The Cordova daily times., 1918-05-24


 the periscope, or maybe the vessels are on the diving patrol, only coming to the surface every now and again to scan the horizon for any hostile craft which may come within reach. "A ship being sighted, the subma. rtne dives to the attack As the ship is probably steaming fast on a zigzagg course, long time may elapse be- fore the submarine is in favorable position to fire her torpedoes. While this is going on she must ascertain whether the ship is friend or foe, and at all costs she must avoid being seen. If the periscope is sighted the hostile ship will make off with all speed, and the odds are that she will get away. An irregular course and great speed make her a difficult tar get, and if the sea is smooth she may see the track of the torpedo fired at her and steer to avoid 1t.
 But in spite of all the difficulties the submarines manage to drive home their attacks, and a few of the sue cesses may be here recorded.
 While patrolling between the Eas ern Ems and the Weser river a sub- marine sighted two lots of destroyer smoke to the sOutheastward. Two anxious hours were spent maneuver- ing for position to attack. and then, a. a range of 500 yards, two torpedoes were fired, one at the bow and one at the stern, of one of the destroyers. Having fired the torpedoes, the sub- marine dived to avoid being detected, but loud explosion told without doubt that one of the torpedoes had reached ts mark. Eight minutes later the destroyer was seen sinking by the stern. fifteen feet of her bows still 'ystanding vertically out of the water.
 "The other destroyer was seen steaming at varying speeds and dis tances around the wreck. Elated at the success, the submarine thirsted to put her down too, but as two more destroyers had arrived on the scene and were systematically searching, it was not considered feasible to con- tinue the attack.
 'On another occasion two armed auXiliaries were sighted in the Heli- goland blight, and the leader. theI larger of the two, was attacked and torpedoed, and was seen to be sinking by the stern.
 "It'frequently happens that a sub marine does not actually see her vic | tim struck, but she invariably has the satisfaction of hearing the explosion If the torpedo gets home.
 This was the experience of a sub- marine which, patrolling one morning off the Ems, sighted an enemy de- stroyer, and fired both tubes at a range of $50 yards. As the submarine diVed on firing, the result was not seen, but after the lapse of a few seconds there was an exceedingly loud explosion, which was distinctly heard twenty-five miles away.
 "A quick sweep around with the periscope two or three minutes later revealed no sign of the destroyer which had been fired at, but 400 wards astern was another vessel of the same kind.
 As the destroyer was not actually seen to be nit, at first 1t appeared likely that in reality there was only one enemy vessel, but after the bear ings and distances had been carefully worked out this did not seem to have been possible. In view of the vio- fence of the explosion, it is probable that the magazine blew up, and that would account for the rapid disap- pearance of the ship.
 "Yet another instance of the total of ship may be cited. One of our submarines located an enemy submarine ahead of her, and giving chase, reduced the range to 400 yards. Two torpedoes were fired and one was seen to hit. When the smoke clearsd away there was not the yestige of the hostile vessel to be seen.
 These are but few of the many instances which could be quoted show ing the silent and stealthy work of the submarine.
 For submarine operations to suc- ,eed it is necessary to take the enemy by surprise, and for that reason their work is a hidden mystery and their wrapped in obscurity. The extracts from an official re-