The Pensacola journal., 1919-12-28

a achievement, may be accepted as final.
The Admiralty citation for this decor
alton reads as follows:
AT 8 80 p. n, n. NJ S. Drama was
torpedoed in convoy. Conyngham went
full speed, circled bow OF Drama saw
submarine between lines of convoy,
passed right over It so that 1t was
plainly visible and dropped depth
charge. Prompt and correct action OF
Commander Johnson saved more ships
from being torpedoed and probably de-
stroyed the submarine
"Slacker" Merchantmen.
One of the greatest difficulties of
the convoy commanders. especially
during the first months the system
was in operation, was with Stacker"
merchantmen; these were vessels,
which. for various reasons. fell behind
the convoy. a tempting bait for the
submarine. At this time certain of the
merchant captains manifested an in
curable obstinacy; they affected to re-
gard the U-boats with contempt and
insisted rather on taking chances in
stead Of playing the game. In such
cases a destroyer would often have to
leave the main division. go back sew
era1 miles and attempt to prod the
straggler into joining the convoy,
much as a shepherd dog attempts to
force the laggard sheep to keep within
the flock. In some cases, when the
merchantmen proved particularly OBJ
durate, the destroyer would slyIy
drop a depth charge. near enough to
give the backward vessa1 a consid-
cradle shaking up without doing her
any injury; usually such shock
caused the merchantmen to start full
speed ahead to rejoin her convoy,
firmly believing that submarine was
giving chase. In certain instances the
merchantmen fell behind the convoy
because the machinery had broken
down or because she had suffered
other accidents. The submarines
would follow for days in the track Of
conveys, looking for a straggIer Of this
kind just as a shark will follow a ves-
sci in the hope that something will be
thrown overheard; and for this reason
one destroyer at least was often de-
tached from the escorting division as a
rear guard. In this connection we
must keep in mind that at no time
until The armistice was signed was any
escort force strong enough to insure
entire safety. Which added to the very
heavy responsibility upon escort COM
uanders.
What the christabeI Saw.
One late summer afternoon thu
American converted yacht Christabe1
was performing this duty for the Brit
ish merchantman Danae, a vessel
which had fallen eight miles behind
her convoy, bound from La Pallice,
France, TO Brest. 1t was a beautiful
sea smooth, and there was not a
breath of wind. Under such condi-
tions a submarine could conceal its
presence only with great difficulty:
and at about 81: so the lookout on the
Christabel detected a wake, some six
hundred yards on the port quarter.
The Christabe1 started at full speed;
the wake suddenly ceased, but a few
splotches of oil were seen, and she
was steered in the direction of this
disturbance. A depth charge was
dropped at the spot where the subma-
rine ought to have been, but it evil
IDENTIFY did not produce the slightest re-
suit. The Christabe1 rejoined the
Danae, and the two went along peace
fully for nearly four hours, when sud-
denly a periscope appeared about two
hundred yards away. on the starboard
side. Evidently this persistent Ger
man had been following the ships all
that time, looking for favorable op-
portunity to discharge his torpedo.
That moment had now arrived; this
submarine was at distance where a
| carefully aimed shot meant certain de-
struction; the appearance of the peris-
cope meant that the submarine was
making observation in anticipation of
delivering this shot. The ChristabeI
started full speed for the wake of the
| periscope; this periscope itself dis
| appeared under the water Ike a guilty
thing, and a disturbance on the surface
! showed that the submarine was max
| ing frantic efforts to submerge. The
! destroyer dropped its depth charge, set
/ to explode at seventy feets. its radio
/ meantime sending signals broadcast
! for assistance. Immediately after the
mushroom of water arose from this
charge a secondary explosion was
heard; this was horrible and muffled
sound coming from the deep, mora
| powerful and more terrible than any
| that could have been caused by the
! destroyer's "ash-can'' An enormous
volcano Of water and all kinds Of
| debris arose from the sea, half way
| between the CnriStapei ana lHe spot
| where it had dropped its charge. This
secondary explosion shook the Chris
/ label so violently that the officers
i thought at first that the ship had
been seriously damaged. and couple
of men We're knocked sprawling on the
deck. AS soon as the water subsidized
Il great masses Of heavy black oil began
rising tothe surface, and comr rletely
| aE
i appeared. In few minutes the sea,
: e.. =. ..,..... .,,.o.,sr l,,rr,irod Yards in