Evening star., 1921-05-04
ANXIOUS DAYS WHEN U-BOATS
appeared OFF THE u. S. COAST
Former Navy Head Tells of Bravery
of Undersea Craft in Attacking
! , ~ t'-.- Lightships and Barges.

tho voyage from Wilhelmshaven OF
some other German port to the region
of American waters in 191S-the u
Isl. the U-156, the U-140, the U-117
the U-155 and the U-152. The U-155
was the Deutschland, which, doubt
less. you remember as the submarine
that arrived in Baltimore on Sun
| day in July, 1916, and was hailed as
a marvellous demonstration of Ger
man enterprise and intrepidity. Some
of us have wondered since whether
1t was also a demonstration of Ger
| man foresight-in other words. an
experimental voyage. in peaceful
guise. to determine whether, should
it would be possible to do little
sinking off our coast.
| However that may be, when the
Deutschland returned as the U-155
she came armed with powerful guns
and carrying torpedoes.
narrative of the exploits of this sex.
tet of U-boats. 1 will limit myself
to one. or two of the more striking
| incidents connected with each OF
them. l gave them above in the order
of their arrival.
| Big killing June 2.
The C-151 was playing about not
far from our coast for some days be-
fore she disclosed her presence. Re
| port had come to US that steamers
! had been gunned at sea. and that an
unfriendly periscope was headed in
our direction. Prompted by these, We
May Is. May IS the Syansa was
gunned 300 miles from our coast.
| June she had on board the crews
of three small schooners she had
sunk some days before. Though she
sank a number of vessels. her visit
was brief: She began her homeward
German port August 1.
The shelling of the Perth Amboy.
tug. and three barges within sight OF
Cape Cod, Mass, was the work of the
time the U-151 was starting home.
She began work in American waters
in July. Her exploit in shelling a tug
and bargeS aroused general indigna-
tion and contempt. There were
forty-one persons on the barges. in
Guiding three women and five chill
dren. The U-boat's torpedoes missed
their mark, but her shells set fire to
the barges and they ultimately sank.
The U-156 did good deal of damage.
but we had our revenge. On her way
back to Germany she ran afoul of
the North Sea mine barrage. COM
posed almost wholly OF American
mines laid by American vessels, and
| was so badly damaged that she sank:
Twenty-one of her survivors landed
on the Norwegian coast; the fate OF
the rest is unknown.
U-Boat Sinks LiRhtship.
The U-140 left Germany about a
week later than the U-156. and work
ed in American waters in July and
August She chiefly distinguished
herself by the wanton sinking of the
Diamond Shoals lightship. off Cape
Hatteras Near the end of August.
after a temporary disappearance. she
came up again away to the north;
She sank the British steamer Diomed
and next day attacked the Pleiades.
The latter returned her fire and the
U-140, damaged and leaking, quit the
fight. The U-117, more recent ar
rival. went to her aid; and accom-.
panied her back to Kiel, where they
arrived October 25.
The Deutschland, or the U-155. ar
rived early in August. She made a
fair record for damage done before
she returned home. 1t was the
Deutschland which fought duel
which the U-boat got the worst of it.
The Buck reported that two of her
shots took effect, and the Deutsch-
land submerged. She was not In
jured enough to put her out of COM
mission, however. A few days later
we heard from her again sinking
ships. But September 13 she ran into
another chosen victim which declined
to be victimized without an argu-
ment The British merchantmen New
by Hall returned her fire. and shell
put her forward gun temporarily out
of action. The U-155 made on.
For a week she seems to have en-
gagged in mine-laying off Halifax and
the Nova Scotian coast. Then she
got back in the fighting game and
had a battle with the American
steamship Amphion. to which she did
serious damage. After an hours duel,