Evening star., 1927-09-25

of OrdroU UBat Trace Is

/ our engine room which it supposes
| to be our most vulnerable spot.
| THAT is a tragic moment for those
Of our comrades who have remained
lon board They are forbidden to make
any move. They must keep up the
deception. If one of them is wounded
by the explosion Of a shell, he must
make no sound The crew Is sup
posed to be in the lfeboats. AS the
first shell usually doesn't have the de-
sired effect. the submarine comes
| closer to send second one home. This
is the moment we have waited for.
Our guns are suddenly uncovered.
They deliver a broadside that sends
the submarine to the bottom"
How absolutely wonderful" ex-
claimed.
"Oh, it's just q matter OF getting
used to it. Do you want me to tell
| you the greatest deed ever accom-
plished by a QBoat?"
| This is what he told me:
That day-it was in August, 1917
our ship, the Dunraven, was cruising
! in the Gulf Of Gascony. Any sailor
would have taken it for one Of those
| tramps which used to ply between
England and lie Levant with food
and munitions for the allies. AS
matter OF fact. the Dunraven. com.
manded by Gordon Campbell himself.
although apparently carrying only the
one useless gun in the stern, was
heavily armed. In tubes In the prov
we also had two torpedoes all ready
| for action.
"At daybreak a submarine caught
sight of us and gave chase. We pre-
| tended to be scared to death. We put
on full speed. Zigzagging as we went,
as though to avoid a torpedo. and then
we began to open up at the submarine
. taking great care not to hit 1t.
That was, can tell you, a great hard
/ ship for our gunners. But 1t would
have been stupid to risk so much out
of mere pride in their craftsmanship.
| In about three-quarters OF N hour. the
submarine fired q shell that seemed to
have been we'll directed. A thick cloud
of black smoke arose from the engine
room.
| 1.-THE smoke really came from tubes
| concealed on deck The unsuspecting
| U-boat commander, however-as this
was before they were oblfterating all
| trace-ordered us to stop and launch
| the lifeboats. Our panic party-that
| is, thosa of US whose task 1t was to
pretend to be terrified-got to work at
| CI1Ce anu dIIdilScu Jul httiO w PI1S ~
we'll that two of the boats tipped over
as they were being lowered, dumping
their occupants into the sea.
1--WE on board could hear the German
sailors laughing and cheering. Such
desperate confusion struck them as
first-class entertainment. The swim.
mers were fished out and. following
directions, the boats departed in the
direction agreed upon. They chose
their course so as to bring the subma-
rine within range of our guns II 1t
should decide to inspect the lifeboats.
Unfortunately they didn't bite. Clos
ing in to within 900 meters of the
Dunraven, they fired three more shots
at us and this time they did real dam
age, The first of these shells ignlteo
a bomb containing 10 pounds of cor
dite. The explosion hurled the officer
who was in charge of the firing off his
feet. Although he was seriously
wounded. the officer crawled back to
his post with the greatest composure
and without saying word.
0'TNWO other shells had just burst in
the midst OF the powder maga-
zine. Soon clouds of smolze--and this
time they were. not fake--showed
Comdr. Gordon Campbell that his ship
was doomed to blow up. Aware OF
the danger, he was on the verge OF
giving the order to open fire when a
gust Of wind carried the smoke be-