Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-28
CHASER FIRES ON
j. S. S4, THOUGHT
. LIQUOR SMUGGLER
Dozen Shots Pass Over Her
Off Miami, Fla, on
Way Here.

Operating under the direction OF the
United States Coast Guard, a SUD-
marine chaser fired on the United
States submarine S-4 off the Florida
coast on Monday night of last week,
according to a report submitted 10
the Navy Department by Commander
p. X. Robottom. who brought the
S-4 from Key West to the Washing
ton navy yard.
None Of ten or dozen shots hred
from a rifle struck the naval vessel
but officers on the bridge heard .ne
bullets whistle. and a six-pound shot
fired by the chaser is said to nave
passed within a few feet OF the SUD-
marine.
Suspected Liquor smuggler.
The officer in command of the sub
chaser. which later came ALONGSIDE
the S-4, said that his orders were TO
stop any vessel suspected OF being
liquor smuggler, and to fire on sus-
pected vessel If it failed to stop after
shot had been fired across Its bows
officers and members of the crew OF
the S4 today refused to discuss the
incident, but the following story of
what occurred was gained from re-
liable source:
VI occurTchCS'
The S-4 had left Key West for
Washington early Monday morning
and was about twenty miles off Miami.
Fla. at $3.50 o'clock that evening. run
ming on the surface, with the usual
lights burning. One of the junior Of
hcers was in the coming tower, and
the first intimation he had of some
thing wrong was when a rifle cracked
in the darkness and a bullet whined
ha hnN nf hn hi q
followed in a moment by another. and
the officer Immediately ordered the
submarine to stop. and notified Com
mander Robotton. who was below.
Senrchlight i'm Operation.
The commander hurried to the con-
ming tower and small searchlight
on the forward part of the submarine
was put in operation in an effort to
see whence the shots were COM
ing. While the light was being
manipulated other shots were heard
and the boom of a six-pounder was
followed by the whine of a solid
shot which came uhcomfortably
close to the naval vessel.
The light of the S-4 soon picked up
submarine chaser in the darkness
and about the same time the coast
guard boat searchlight found the
submarine. The firing then ceased. and
apparently recognizing the naval ves-
sci, the submarine chaser came along
side. st...
s's (ommander Asks u So
:, Using o meGaphone as the chaser
came up Comm4stdsF Robottona- asked
in forceful terms who they were and
what they were trying to do. The
corn mander of the subchaser, whose
name has not been learned. replied
that he was firing because the S-4
had disregarded his signal to stop.
officers Of the S-4 protested that they
had seen no signal OF any kind until
the firing began. and were told that
the orders of the patrol boat were tc
fire on any vessel that failed to halt
when ordered to do SO.
Or arriving in Washington Com
mander Robottom at once reported
the incident. ~.
Doubts Issue OF Orders.
James H. Moyle. assistant secretary
of the Treasury, who has direct super
vision over the coast guard. said no
report of the incident, had reached
him, and that he did not believe that
of coast guard vessels
had orders to fire on a vessel on the
high seas that refused to stop, ex
cept in a very unusual case. 1t is
probable that he will make an inves-
tigation to determine what reasons
the commander of the submarine
chaser in question had for firing on
the S-4.
Capt. w. E. Reynolds, commandant
of the coast guard service. is out of
the city today. but at his Office it was
said no report of the incident had
been received to date.