Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1918-05-17

AlNE AUE dtIlNhl O~UUNAH nUANM 4 sAhN
ing our mercantile shlpping3' Occa-
s~ionally cases are heard Of German
submarines being sunk by d%estroyers.
The weekly Admiralty reports tell Of
q certain number Of merchant ships
''unsuccessfully attacked" from which
one concludes that In some cases a o.
boat may have been "bagged" by the
merchantman'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 1t, but the Germans are
not so keen.
There is no end Of stories about
the sinking and destroying of German
U-boats hidden away in the very brief
reports of commanding officers which
from time to time reach the Admiralty,
II one could only get at them. OF
many Of the highly successful meth
DDS Of hunting and destroying the u
boat 1t 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 subma-
rines have played distinguished parts.
Most Are Mere Boys.
The brave fellows engaged in the
work are, for the most part, mere boys,
f~resh-faced, clear-eyed youngsters, de-
void % nRrvvng oIxr-nvr- o1AWf anO1 md
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 n story of a successful en-
gagement fought by two American de-
stroyers which were escorting a con-
voy of merchantmen. They sighted a
periscope, which however, quickly dis
appeared. Rushing to the spot the de-
stroyers dropped a depth charge and
then wheeled back. The periscope
again appeared, as though heading for
the convoy, md off went the destroy
ers full speed.
Once more the periscOpe dlsap-
peared, but not before three rounds
had been fired by the leading destroy
or. who also dropped a depth charge.
The enemy's bow then came up rapid
~. and 1t appeared that he was lying
at an angle of thirty degrees, stern
down.
German Crew Surrendered.
He managed to right himself and
tried to get away on the surface, but
again the Americans opened fire, and
then the Germans came or deck, held
up their hands and surrendered. The
U-boat sank just afterward, the sur
vlvors being taken on board one Of the
destrOyers.
Here is a tale Of an English COM
mander of a submarine just as 1t
reached Whitehall
40 a. m.-Sighted hostile submarine.
Attacked same.
40 :03 a. m.-Torpedoed submarine
Hit with one torpedo a%mldshlps. 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 g
little more explicit In his f%ootnote, ms
he might well be. for, having kept tC
sea and his appointed duty under cir
cumstances of extreme difficulty ant
hazard, he took his fate in both hands
stalked the enemy and destroyed him
During my attack" he wrote
''there was just enough sen to make
depth keeping difficult. / fired TIVE
torpedoes, and one hit at forward enC
Of coming tower. A large column o
yellow smoke, about one and n hal
times as high as the mast, was observ
ed and the submarine disappeared
The explosion was heard and felt Il
our own submarine. On the prevlou
day the periscope had become yer,
stir to turn. and in the dark hours
attempted to rectify same, but Will
doing 50 / was forced to dive, an
thus lost all the tools and nuts Of tn
center bush.
while attacking 1t took two men be
side myself 10 turn the perlscope. Flo
this reason I did not consider II pru
len to attack the destroyer after hay
ing sunk the submarine.
Lay on Bottom Amid Enemy.
AFTER torpedoing submarine / pre-
ceeded -four miles nOrthward and la
on the bottom. Many vessels through
out the day were heard in close pro-
Unity. Several explosions were hear'
especially one very heavy one. 1t mu'
have been close, as the noise was col
siderably louder than that OF the to-
pedo. On one occasion n wire swee
scraped the whole length of the bot
along my port side, and a vessel wa
heard to pass directly overhead"
That Is all. The feelings Of the'
gallant men. lying on the sea bed, viii
death In It's most horrible form searcl
ed around for them, are left to Il
Imagination. They made port safe
and, after rehtting, put OF to 81