure time groups on the basis of a 24-hour cycle, beginning with 00OO midnighD and running through 1200 (noon) to 23o9 after which the next minute becomes 900 of the following day. For instance. this after- noon chow came at 1730 in the subma- rines, or at 5:30 p. m. throughout the rest of the navy.
 They stalk abroad at nights like tom- cats. You never see them leave the base All you know is that, whereas yesterday there were three of them tied up along side the mother ship, today only two are s>undergoing their post patrol examina- ton (.'material in good condition, except had developed vibration in both main mo- tor forward bearings; personnel in fair condition'o overhauling, refitting and do- ing other things queer. When rank out sider finds out their lonely hiding place, ! the commanders and the harried seconds in-command pass him Fatimas and ask him what the army is doing. Haven't seen paper from home for a month"; As for talking about themselves -"sure," In fact, one of them is keeping a diary which he thinks of trying to sch after the war.
 They remain at the base a while, cast ing off from the mother ship occasionally to make practice approaches on sister submarines. After that they go on patrol to make real approaches on enemy sub- marines Now. nation which no longer has the scent of salt water in its nostrils is likely to possess itself of the notion that the sea is an empty waste, and that sea patrol is harmless way to Kill time But the fact is that the sea is as full of life as the woods.
 By day. conveys walk circurnspectly across it, hustled along by sceptical de- stroyers which, at sight of an American submarine smoke bombs, sling them selves close aboard at high speed, stop, sniff and semaphore.
 Black-sided trawlers open fire and alter