Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1919-01-10
TWO SWIMMERS
SENT TWO GREAT
SHIPSTOBOTTOM

ROME Correspondence of the
Associated Press)-It was by swim
ming into Polar harbor and steering
two small submarine motors towing
bombs that two Italian naval officers
destroyer the Austrian dreadnought
Viribus Units just before the sign
ing of the armistice between italy and
Austria The swimmers were in the
water nine hours and had to pene-
trate four barriers across the harbor
entrance. two of which were compos-
ed of steel submarine nets. After
they had attached their bomb to the
side Of the dreadnought. they were
captured and taken on board the YES
sci and were there when the warship
was blown up.
They escaped without injury and
have returned to Rome to tell of their
exploit which is characterized as one
of the most daring and successful in
the history of naval warfare. Only
the fact that the Viribus Unitus had
been destroyed by Italian naval forces
previously had been made known, but
now the details have been given out
by the Italian admiralty.
The officers who thus sent to the
bottom 20,000-ton ship, one of the
most powerful in the Austrian navy,
were Lieutenant Raffaele Paolucci
and Major Raffaele Rossetti. The at
tack was delivered on the morning
of November /, 1918.
To tow the bombs into Pola harbOr,
the two Italians invented small com
pressed air motors to which were at
tached bombs. For six months the
two naval men practiced in long dis
lance swimming The Italian admir-
atty gave them the use of a motor boat.
Reaching the harbor entrance at
nightfall, the two daring men started
on their expedition swimming beside
their little motors and steering them.
To escape detection by sentries on
wooden pier across the harbor mouth,
Paolucci and Rossetti had hats shaped
like bottles, and the sentry saw moth
ing but couple of bottles being tossed
about by the waves. When his back
was turned they advanced and safely
passed the first barrier.
After infinite labor they fought their
way through the steel nets and the
Austrian feet lay before them. Reach
ing the side of the Viribus Unitus they
attached the bomb to her hull beneath
the ladder which led to her deck and
timed the bomb to explode at $50
a. m.
By this time they were exhausted
having been in the water more than
nine hours. AS they were leaving,
they were discovered and taken on
board the dreadnought. At first they
refused to answer the questions asked
them by Admiral Voucovich. At 6:l5.
however. they told the admiral what
they had done and he gave the order
to abandon ship. Paolucci asked the
admiral if he and his friend might also
try to save themselves, and he shook
hands saying, You are brave men and
deserve to live They plunged into
the water and swan away but ten
minutes later the admiral began 10
suspect the bomb story and sent
launch to bring them back. They
were made TO walk up the ladder un
der which they had set the bomb
which was due to explode in two
minutes The ladder was crowded
with sailors returning to their ship.
Run, run for your lives shouted
Paolucci. struggling to reach the
deck before the explosion took place,
He and Rossetti had reached the deck
and ran to the stern of the dread
nought when a terrific explosion rent
the air and a column of water 500
feet high shot upward, Admiral You
covich again gave them permission to
save themselves, and they had been
swimming away from the ship five
minutes when they heard another eX-
plosion and saw that the other bomb
which had been left adrift had been
carried by the current alongside the
large Austrian liner Wien and had
there exploded.
The Viribus Unitus was then lying
on her side but suddenly the huge
ship turned bottom upward and Lieu
tenant Paolucci saw Admiral Vouco-