Imperial Valley press., 1919-01-13

Thy 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 Units had
been destroyed by Italian naval forces
previously had been made known, but
now the details have ben given out
by the Italian Admiralty.
The officers who thus sent to the
bottom a 20,000-ton ship, one of the
most powerful in the Austrian navy,
Major Raffaele Rossetti. The attack
was delivered on the morning of
November l, 1918.
To tow the bombs into Pola harbor,
the two Italians invented small COM
pressed cir motors to which were at
tached bombs. For six months the
two naval men practiced in long dis
tance 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 a 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
! +Lo., !, hn cta
the Austrian fleet lay before them.
Reaching the side of the Niribus Uni
It's, they attached the bomb to her
hull beneath the ladder which led to
her deck and timed the bomb to ex-
plode at $50 a. m.
Rv this time thew 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 bv Admiral Voucovich. At 6:15,
however. thev 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 ne
shook hands saying, "You are brave
men and deserve to live" They
plunged into the water and swan
away. but ten minutes later the Ad-
miral began to suspect the bomb I
story and sent q launch to bring them
back. They were made to walk up
the ladder under which they had set
the bomb, which was due to explode
in two minutes. The ladder was
crowded with sailors returning TO !
their ship. u
run. Run for your lives"
shouted Paolucci, struggling 10 reach |
the deck before the explosion TOOK /
rlace. He and Rossetti had reached
the deck and ran to the stern Of the
dreadnought when a terrific explo-- I
sion rent the air and a column OF !
water 300 feet high shot upward. Ad- |
miral Voucovich again gave them
nernission to save themselves, and
they had been swimming away from
the ship five minutes when they heard |
arother explosion and saw that the /,
other bomb which had been left adrift |!
hod been carried by the current !
alongside the large Austrian liner
Wien and had there exploded.
The Viribus Units was then lying
on her side. but suddenly the huge ,
ship turned bottom upward and Lieu
tenant Paolucci saw Admiral Vouco-
vich scramble upward and stand with
folded arms on the kel, ready to go
down with his vessel.
Major Rossetti and Lieutenant Pao-
lucci were recaptured and taken on
board anotl sr Austrian warship,
where thev were kept prisoners until /
the armistice was signed and an ltal-
ian warship entered the harbor. Then
a launch was sent for the two heroes
and they were sent on a destroyer to /
Venice. where the people gave them
a vociferous welcome.