The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-08-09
Experience Of Merchantmen
Captain On U-Boat
NOT ONE ROUND OF JOY
Spent Fifteen Days Aboard
Submarine; Then Put In
Prison Camp

maine Wnlle depth bombs were DeinS
discharged overhead were described
recently by British merchant ship
captain who was prisoner for fifteen
days aboard U-boat.
In an interview the English COM
mander, captured by the Germans aft
er his vessel had been torpedoes, re-
lated how the depth bombs shook the
under sea craft and created conster-
nation among the sailors. In one in
stance the faces of the Germans be-
came white with fear and all stood
trembling after the first shot, which
was not near enough TO destroy the
submersible. All were expecting 6
second discharge.
The English commander reached
his native land after having been i'm
prisoned FOR months at Brandenburg,
where, he said, he and other ship Of
ficers at times had been harnessed to
carts which were used to haul mail
and packages from the postoffice to
the prisoners camp.
Seven Vessels Torpedoed.
Seven vessels were torpedoed b.
the Germans while the British captain
VISA aboard the U-boat. Previously.
the English officer had been in com
mand of merchant vessel which ha6
also met it's fate at the hands of {.
submarine crew.
'On the third day after l had beer
taken prisoner" said the captain, ''jus'
after the midday meal, l gathered tn;
the submarine was about to carry GU
an attack on a convoy which hat
just been sighted. The U-boat ap-.
preached submerged from some dis.
lance and torpedoed large steamer
Our whereabouts apparently were de
tected, / was told, by an allied ligh
cruiser, for we dived rapidly to grea
depth.
Hardly had the submarine reached
an even keel when we heard and fel
tremendous explosion which caused
the U-boat to vibrate from stem t.
stern. 1t was depth charge from the
cruiser.
Effect On the Crew.
"The effect on the crew was evident
All stood trembling with faces blanch
ed with fear, not attempting to speak
expecting a second charge, the resul
of which might mean the destruction
of the boat and without the slightes
chance for us to escape.
There is no doubt in my mind O!
the mental attitude of the crew, TO.
it was not the first experience of The:
MEN with depth charge, and they
had leanred from others in the serv-
ice what terrible weapons depth
bombs were in the hands of skilled
seamen.
For some moments we waited; en-
gines were stopped and all means
were taken to prevent giving indica
ton of our position. Minutes seemed
like hours in such a situation. II
admit that l was turning over in my
mind whether should see my fam
lily again. No additional explosions
took place, however, and after re
naming some eighteen fathoms deel
for a long period we continued ouI
voyage.
The "Wasser Bomben."
"a few days later we had another
experience with depth charges, OF
"wasser bomber" as the German sol !
diers call them. A sailing vessel ha6
just been sunk by shell fire when two
allied destroyers were sighted, and
down we went. By the microphont
the propellers could be heard, and as
the vessels came nearer and neare
we in the submarine could hear the
thudd1ng quite distinctly. To and frC
the destroyers went searching for us
Evidently they picked up clue, fol-
there were two explosions ahead but
not so near us as that from the cruis-
er, but quite close enough to cause the
submarine to tremble and then rol
about as though in a heavy sea-"
Prison camp conditions in Germany
were described by the British captain
as being deplorable. although we.
were merchant ship captains i'm
prisoned at Brandenburg, we were
made to suffer various indignities," he
said. I'VE We're compelled to harness.
ourselves to carts which we had t,
draw through the streets to the sta
ion or postoffice in order to fetch on
parcels and any commodities to camp
1t was at this camp also that | saw
three hundred Russian soldiers work
ing, all of whom were in the last stage
of tuberculosis. The poor fellows
could not get enough to eat, and the,
would eagerly scrape\ discarded ii,
Z cans in the hope of finding particles
of food. / have even seen German
soldiers do the same thing. We were
glad to search the cinder paths at any
opportunity in anticipation of findir
bits of coke or coal with which to
cook our food"
Torpedoed Without Warning.
The captain said his ship was tor
pedoed without warning and that
after he and all his men were afloat
in life boats the submarine appeared
on the surface an dhe was taken pris l
oner, the mates and seamen being
permitted to start in the direction Of
land. Describing the submarine the
British captain said:
She was fairly large craft, Of
recent numbering. having three tor. 1
pedo tubes, two in the bow and one
aft and carried ten torpedoes. She !
was also armed with gun for shell
fire lust forward of the coming tower /
"My first meal aboard the U-boat'
consisted of a stew made with stringy
meat. probably horseflesh, supple
mented by small portions of sausage
with black bread. AS the voyage pro- |