The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-01-11

guns were placed under life boats,
which, by a similar mechanism, would
fall apart. or rise in the air. exposing
the gun. Perhaps the most deceptive
idevice of all was gun. placed upon
the stern, and. with its crew, constant
| " exposed to public gaze. Since most
merchantmen carried such a gun, it's
absence on a mystery ship would have
in itself caused suspicion; this arma-
ment not only helped the disguise, but
served a useful purpose in Turing the
submarine. AT the first glimpse of q
U-boat on the surface, usually several
miles away, the gun crew would begin
shooting; but they always took care
that the shots fell short. thus convinc-
ing the submarine that it had the adj
vantage Of range and so inducing it
to close
Captain Campbell and his associates
paid as much attention to details in
their ships as in their personal ap-
pearance. The ships wash did not ex-
pose the flannels that are affected by
naval men, but the dungarees that are
popular with merchant sailors. Some
y4nles /. side Of beef would be hung out
in plain view; this not only kept up
the fiction that the ship was an inno-
cent tramp, but it served as tempting
bait to the not too weH-fed crew of
the submarine. Particularly tempting
cargoes were occasionally put on deck.
One of the ships carried several papier-
mache freight cars of the small Euro
pean type, covered with legends which
indicated that they were loaded with
ammunition and bound for Aesopota-
mia. 1t is easy to imagine how eagerly
the Hun would wish to sink that cargo!
Hanrahan and the Irishman.
These ships We're so effectively dis
guised that even the most experienced
eyes could not discover their real char
acter. For weeks they could lie IN
dock. the doclmen never suspecting
that they We're armed to the teeth
Even the pilots who went aboard to
lake them into harbor never discoy-
cred that they We're not the merchant
ships which they pretended to be.
Captain IIanrahan, who commanded |
the American mystery ship, Santee,
based on Queenstown, once entertained
on board an Irishman from Cork. Inc
which took place between
this American naval officer--who, IN
his disguise. was indistinguishable from
a tramp skipper OF many years exper-
the complete ignorance
of the guests concerning the true char
acter of the boat.
How do you like these Americans
Captain Hanrahan innocent1y asked
..rrhey are eating us out of house and
honet" the indignant Irishman re-
The information was a little
inaccurate. since all our food supplies
,vere brought from the United States; !
l,nt the remark was reassuring as prov
tho that the ships disguise had not
Neon nenetrated. Such precautions We're
he more necessary in port like
where our forces We're sur
-o,.nf1ed by spies who We're in constant
communication with the enemy.
can personally testify to the diff !
.14S. ~ identifying a mystery ship |
49, aax Admiral Bayly suggested that
ID, r,,,t IL the harbor and visit one /
- those strange vessels lying there
,-.a,,a "a tory to sailing on a cruise. sew
s,.si merchantmen were lying IN the
,arbor we steamed close arouIiu one
= the AdmiraTs barge ana eAiiiiiilo 7
,er very carefully through our glasses
,ror, a short distance ConcIuoiIlS LIZ
his was not the vessel we Weie
NO. we went to another merciiS1i -.
rhis did not show any signs OF pe,iis
mystery ship; we therefore -
he skipper. who told US the one Nlit0-l
We had first visited was the ms
~, we went back, boarded her, ana
80, examining her appliances. The
80 was dressed in the ordinary
1919, clothes of a merchantmen s
the officers wore the asual
nercbant ship uniform and everything
vas as unmilitary as merchant snip
,s1aIlv IS. The vessel had quite
onr deck house. built Of light steel.
'he captain told US that TWO guns were ]
onceaied within this structure; he