Evening star., 1920-03-14
N the morning Of septembersi : {
three, subchaser units. under
the command OF Ensign Ash.

:"
y. ley ID. Adams, U. 8. N. r. r
were Hsteping at a point about, $50
miles west Of Land End. At about
1850 two OF these units detected
what was unQuestionably the sound
Of submarine. Moreover. thu usual
"fxes" disclosed that the enemy was
close at hand: SO close that two OF
the units ran up and dropped their
charges. 80.
This first attack produced no result
on the submarines. the depth charge
from one Of the howitzers, however, !
unfortunately. landed near one of the
chasers, and, though it injured no s
one. It put that particular unit out =
Of commission. However. for two
hours Ensign Adams division kept
closely on the heels Of the quarry,
now stopping to obtain AK" now
running full speed to- catch up with
the fleeing prey. At + o'clock the
plotting room reported that the SUBJ
merged boat was just about hum
dred yards ahead. =
The three chasers laid barrages ac-
cording to pattern and the three 'Y"
guns shot their charges; the region
OF the AK" was SO generously sowed
with these bombs that it seemed an
impossibility that the Germans could
have escaped
y AS soon as the tumult quieted
down. the chasers put out their
tubes and listened For twenty min
:utes not sound issued from the
scene of all this activity. Then q pro-
arI 70, tIS, tpr 1iyoD ar
attempting to turn. The noise this
time was not the kind which indi-
Gated an effort to steal away furtive-
ly: it conveyed rather the impression
of difficulty and strain. There was
slight grating and squeaking such as
might have been made by damaged
machinery.
This noise lasted for a few seconds
and then ceased. Presently 1t started
UP again and then once more 1t stop
ped The submarine was making a
little progress. but fitfully; she would
60 few yards, and then pause. A
slight wake now appeared upon the
surface, such as a submerged U-boat
usually left when the water was calm;
the listeners at the tube were pleased
to note that the location of this dis
turbance coincided precisely with their
AK" and thus. in a way. confirmed
their calculations. One OF the SUD-
chasers promptly ran ahead and be-
gan to drop depth charges on this
wake. There was not the slightest
doubt that the surface boat was now
directly on top of the submarine.
After one of the depth charges was
dropped q black cylindrical object.
about thirty inches long. was hurled
sixty feet into the air; just what this
unexpected Visitant was. no one seems
to know, but that 1t came from the
hunted submarine was clear.
Under such distressing conditions. the
U-boat had only single chance OF saw
ing itself; when the water was sufficient
ly shallow-not deeper than 800 feet-N
could safely sink to the bottom and
..play dead" hoping that the chasers,
with ther accursed listening devices
would tire of the vigil and return 10
mort. A submarine. If in very good con-
dition. could remain silently on the bot
tom for two or three days.
The listeners on the chaser tubes
nresently heard sounds which suggested
that their enemy was perhaps resortins
to this maneuyer. But there were
other noises which indicated that pos
sibly this sinking to the bottom was not
voluntary The listeners clearly heard
a scrapine and a straining. as though
the boat was making terrific attempts
to rise. There was q numbering noise,
such as might be made by heavy oo-
ject trying to drag its hulk along the
muddy bottom; this was followed by
silence, showing that the wounded ves-
.el could advance only few yards.
"a - ,r
IA. TERRIBLE tragedy was clearly begin
ming down there in the slime OF the
ocean floor; a boat. with twenty-nveSor
thirty human beings on board was
hopelessly caught. with nothing IN sisht
EXCEPT the most lingering death. Inc
listeners on the chasers could ioiiow
events almost as clearly as though the
inside OF the U-boat could be seen; tor
every melton tho vessel made every
EFFORT that tho crew put forth to resuce
itself from this living helL was reg
i.tcred on the delicate wires wnicn
reached the ears Of the men on tho sur
face.
suddenly sharp metallic sounds came