The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-01-04

Of Vicious U-Boat At
tacks While Garry
ing Soldiers.
London, Jan. 4 correspondence Of the
Associated Press Dodging German
submarines in the Mediterranean, trying
TO save sinking warships in the North
Atlantic, and fighting off vicious U-boat
attacks while carrying American troops
are some of the achievements credited
to the White Star liner Olympic during
her adventurous career of the war time
These were only incidents of her expe-
riences, because, on account of her great
passenger capacity, she was steadily and
faithfully keeping to the task of trans
porting men and material for the armies
in Europe. First it was Chinese coolies
for road building, then farmer boys from
Canada to replace the losses Of Vimy
Ridge, and finally many thousands Of
Americans to face the Germans on the
western battlefront
''Her work during the Gallipoli cam
paign," writes member of the crew to
the Daily News, when she carried about
5000 troops-at that time the greatest
number ever carried by any ship-fol-
lowing upon her gallant attempt off the
north of Ireland to tow the water-logged
dreadnought, Audacious, was sufficient to
put her in the first rank of transports,
but her subsequent work in bringing
Canadian troops and Chinese labor bat
talions. and then her wonderful career
since Christmas, 1917, when she arrived
in New York for her first load of Amer
lean troops must put her in a class by
herself as a trooper"
She has carried well over 100000 peo-
pie while on war service
ut would not be correct to say that
Captain Hayes has brought her through
WITHOUT a scratch, but her scars are
marks of honor. She bent and fractured
some of her plates when, in the darkness
early one morning she 'strafed one of
Germany's finest U-boats.
"The Olympic had most of her adven-
lures while she was carrying American
troops During March, April and May,
1918, the German submarine eomman-
ders made at least seven daring attacks
on her. Not once did the enemy have
time to launch torpedo, for in every
case he was greeted by a six-inch she'll
or one of the destroyers was on his track
with her depth charges. Perhaps some
of GremaRy's missing submarines are
now lying below the track of the 0lym-
pic
',The most thrilling experience which
the Olympic had took place in the dark.
ness Of early morning Of May, 1918, near
the entrance to the English channel. 1t
was Just about o'clock when the look
out man picked out Of the almost total
darkness the outline of a lurking sub
marine which was lying on the surface
Immediately after his warning shout
one of our forward guns blazed out, and
the ship, with her helm hard over, spun
around like a great racing yacht and
crashed into the enemy.
"The blow was, Of course, not clean
one, or there would have been few sur
vivors from the submarine. Judging the
damage on the bows of the ship when
dry locked a few days later the blow
cut off one end of the submarine. The
rest drifted past the stern Of the Olym-
pic, and one of the gun crews on the
poop planted a six-inch shell squarely
into it. One Of the destroyers in the
escort dropped behind and by the light
of star shells picked DIP 81 survivors,
three of whom died on the way to port.
The total crew Of the submarine was
over CO."